Author Archives: Kami

Where the Wild Things Are, And the Not So Wild Things

Posted on October 25, 2012 by Kami

Recognizing a major need for escape from daily demands and stressors,  late last spring MSH booked me on a flight for that very day to visit a cousin in Colorado.  Not sure how he pulled that off, but he did.  Six hours later I found myself climbing into my cousin’s vehicle and sleeping on her pullout bed. What followed was a week of rest, meandering hikes, talking, eating, Scrabble and emotional healing. I returned home a new person, ready once again to face the world.  Here are a few select photos from that week.

Wishing I were here again.

This is a representative segment of one of the many lovely trails I enjoyed wandering.  Shady, tree filled, solitary.  Perfect for introspection, ideal for letting nature work her magic.

We had a nice friendly chat.

Seldom did I cross paths with other humans.  I did meet up with a pair of deer that treated me like a friend.  They actually didn’t run off when I approached.  We had a nice conversation for a while as I took pictures of them.  Their eyes have a look in them I haven’t yet been able to describe. My friend here stood still and posed for me five feet away from where I stood.  No need to zoom in.

A small pond I came across in a restoration area caught my eye.  The light and reflections were fun to watch.  The sense of calm the scene invoked was very welcome.

Surrounded by pines and peace.

Here’s another view of a lake I wrote about in an earlier post.  Must have been something about the elevation that made me feel emotionally lighter.  The heavy load I’d been hauling around for months dissipated on this hike.

Thanks for sharing my take on a taste of Colorado. Makes me want to go back for autumn, although I may have missed the colors changing by now.  These photos also remind me that I need that daily dose of nature in my life.  Being out-of-doors, my hands in the soil, my head in the clouds, surrounded by living plants, being part of the sights and sounds of the natural world, can make the difference between wellness and illness, joy and sorrow.

That connection to the real world grounds me, makes me whole and gives me energy. Here’s hoping you have such joys in your days.

Categories: Outdoors | Tags: , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Ants Go Marching One by One, Hurrah, Hurrah

Posted on October 24, 2012 by Kami

The ants have taken over my yard.

Sounds like an exaggeration, but it’s true.

There are ants marching in a steady cadence around the entire perimeter of my Arizona patch of lawn.  There are ants building little mounds along my side walkway.  Those ants that race around like they found and devoured a discarded bottle of amphetamines are careening about the back porch as well as the driveway.  There seems to be two or three different armored divisions encircling the foundation of the house.  And the little six-legged ankle-biters have set up a path along the brick wall surrounding the yard. I know of at least one bush that they have commandeered for a nest.

Giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla). Phot...

Giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla). Photographed at the Phoenix Zoo, Phoenix, AZ. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

All these little critters make it difficult to do my yard work.  My ankles itch like crazy from the bites they inflict.  I’ve tried living peaceably with them.  Haven’t hosed them off or tramped on them or purchased an anteater.  I have a feeling an anteater would have some untoward side effects that might be worse than the ants.  Not sure I want to find out about that.

My first task this morning is to launch a counteroffensive against these invaders before they make themselves comfortable inside my house as well.

Peaceful Negotiations Unsuccessful

I have looked into alternative forms of persuasion.  Cinnamon, various other spices, talcum powder, cucumber peelings, vinegar, coffee grounds, citrus peels, chalk, borax mixed with syrup.

These tactics might work temporarily on a few poorly organized hapless group of ants.  This is not your usual little mound of easily dispatched workers.  Beneath my entire yard, well below the topsoil, lies a deep underground network of ants expertly trained and craftily deployed under my home.  We have so many ants I’m a bit concerned that they’re planning to carry the house off to another neighborhood.  No doubt they could if their tiny generals gave the orders.

No, I have set aside my dove like attitude of submission, cajoling, wishing and hoping.  I am now a hawk.  There is a full gallon of highly lethal and toxic bug spray waiting in the garage.  And a very large bag of some sort of bug dust also stands at the ready awaiting deployment by me, the itchy gardener.

Do Dogs, and Ants, Go to Heaven?

I’m not trying to upset the entire ecosystem.  I just want the ants to go hang out in someone else’s yard, preferably ant heaven, if there is such a thing. There they could build little mounds and march in long lines to their tiny hearts’ content.  Do ants have hearts?  I can’t think about that one.  Sends shivers up my spine and makes me feel even more itchy.

Repercussions?  Yes, there probably will be some.  I’m going to spray and scatter now and think about it later.

I just want to plant my winter flowers, weed my garden, and walk to my car without having my feet overrun by multitudes of tiny critters on their way to morning reverie.

Call me cruel.  Maybe I had one too many picnics ruined as a child.

Hoo-rah!

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Categories: Humor, Outdoors | Tags: , , , | 5 Comments

Now That’s Surprising! It’s Gratituesday!

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Kami
folded.

Folded Towels. (Photo credit: Greg Timm)

It’s Gratituesday!  Today I am thankful for surprises.

Some surprises are as simple as finding the dishwasher already emptied and ready for the next load, or a pile of laundry folded by someone other than myself. Receiving a real, handwritten letter or card in the mail brings pleasure that lasts. Volunteer flowers in my garden charm me; an unexpected hummingbird hovering a couple of feet away can change the tone of a day.  A repair costing much less than quoted or finding an item I need on sale, nice!  Hearing a honk and getting a wave as a friend drives by gets my giggle on. Something like finding some crinkly money in a jacket pocket from last year is rare, but so fun. And, what a smile I get when I find just the right amount of change in the car to splurge on a soda.Silly, huh?  Not really.  It’s those tiny thrills and small enchantments that add spice, flavor and joy to my life.

“Let’s try an Experiment,” I said to myself

A bunch of years ago, I started an experiment.  I started writing down a few things, every night before turning out the light, that made me smile, that blessed my life or that brought some happiness to the day.

Some days, many days at first, required some deep thinking to get even three items on the list.  Other days I couldn’t stop writing at just five or seven happy things.

What a difference it made for me.  I started looking during the day for those few things I could list in my notebook that evening.  I made a mental note of the rabbits in the field next to the stoplight.  I paid attention when my daughter hugged me extra tight.  I remembered when my son took the garbage out without being asked.

Here’s a sample list:

  • Clean Sheets.
  • The sound of the wind.
  • Hearing my children’s laughter.
  • A kiss.
  • Fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies.
  • A cold glass of milk.
  • Time for reading.

Sure, some days I felt deflated and defeated.  On those days, defaulting to the basics was the best I could come up with; my health, my family, a place to live, adequate food.  Life hasn’t been all roses, not at all, just the opposite, in fact.  There’s some rough terrain out there if I look back at the path I’ve taken.

Most days, though, I made an effort to be grateful, to be aware, to let the little happinesses get through to me.  I slowed down just enough to be in the moment and take joy in it.  Then I’d make my list that night, short or long, without fail.

For me, writing down those happy things made an impact.  Writing made those blessings last, in my head, and on paper, tweaking something in me and shifting my thinking. Being grateful changed me for the better. What a nice surprise.

Am I ever thankful for that!

            *****

For ideas about starting your own Happy Book or Gratitude Journal click here.

Harvard Medical School published an article about the health benefits of gratitude.  Click here to read it.

A great recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie nirvana is waiting for you to click this. (You’re on your own with the cold glass of milk.  I prefer 1%, though an occasional, rare, splurge on whole milk is divine.)

Categories: Gratituesday, Joy | Tags: , , , , , | 4 Comments

Do I Have to Spell It Out For You? Body Language, Sign Language and Mind Reading

Posted on October 22, 2012 by Kami

I know an adorable seventeen-month old girl who uses sign language as part of her repertoire of communication skills.  What a marvelous thing to watch her sign “more please” or “all done” or “milk” instead of wailing, crying, throwing a tantrum or simply being frustrated beyond all reason.   After being in the car for way too long one day she kept signing “all done” to her mom in the rear view mirror.  She was definitely all done being in that car seat and ready for a change of scenery.  Such an adaptive kid!

I’ve thought about her and wondered if I need to add some kind of sign language to my life.  Not American Sign Language necessarily.  What I’m thinking I need to have is something akin to the universal sign for I’m choking, (hands at the throat, turning blue, panic on your face) or you’re an idiot driver, (we all know what that looks like, eesh!) or hello (waving a hand.)

I’m thinking something a little more helpful. What I need is a sign for “you’re right, I was being selfish, I’m sorry.”  Then, I need another sign that admits no guilt but apologizes profusely, “Can you ever forgive me, I’m so very sorry.”

I love You

I love You in ASL (Photo credit: purprin)

I also need a sign that clearly communicates, “tonight would be a good night for you to get take out for dinner.”

There is a big need for a sign that says “please don’t talk to me right now or I’ll come unglued.” There’s a more urgent need for a sign that clearly means “please notice me and pay attention and give me a hug before I implode.”

Too complicated? Yeah, probably. Okay, how about a sign for “lonely,” “need a friend,” “in over my head,” “check back in a bit,” or “I like you.” A little too direct maybe.  Hmmm.  Maybe we need direct and concise and less nuance.

Sure, I know there’s that whole body language thing, but it’s so subtle that it’s not always clear.  The “chin wave/head nod” is a great example of this.  It’s a guy thing, or a teenager thing, or both.  There’s a sort of eye contact, but not quite, and then instead of waving hello the other person kind of lifts their chin at you.  Like a fist bump, but not.  When you get a “chin wave”  you feel cool and accepted, but not quite acknowledged.  Couldn’t they have just waved?  Do they not want anyone to know they know you?  See, mixed message.

My favorite universal sign is the smile.  The genuine smile.  Try smiling at the kid in the grocery cart.  Then wait for it.  They get this surprised look that turns into a grin.  Then wink.  Okay, maybe not wink, the parent might get weirded out.  But smile at them like you’re really seeing them.  Smiling at children always surprises them and their response is fun to watch.  You just might make their day! And yours!

While you’re at it wave at the sign holder on the corner, too.  I have a friend whose walking route took her past one of these human sign holders.  She took some time every day to chat a bit, found out this woman’s story.  What a story!!  Now instead of looking away, or pretending distraction, I wave back at her because she is a real person, doing a tough job, (especially tough in the AZ heat) and I want to acknowledge her.  I’ll bet those people hardly ever get a friendly wave.  Wouldn’t you want one if you were them?

But I digress.

Wish I could do the Spock Mind Meld on some people. Boy, would that come in handy!!  Alas, mind reading is another topic for another day.

I’m just trying to up my communication skills here.  Thinking out loud.  Any suggestions you can shoot my way would be very welcome.

Here’s one last idea.  We could try using words.

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Categories: Humor, Relationships | Tags: , , , , , | 3 Comments

Two Verses On the Sounds and Sights of Sunday

Posted on October 21, 2012 by Kami

Early Sunday mornings around here are drenched in silence.  It’s a decadent feeling.  You might even call it serene. There is the occasional sound of a car in the distance, the odd background hum of an air conditioner, but for the most part the birds have the Sunday morning playlist covered.

Hummingbird

Hummingbirds zzzzzz through the air, darting and dancing among the various blossoms and edible insects.  They have a short chipping call that I find endearing.

The coo of mourning doves lends an undertone of reverence to the mostly silent morning.  Towhees get their name from the sound they make and I can count on a pair of them, at least, to add their notes to the quiet Sunday melody.  There is the sweet peep peep of house finches and the cheery chirrup of sparrows.  Not surprisingly, the Grackles seem to sleep in on Sunday mornings; which is fine with me, as their brackish caw adds little to the peaceful atmosphere.  The mockingbird provides the variation in this quiet Sunday song, as its call will vary with its latest exploits.

Sure, the birds are singing every morning, not just on Sundays, but they are the predominate sound on Sundays.  Today, the birds’ soft symphony is not a thing one has to search for amid the cacophony of traffic, dogs, horns, sirens, alarms, bells, construction, freeways, airplanes and people.  Today, I get to enjoy the clear tones of nature, the morning breeze across my skin, the refreshing silence of a Sunday.

A Different Kind of Music

What a contrast this is to what will be later this afternoon.  The park across the street will be alive with Frisbees, walking barking dogs, squeaking swings, thrown balls and children in their element.  There might be a picnic in the ramada with an extended family or group of friends.  The benches will fill with relaxed bodies, blankets spread out on the lawn. Babies will tentatively touch the grass and pull that sour face.

Girl Belly Button Upside Down Monkey Bars Weal...

photo by: stevendepolo

The sprinklers will surprise someone when they come on without warning and then a new game will occupy water-fascinated children.  Tummies will get a taste of sunshine as a few people hang upside from the monkey bars.  A tussle or two will result in tears.  Bicycles will whiz past, scooters will clack, clack, clack across the sidewalk bumps, a longboarder will slouch past, beatnik like, relaxed and too cool for words.

Shoes will fill up with sand.  Knees will get scraped.  Faces will get dirty.  Hands sticky.  Souls saturated with the perfection of a Sunday afternoon.

Sundays were made for silence and sanctuary.  They are ideal days for naps, friends and family, and good food.  Sundays are perfect for contemplating the miraculous and the ordinary.  The sacredness of Sundays manifests in so many ways.  There’s no other day like a Sunday.  It’s like a mini-holiday every week..  I guess that’s what it is, or can be, if we choose to make it so.  It is a Holy Day, something simply divine.

Categories: Joy, Music, Outdoors, Relationships | Tags: , , , , , | 2 Comments

Why the People at the Grocery Store Were So Friendly, and Other Answers

Posted on October 20, 2012 by Kami

Following the wise saying that says, “When you can’t sleep, write,” (which I just made up three minutes ago) I am now writing at 1:15 a.m.  If you’ve read my “Night Owl, Early Bird” post you’d remember that I’m definitely a morning person.  My brain engages and starts humming just before the last stars wink out.  That’s about five hours from now.  Fair warning, with middle of the night posts, no telling what will happen. (Three posts in one, perhaps?)

THE GROCERY STORE FRIENDLIES

Shopping Carts

Shopping Carts (Photo credit: Universal Pops)

Despising grocery shopping, I try to get the task done when the fewest number of people will be clogging the aisles and slowing down the process. That would be, you guessed it, early in the morning.  I try to show up presentable, not in PJ’s, not in sweaty gym clothes, not in my dirt encrusted grass stained gardening garb.  I clean up, I put on some lip gloss, I brush my hair.  I even bring a list. In, out, done. No debating over the produce. no loitering near the dairy.

Most people pretend extreme interest in some label, and avoid eye contact, especially in the morning.(Probably because they are wearing PJ’s or sweaty gym clothes or haven’t combed their hair.) Just sayin’.

One morning in particular I noticed that the few people I did see in the nearly deserted grocery store appeared very cheery. They smiled at me. Smiles all around.  A store full of morning people?!? What are the odds, I thought.  Maybe I had a glow about me.  Maybe the stars aligned just right.  Maybe the music playing over the intercom struck a happy chord in the lot of them.

Even the usually surly cashier, whose line I tried to avoid, was friendly and smiled at me. Weird and weirder.  I was going to get on the internet and figure out what cosmic occurrence might be in play to explain such unexpected pleasantness.

Putting my bags into the back seat of the car I bumped my head on the top of the door opening.  Not my head exactly.  The blow felt cushioned by something.

Hair rollers

Hair rollers (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I reached up to console my noggin.  What did I find but a hair roller still tucked in on top of my head.  The very same velcro hair roller my own hands had rolled in to poof up the flat spot in my otherwise nicely coiffed hair. I had told myself not to forget to take it out before I left, then went off to find my keys.  And forgot about it.

All those friendly smiles?  Restrained laughter.

Glad I could bring some cheer into someone’s day.  In this case, many someones.

ON YOUR LEFT

My cousin reintroduced me to bicycling in Denver a couple of years back.  It was my first time on a road bike in a few years. She taught me some basic ideas, like how to shift, how to brake, basic biking etiquette.  We even discussed ahead of time who takes the lead and which of us drops behind  into single file when other bikers are on the path coming towards us or passing us from behind.  I learned the term “on the left” meant that another biker was coming up from behind and was going to pass on the left.  On hearing “on the left” the correct thing to do is to move to the right so they have room pass on the left.

We had a great ride that day. (I think I just found another blog post topic for the near future.) But I digress.

The point I meant to make was that I learned a bit of biking jargon and etiquette and gained some confidence in the sport of bicycling. On returning home I started riding my clunky mountain bike on our flat desert trails. I started using the term “on the left” and felt like a real biker.  When I didn’t ride, but went walking instead, I quickly moved over when a biker chirped, “on your left!”  I felt I had learned to share the trail, or the sidewalk, quite amicably.  I hardly had to hear more than the word “on” from behind and I’d start moving to the right to make room.

Biker

Not the actual biker…

Imagine my surprise (is that a cliché? note to self, find out!)  Sorry.  Imagine my surprise when, this very morning, I mean yesterday morning, since it’s now almost 2 a.m. the day after. Sorry again.

Imagine my surprise, as I’m out for my morning walk, when I hear a biker holler, “on your right” and I automatically move to the right but then, mid step, realize that I just moved into the biker’s path.  I was certain I’d be mowed over, or at the very least see a biker go flying past as he rocketed over the front of his handlebars.   I actually started to curl up and brace myself for impact.  Luckily the biker swerved or braked or had guardian angels, or all three.  No one was worse for the experience.

I’m sure the bicyclist swore under his breath as he rode off down the path.  Maybe his life had flashed before his eyes.  I hope it was a happy one if it did.  His adrenaline was probably ramped up a bit, don’t you think?  Mine was.

Anyway, if you talk to anyone who tells you about this dumb woman out for a walk who jumped into his path when he gave fair warning, you’ve now heard my side of the story.

Fireworks

Spicy Zingers (or Fireworks)

CHINESE-MEXICAN FUSION

Dinner out with friends tonight  (last night? whatever) at a new place was mind-blowing.  Confusion ruled my taste buds but what happy taste buds!

Who thinks of these things?  A quesadilla with a ginger-sauced chicken and real cheese?  Oh my sweet Susanna!!  Dip it in the salsa/hoisin, or was it plum sauce/mole, and the neural pathways don’t know what to make of it all.  Refried black beans? A work and a wonder of magnificence!!  Finished off the meal with a crispy-edged, soft-middled, cinnamon snicker doodle cookie and the evening was taste bud nirvana.

That might explain the tiny taste of insomnia going on here.  Too many competing spicy sensations zinging around in my head.  Oh, but it was worth it.

I hope you’re smiling!  I am.

Categories: Exercise, Food, Humor | Tags: , , , | 14 Comments

Listening to the Sun

Posted on October 19, 2012 by Kami

Serenity found here…

The water from the lake barely ripples.  There is just a slight breeze, a few distance clouds.  Blue saturates the  sky, a clear color I haven’t seen for years.  At this elevation, 8500 feet, give or take a few,  the dust and haze of the valley hover far below, leaving no filter between me and the wide expanse above.

Pine trees enclose the small lake like a protective, natural fence.  From my seat, on an outcropping of boulders, the world is a pristine and perfect place.

The climb to this tiny utopia had been an exceptional elevation change for a desert dweller like myself.  (I live around 1200 feet above sea level.)  My lungs had worked hard to squeeze every molecule of oxygen out of the thin air as we hiked the sharply angled trail.

Sitting, with the silence as our only other companion, a kind of peace settles, filling in all the cracks and chinks of my worn out psyche.

My Personal Colorado Rocky Mountain High

Nearby a flutter of  dime-sized periwinkle  butterflies hover just above the ground like miniature flying bouquets.

I sip some water, crunch a couple of peanuts. Let out a long breath of contentment and calm.   My muscles have a hard-earned ache that let me know that, yes, I am very much alive.

The clarity of the blue above me works like a lullaby.  I am entranced, enchanted and captured by tranquility’s warmth. The weary, jagged parts of me begin to mend.

Leaning back on the boulders, I close my eyes.  The sun brushes my face and whispers.

Listen…

Categories: Joy, Outdoors | Tags: , , , , | 3 Comments

Excerpt From An Old Journal Entry

Posted on October 18, 2012 by Kami

I am a thousand thoughts racing feverishly around in a brain filled with too many lists, too many clocks, too many people, too little time.  A startled face appears when I look into a mirror and realize the person whose blue eyes look back at me looks nothing like the person running around in my head.

I think to myself, “Who are you and why are you looking at me like that?”

I am awash in wanting to make tangible all the racing thoughts, the flowing seeds of ideas, the recipes of change and reordering. I am often lost in a field of wanting to create and tangled in a sea of half-begun.  Everything around me is a partially completed creation.

I am a procrastinator extraordinaire. I am afraid.  I am committed to noncomittment.  I hide behind all the thinking and not doing and am not merely hidden from others, but lost to myself.

“I am trying,”  I tell the person looking back at me from the mirror, “someday all this trying will come to something.”

Then the person in the mirror asks, “Come to what?”

I answer with silence.

I have reached the age where it seems incomprehensible that I am still attempting to answer this question of who I am.

Shouldn’t I have more answers by now?  Shouldn’t I have a book or two filled with answers?

Should I still keep asking the questions?

Categories: Writing | Tags: , , , | 2 Comments

My Temporary Blue Funk: Not A Musical Group or Genre

Posted on October 16, 2012 by Kami

I’m feeling like a helium balloon that has lost its lift, hovering somewhere between the ceiling and the floor, the curled ribbon dragging the ground, the shiny color of me now a chalky version of myself.

A blue funk. That’s the only word I know to describe this.  Tears keep pushing at my eyes. Sighs keep escaping from my mouth. I want to close all the blinds, crawl under the covers and sleep until I wake feeling new.

Why So Blue?

A few days ago my parents flew into town for a visit.  And today they left.

There is nothing I can do about the feeling.  I am a grownup adult type person.  Very grown.  Very up, usually.  Why would I miss my Dad and Mom like this?

It happens every time I have to say goodbye to them.  I know it’ll happen like I know the sun is going to come up in the morning.  I can’t head it off at the pass.  I can’t sidetrack it.  I can’t make it not happen.  I’ve tried to analyze it.  I’m trying again, right now, as I write.

Why My World Turns Indigo:

Theory 1.) My parents seem to view me and treat me like I’m this amazing person.  I feel like I’m on a pedestal when I’m around them.  I’m pretty sure that’s because the teenager I was and the who I am now are so diametrically different.  I’m sure they wondered often if they would survive raising me.  I turned out okay after a while though, in good measure, because they never gave up on me, loved me anyway. And, I didn’t want to disappoint them.

It is nice being seen in such a good light.  I’m really not all that amazing.  Okay, maybe a little amazing, since I have such great parents.  It probably helps that I live two states away and they don’t see me that often.

Theory 2.) When I’m around my parents, maybe I’m more me than the usual me.  Or maybe I’m the ideal me.  Maybe I’m the best of both of them especially when we’re all together.   Does any of that make sense? So when they go it’s like the best me goes out the door, too.

Theory 3.) Nothing else in the world matches the feelings between parents and children.  There’s some connection, some energy, some something, that happens, that fills and feeds both the parent and the child when they’re together.  Maybe it’s more noticeable as we get older.  I’m not sure.  I’m just throwing out theories here from my blue state of mind. The more I think about this the deeper the blue gets.

Theory 4.) If I think about these things from my own kids’ points of view, (which is nearly impossible and a bit frightening actually) I’m not sure any of these theories hold any water, or hold up, or hold out, or whatever cliché I’m trying for in this sentence.  Do my kids miss me when I leave them? Are they more themselves when they’re around me?  Do they feel loved and idolized? (I hope so!) Do they get some energy from me that make them more…them?

Theory 5.) I’m really just a five year-old kindergartener at heart.  Every day is the first day of school.  The world was so much safer at home, so much more manageable, so much more kid-friendly.  Being around Mom and Dad makes me feel safe and loved and secure.  When they go, that sense of security, of “all’s right with the world,” goes with them.

Where’s My Blanket and Lambie?

There you have it.  I’ve analyzed it as far as my temporarily funky cerulean mood will let me take it.  I’m thinking it’s probably a combo of a few of the above theories.  Although, if pushed I’d say I’m leaning toward Theory 5.

Enough of the analysis.  The only way to get through this kind of short-term blues is to ride it out.

I’m gonna volley this deflated balloon around the room for a while.  Maybe I’ll eat a PBJ, break out the crayons and do some coloring, practice tying my shoelaces.  Then I’m going to curl up on my bed and sleep until I wake up to a different color.

Weekly Challenge Post 

Categories: Relationships | Tags: , , , | 11 Comments

It’s Another Gratituesday! Six Reasons I’m the Richest Person I Know

Posted on October 16, 2012 by Kami

It’s Gratituesday! October 16  –  Today I find myself unable to focus on just one single thing I’m grateful for.  My cup runs over with gratitude. Today I am more aware and appreciative of:

  • The freedom I have to speak my mind without reprisal or fear. I know this is a relatively rare thing in the world at large.  Sometimes it’s a rare thing even here in the US.  Repression rears its ugly head in private homes, too.
  • My education; knowing how to read, write, figure out math, understand scientific concepts, grasp difficult ideas, think and reason.
  • Employment; the job I currently have allows me incredible flexibility and freedom.  I’m treated well, better than I deserve and I feel loved appreciated. How many people do you know that can say that about a job?  How many people do you know wish they had a job of any kind?
  • Having two parents who have always been supportive, loving, caring, kind and generous.
  • Extended family fanning out in many directions, and in just as many flavors.  Good times!
  • An abundant life filled with opportunity, friends, health, experiences, fun, challenge, growth and variety.

I’m amazed as I think about the richness of my life.

It’s a good day for reflection.  There is so much that’s good in the world.  So many things that can bring happiness to mind.

I hope if you were to list some of your blessings, some of  your “happies” you’d find yourself feeling equally blessed.

Categories: Gratituesday, Joy | Tags: , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

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