Giving Encouragement
As I offer comfort, hope and love through my art and writing, I invite all of you to make a difference in your world! As you look for ways to offer encouragement to others in your life, the ideas below might inspire you with a creative way to lift the hearts of a friend, coworker, neighbor or stranger.
The Gifts of Encouragement you will find below are primarily meant to prime your own imagination of how you might encourage others. On the other hand, if any of these items will help you get started we'll be glad to ship you one or more (note: we sell these for little to no profit to make them as accessable as possible).
"aloha kekahi i kekahi"
(love one another) John 13:34
Share Encouragement
A new way for you to share Art Lifting Hearts encouragement with those around you!
Each greeting card has an insert with a 4”x6” art print that can be enjoyed as is, or can be removed and framed (frame NOT included). Inside you will find a decorated blank page to personalize your card and a small brochure with a condensed version of the story connected with that art on the Art Lifting Hearts website.
You will receive the card in a larger white envelope. Inside is the greeting card and brochure in an unsealed envelope ready for you to personalize, address, and deliver or send with a single stamp.
This is a personal way to encourage those around you facing a variety of difficulties and/or those who, for any reason, are relationally isolated. Help them know you see them and care!
As always, these are made by us here at Art Lifting Hearts and sold at or near cost.
Send a Whole Box of Encouragement
When you need to make a bigger impact on someone's life than a single greeting card can offer, why not send a box full of encouragement? It's easy to do.
Find a container (perhaps something decorative or purposeful), then write a bunch of simple notes on slips of paper.
If you have not already read it I wrote a story about the encouragement boxes I created. The link below will take you over to that story. The link to the right will take you to a page where you can purchase an encouragment box...or just study them to make your own. (You'll find more ideas about what to write on your notes there as well.)
Either way...I hope you'll lift up someone's heart today with a big dose of encouragement.
Be Faithful to the Forgotten
It's easy to express care for the friends you see every week. But what about when someone goes missing due to chronic illness, depression, grief or other isolating circumstances? Do you stick with them? And as much as you want to, how can you?
I created the "Gifts Over Time" collection as a way of expressing committed friendship by sending several gifts with a common theme over a time period of your choosing. For an isolated person to receive repeated messages that they are remembered provides powerful encouragement.
Of course you could create your own collection of gifts to make the best connection to your friend. Or, take a look at my "Loyal Comforter Gift Sets" for ideas or purchase by using the link to the left.
Appreciate Others
One of the easiest ways for us to improve the tone of our culture is to offer simple kindness and appreciation to others.
Many, if not most people, work in jobs that receive more negativity than gratitude. Learning to recognize and acknowledge the efforts of your baristas, nurses, delivery drivers and customer service agents is more powerful than we realize in our day-to-day busyness.
If you missed it, you might want to read the story about the power of appreciation. The link below will take you there.
To help train ourselves (and others) to more regularly express appreciation we made some simple art cards to hand out to those who serve us. Use the link on the right to view the cards for ideas you can use or purchase a pack to help get you started.
Learn to Comfort
When someone near you is struggling deeply, or even just having a bad day, it can be very disarming. Some of us even have strangers share their deep burdens with us. We don't know what to say and fear saying the wrong thing. As a result we often don't say anything. However, acknowledging the pain of others is an important aspect of healthy relationships, community and culture.
We designed these "Comfort Cards" as a way of simply acknowledging someone's pain and letting them know we care. They are not profound or magical in anyway. But your effort to encourage through the gift of a card might prove to be powerful.
Handing out a card now and then also trains us to acknowledge others even in circumstances that are sometimes uncomfortable. These card sets come in both a generic and a faith-based format.
Acknowledge the Grieving
When someone you know well experiences the loss of a loved one, you will probably have many opportunities to offer love and comfort.
But what about when someone you've never met lets you know they are grieving a loss? You may never meet that individual again, but leaving them with a "In Loving Memory" card leaves them confident someone cares.
My daughter is a nurse and she asked me to create a small art card that could be given in such moments.
