“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” ~Lao-tzu

I suppose that means a journey of a thousand blogs begins with the first post. 🙂

Each person, traveling through life, has many stories to share. Some of those stories are sad, some are filled with laughter. Some are decorated with badges of honor and some are littered with medals of shame. No matter who is telling the story, we can all learn something from each other. Whether it is a loved one or a stranger, I believe that each person we come in contact with adds something to our individual journeys.

My passions in life have always been based on journeys, whether it is traveling locally or afar, learning a new skill (or art!) like cooking, sailing, or photography, or the journeys we take through years of tears, laughter, and love in friendship and with our families.

If you aren’t familiar with the past Broadway musical, “Rent”, in it is the song, “Seasons of Love.” It’s a great show and an inspirational song, but the a few of the lyrics in this song are:

“In daylights, in sunsets,
In midnights, in cups of coffee,
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife.
In five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes,
How do you measure, a year in the life?”

How do we measure our lives? In cups of coffee? In moments of laughter with friends? In glasses of wine? In hugs of loved ones? Some people measure their lives in days “getting through” work days or aiming for the weekends. How do you measure your life?

I have a full-time job, like so many other people, but I do my best not to measure my life in days or years worked, but rather in daily moments and experiences. That’s not always the easiest task, especially in the long and challenging days, but it is a more rewarding and optimistic way for me to reflect upon what I have learned in life already and what I continue to learn.

Therefore, I chose the website name of Journey through the Smiles because life is not just about the steps taken or miles walked, it’s about the smiles and words of wisdom we’ve shared and received along the way from family, friends, and even strangers alike.

In my blog I will share my stories and the stories of others of their daily journeys, but I also hope to share practical information that I have found useful throughout all of my hobbies (traveling, photography, cooking, scrap booking, etc.)

I hope you will share my journey with me.  🙂