gratitude

i have been participating in ~30 days of gratitude~ each november for the past few years. those posts go on facebook each november, but i have also gathered them here to look back at on days when my gratitude tank needs a top-up.

~thankful thursday~ gratitude garland

True, the angle of the sun this time of year increases the length of the shadows. But it also means there are afternoon sun rays beamed at just the right angle to produce a rainbow in the spider web, something that would not be the case in the height of summer. . . . → Read More: ~thankful thursday~ gratitude garland

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~thankful thursday~ butterfly effect

The tree-filtered sunlight projected the smiley faces drawn on the frosty bus windows across the gray seat backs, and they danced and smiled and stretched larger as we drove along. . . . → Read More: ~thankful thursday~ butterfly effect

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~thankful thursday~wonder woman and spider webs

The Ghost of Gratitude Past is a comforting companion, carrying a time capsule full of love letters to the world mailed to my future self, reverberating forward through time in ever widening ripples. . . . → Read More: ~thankful thursday~wonder woman and spider webs

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~thankful thursday~ fall crops and late bloomers

Today I participated in another of my favorite mindfulness practices, one concerning impermanence, like sand painting but with squashes, already scattered and but a memory. Tomorrow I will fill the slow cooker with leek and potato, celeriac and parsley root, and some imaginal cells to remind me that next summer will unfurl its colorful wings in time. . . . → Read More: ~thankful thursday~ fall crops and late bloomers

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~thankful thursday~ shadows and butterflies

It may take more years of this practice before I can truly feel thankful for darkness, or the meltdown it initiates in me. Simmering in my slow cooker today, I’m grateful for memories of summer, excellent walks with my husband, and butterflies. . . . → Read More: ~thankful thursday~ shadows and butterflies

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thankful thursday ~ heartstrings

today i am grateful for big snowflakes, and a gangly brand new twelve-year-old sprawled on the window seat, describing their movement to me. “i saw three helicoptering ones! and one that was gliding! and look, there’s one that’s just like a parachute!” . . . → Read More: thankful thursday ~ heartstrings

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thankful thursday ~ search your feelings

i got rich a new and safer welding hood for work, and when he tried it on, he vaguely resembled darth vader. i expressed doubt that the person in front of me was my husband, so he told me, “search your feelings. you know it to be true.” i’m grateful for both the frequency and intensity of the laughter he brings me. . . . → Read More: thankful thursday ~ search your feelings

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thankful thursday ~ more light

on my way to my first day back at work after the recent government shutdown, i mused that i was thinking a month of gratitude posts might be in order for february. my bff challenged me to go for it, and here we are! 28 days of gratitude it is! . . . → Read More: thankful thursday ~ more light

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~thankful thursday~ in which we sing the last verse

but now it’s time to sing the last verse of the song for this year. the part of the song where it all comes together metaphorically and the sound waves ripple through the air to touch your heart, and though it has the same melody as before, there are several strains of harmony woven in now, and when you get to the chorus, you reach down to your toes to send the last few notes up a third or a fifth or an octave. you take it higher, you take it on home. you know, that part of the song. . . . → Read More: ~thankful thursday~ in which we sing the last verse

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~thankful thursday~ it’s working

not that long ago, i was reading buoy to a three-year old who was obsessed with boats; he built himself a kayak this summer, and in just over a year he plans on riding a gondola down the watery streets of venice. . . . → Read More: ~thankful thursday~ it’s working

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~thankful thursday~ snails, whales, puppy dog tails

i am grateful for the way my fairy dog pulled me outside and down the trail this morning while the sun was streaming through the trees and the frost was just starting to melt. i’m thankful for the reminder to sniff out paths i might not have gone down in a while, to remember to wander and stop and appreciate. while standing and pondering and letting her sniff, i decided to picture a fairy dog in my mind, tiny enough to wander down the paths of my neural circuitry, but powerful enough to pull me out of well-worn grooves that may not serve me, and into lusher, if more challenging, terrain. i’m thankful that there are always new ways to look, and for getting to see rainbows in the frost. . . . → Read More: ~thankful thursday~ snails, whales, puppy dog tails

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~thankful thursday~ third annual nacho november

the good farm people acted as though i was doing them a favor by not allowing those ten feet of the crop to go to waste, when i was really the one reaping all the tomato wealth a gal would ever want to put up for one season. don’t tell nachos, but i love pasta just as much, and a pot of organic sauce simmering on my stove is a happy thing in cool november weather. . . . → Read More: ~thankful thursday~ third annual nacho november

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~thankful thursday~ the slightly belated conclusion

the three of us took a winding sunday drive along the river to cut ourselves a christmas tree. when we got to the one we would take home, a hawk flew overhead and called out. it was such an easy decision at that point. (i mean, how do other families choose a tree?) . . . → Read More: ~thankful thursday~ the slightly belated conclusion

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~thankful thursday~ stoking the gratitude fire

looking around on a day like this, prepping for a big feast, it’s easy to feel gratitude for all the abundance surrounding us. the food is bountiful and fresh, the boy cranking the apple slicer has grown into a competent helper, loved ones are close at hand, and a kitty is in the empty ham box. . . . → Read More: ~thankful thursday~ stoking the gratitude fire

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~thankful thursday~ navigating transitions

like the little creatures in the ocean that bioluminesce, i am trying to generate my own light during this dark time. many organisms are triggered to glow when they encounter disturbance, and transition times are a continuous source of predictable disturbance for me, like waves, like tides. i have always felt like that dynamic position in the universe where air, land and sea coalesce on the edge of the ocean is the most magical, and of course that transition between rain and sun that brings us rainbows is another personal favorite. i am thankful for the magic around the edges of things. . . . → Read More: ~thankful thursday~ navigating transitions

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~thankful thursday~ birds and bees

while i have a tendency to let thoughts weigh me down, these tiny beings show me how they alight here and there, without all that heaviness. they change direction as often as needed; they remind me i always have a choice to redirect towards joy. they guard fiercely, but dance joyfully, and choose to drink in sweetness. they surround themselves in flowers, hovering amid beauty, embodying lightness of being. . . . → Read More: ~thankful thursday~ birds and bees

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~thankful thursday~ sailor hair don’t care

in the more immediate sense, i was under a dark cloud, and my thankfulness gland wasn’t functioning properly. i had a vague a feeling of “at least i don’t live in aleppo,” but that just made me feel guilty that i wasn’t getting an A in the gratitude challenge when i should, since i don’t live in aleppo. imagine being ungrateful for all the nachos i am blessed to be eating lately. . . . → Read More: ~thankful thursday~ sailor hair don’t care

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~thankful thursday~ the essentials: love, water, light, nachos

i’m thankful today for water. i am listening to a lot of water pelting the metal roof of our house, and overflowing the gutters. the driveway pond is now a thing. i am thankful for the bayou that is filling up with all this fresh rain. . . . → Read More: ~thankful thursday~ the essentials: love, water, light, nachos

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~thankful thursday~ oh, brother

dad was such a busy guy throughout my childhood, but he made room for us in his life in such a big way. i can still smell the diesel and dry grass from all the naps i took slung over the tractor toolbox with one of his button down shirts to snuggle up to, and taste the warm well water from the soda bottle with which i would wash down the dust. . . . → Read More: ~thankful thursday~ oh, brother

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~thankful thursday~ don’t overthink it, bro

we become who we are in the storytelling we do. several of the speakers i listened to this week reminded me of truths i’ve learned before; my thoughts are not who i am; my thoughts are not even necessarily to be believed; integrating my storyline into an unbroken line is the best way to ensure my own well-being; focusing my energy on gratitude for this abundance begets more abundance in my life; i have the power to choose a different brain patterning; our storytelling is powerful, and can change the course of our life, depending on the words we choose. . . . → Read More: ~thankful thursday~ don’t overthink it, bro

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~thankful thursday~ warmth, choke slams, baseball and apple pie

she has become an autodidact expert in vintage apple variety identification. she also makes the best apple pie which she taught my brothers and i to do as well and has given us all a wonderful gift by unearthing information about the chenango strawberry, winter banana, red astrachan, hubbardston none-such, and blue pearmain apple varieties that she and my dad are rehabilitating. see, didn’t you just feel like you got a gift, reading those amazing names? . . . → Read More: ~thankful thursday~ warmth, choke slams, baseball and apple pie

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