{Yes, I will continue to play with the alliteration, probably through the entire month of September. I totally stole this post’s title from my brother’s comment on yesterday’s post.  Have I mentioned how completely and totally badass my brother is?  Really.  And I’m not being biased.  HE COMMENTS ON MY BLOG. WITH SENSITIVE AND RELEVANT WORDS. And he’s single, which doesn’t help any of you who found me via WB, but perhaps you have super awesome single girl friends living in DC?}

Welcome, welcome, welcome to a whole solid month of blogging about the bright side of life here on Not Quite Betty Crocker.  I’m super duper incredibly excited.  So excited, in fact, that I’m smiling.  Yea, like a real smile on my face, not just the kind of smiling we all do in our heads and then type LOL about.  Nope, a real smile that the weirdos at the neighborhood coffee shop can actually see (so now they probably think I’m doing something illicit, but I’m not).  Excited!

What does blogging the bright side entail?

For the month of September, I’m going to make a special effort to pay attention to, and therefore blog about, the bright side of my life.  All too often you all read about the dark side of my household and while that’s a-okay and incredibly freeing and healthy, I’ve found myself relying on angsty confessionals to connect.  And while THAT’s okay, I’m doing it too often.  Confessing and freeing yourself from fears in the light of honesty is all well and good, but you have to appreciate what you have and choose what you love, too.

I figure it’s like that thing they teach you in driving school and motorcycle school – you, your body, and your big piece of dangerous machinery will go in the direction of your eyes.  In fact, they teach you that in cheerleading school too.  Want to twist your body mid-air without anything to push off of or against? Turn your head.  Where your eyes go, your body will follow.  My eyes have been looking inward to the place where nervousness lives and fears hide, and for a little while, I’m going to avert them from the weird and strangely alluring stuff and face the happy sunlight instead.

Note: In my analogy I can face my eyes into the sun without searing them out of my head.  Work with me here, people.

In addition to a general consciousness about the good in my life, I’ll be relying on other sources to kick start and sometimes hold up my happiness project, specifically Gretchen Rubin’s happiness project blog and toolbox.  As of this exact moment, I have not decided if I want to do a formal Happiness Project, so keep reading to the end of the post and I’ll try to decide by then.

Lastly, I’ll be starting and maintaining a gratitude journal.  I first heard the concept from Oprah, but this post from sweet Kasia really stuck with me.  I don’t doubt that part of the reason I’m smitten with the idea is that someday when I grow up I want to be all sunny and smiley and gorgeous like Kasia.  One can always hope.  And emulate.

So if I waver, call me on it.  I will, and I will justify, and then you will remind me that there’s always a bright side, and perhaps by the end of this month my brain pathways will have rearranged to take the sunny route.

Let’s kick this off with some good quotes, shall we?  We’ll make it interactive.  I’ll share a good bright side quote and then you can share one.  Deal?

"Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world."

-George Bernard Shaw

{I think that rather than lock myself into a commitment on the formal happiness project – and then fail — I’ll leave the option available if it becomes necessary to keep this thing going.}