In a society currently bringing the subject of bullying front and centre of our consciousness, it seems to me a timely reminder that it is easier to be kind than to be cruel.  The old saying “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” is certainly not true, especially in cyber-age when unkind words are all that may be required to push a person over the edge and cause irreparable damage.  As of the time of writing, there is a “train wreck” fascination with the ranting and raving of actor Charlie Sheen, who apparently never learnt the adage about not biting the hand that feeds you.  Amongst the recipients of his wordy attacks is the creator of the TV show, of which he is paid millions per episode to star in.  Thankfully, creator Chuck Lorre, is taking the high road and opted to use his vanity cards to let his thoughts be heard.  You can read Mr Lorre’s replies on his site, Chuck Lorre Productions – the Official Vanity Card Archives (and in case you missed my earlier post to explain the name of my blog, yes, I named it after his) – of note are Card#329 and most recently, Card #334.  I’m sure you’ll enjoy following these as they unfold as much as I do.

But I don’t want to dwell on the negativity of using words.

I woke up a little grumpy this morning, after only getting about 4 or 5 hours sleep.  Yes, it was self-inflicted pain as I stayed up later than I should talking to friends on Twitter – what am I supposed to do when we live in different timezones?  Chatting with my gal Lena Lamoray about her photography work and interviewing the latest crop of hot actors in the US (and darl, if you ever send me with a press pass to Comic Con on Matt Bomer/Tim DeKay stalking duties I would go at the drop of a hat and be forever in your debt!), reading the latest blog post by Claire, my fellow White Collar fangirl from Perth and who also has been editor/proof-reader of my stories, and generally trying to work on my next blog are all time-consuming and result in sleep deprivation. Sleep be damned when their long-distance friendship and encouraging words have inspired me to do things that may ultimately, hopefully, be a positive change to my future.

Grumpiness gone, I watched clips of White Collar stars Matt Bomer and Tim DeKay making a number of TV appearances to promote the show as the season 2 finale draws closer.  Given I live in Australia and don’t get the broadcasts of most of these news/talk shows, I am always appreciative of what I can find on YouTube and I know I can always count on Kelly from www.mattbomerfan.com, the best fansite ever, to provide the missing links.  To show my appreciation, I simply sent a tweet out to say thank you, in the hope that it would make her day, just as her Matt Bomer updates always brighten up mine.  I was “retweeted” by a few people in agreement.  It’s just a small gesture and I hope she knows her efforts are appreciated by people across the globe 🙂

All my Twitter followers know that I send out crazy fangirl tweets praising the work of the White Collar writing team.  While watching today’s episode “Power Play” I received a Twitter message from the White Collar writers’ assistant, Chris Masi:

Twitter message from Chris Masi, White Collar Writers' Assistant

As you can imagine, I was pleasantly surprised and happy to see this message, regardless of the context in which my name might have been brought up in that room – in my fangirl opinion, the mere fact that they “know” me is enough for me.  In the words of my fellow blogger, Christine, it is like “winning the fangirl Oscar” 🙂  Like I said, a simple gesture (taking the moment to send the tweet) with a few brief words, and he totally made my day.

Words have the power to change history – just look at Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech (read it here).  Focus on the power and positivity of words, because today, like so many days, my spirits were raised by words and small kindnesses from friends far and wide.  Remember this: words, once uttered, can never be retracted so be careful what you say before you say them.  Saying something nice takes as much effort as it does to say something nasty – so why not choose nice over nasty?  As the saying goes, if you have nothing nice to say, it is better not to say it at all.  And small gestures can have powerful and great impact on the recipients of those gestures so be kind and be good.

Oh and I want to say a special shout-out to a new Twitter friend, Robyn Thomas, a fellow fan of White Collar and The Big Bang Theory and Sydney-sider – you know what you’ve done and I thank you very very much! 🙂

Toodles! xox