Jessica Kippes

Smile more. No really, this isn't some strange woo woo request. It's the best advice I can give. Whether you feel it inside or not, just smile more. Because eventually your inside starts to match your outside. There's probably some science behind that, but my own personal experience would tell you that it works. Force a smile and good feelings follow. Or find something to smile or laugh at. Have any little kids around? Play a joke, act goofy, play hide and seek, just b

How old were you when you stopped believing in magic? That should strike a cord with anyone who believed in Santa Clause or the Easter Bunny. And I bet you went immediately to the moment where your parents or the kid in the back of the bus said it's all a big farce, some imaginary scheme made up, never was real, never is real. For some of us, that magic might have still extended to watching illusionists, or magicians in shows where we wonder, how could he pull a dove from h

When we are kids, we spend the majority of our time playing. We dream up elaborate scenes characters, and story lines and live them out as an adventure in the yard/barn, or backyard for the day. We engage in play, joy, and laughter and time would breeze by. We create. And for that time live that scenario to the fullest. Then we get a little older and through structure, and discipline, we slowly work the fun, imagination and play right out of our lives. We decide that a

We love a good story. Ever watch a movie and forget you are not in the movie but just a person watching the movie? Sure we do it all the time, we become engrossed in the story line, associating ourselves with one character and living what they go through. We do the same thing with a good book. We live and breathe the character through every page turn until the last moment when we generally feel sad the story is over. So what's the deal with a story. Why do we love a good s