Gratitude

It’s Gratituesday! Musically Reclined, Inclined, Realigned

Posted on December 4, 2012 by Kami
Piano pedals on a Grand Piano.

Piano pedals on a Grand Piano. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hey, guess what?  It’s Gratituesday!

One of my earliest memories is pretending to play the piano on a wooden shelf while one of my mother’s piano students banged away at a song in the adjacent room.  I was an extraordinarily gifted pretend piano player.  When my mother played I became a prodigy of the imaginary keyboard in front of me.

Later, I graduated to playing my own compositions of rainstorm, the high notes, and thunderstorm, the low notes, and tornadoes, running my hand up and down the keyboard.

How anyone tolerated this noise is miraculous to me.

Mom taught me the basics.  “Here we go, up a row, to a birthday party,” became my favorite song for a few months, because I could play the entire song.  Even if it was only eight measures and one hand.  When I learned to add the left hand to make a harmony with my right hand, I was ecstatic.

English: Photograph of bust statue of Ludwig v...

Photograph of bust statue of Ludwig van Beethoven by Hugo Hagen (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

My favorite cartoon character wasn’t Bugs Bunny or the Road Runner.  It was Schroeder, the piano playing, wise man of the of the Peanuts gang.  I longed for a miniature piano with the range and ability Schroeder had.  I wanted my own Beethoven bust overseeing my progress.  I was sure if I mastered the piano I would be master of everything and, even better, that boys would flock to me.  I didn’t really pay attention to the fact that Lucy was the only one drawn to Schroeder and she was a bit nuts, a bully even.

For a couple of years I had a piano teacher that Mom and Dad paid for.  I suppose that was helpful.  I was probably more disciplined about practicing for someone other than a relative.

For as long as I can remember, Mom always taught piano lessons in our home.  Every day after school, and every morning during the summer, students would file in and file out, filling the house with what passed as music.  It was the theme music to our lives.  If any house had a soundtrack, ours surely did and it was filled with stops and starts, hesitation and things played off-key.  But it was a weird, joy-filled music.

Mom’s income helped pay for all kinds of “extras” and let her be a stay at home mom, still caring for us kids. She was always there for us if catastrophe struck, still there for us if a sibling was being unfair, still there for us if we needed the reassurance that she was there.

I’m sure it wasn’t easy.  We probably drove her crazy with near constant interruptions, too much noise, too many questions.  But she taught a gazillion kids the piano, and she taught me the piano.  She also taught me and patience and persistence.

She also gave me the gift of music.  I’m not a concert pianist. I quit lessons as a teenager.  But I can plunk out a kids  song, accompany a choir, and play for enjoyment.  I am blessed beyond measure by this singular gift. How grateful I am for my piano teacher mom.

Categories: Gratitude, Gratituesday, Music | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Small Things That Get Us Through

Posted on November 29, 2012 by Kami

The last four months of last year I was working two part-time jobs.  Added up to about fifty or sixty hours a week.  They were physically demanding, on my feet for much of it.  A lot of lifting and carrying involved.  The exhaustion was formidable.  After all, I’m not a spring chicken, as my dad used to say.  There were days when simply getting out of bed seemed like a major accomplishment.

One of the jobs, in particular, was the sort of position that  can make a person feel invisible and maybe even small.  There are a few jobs out there like that.  I’ve had a few of them over the years.

There are advantages to that invisibility.  Being disappeared allowed me to observe with unabashed curiosity and clarity.  I watched all sorts of interactions between people that I filed away for future inclusion in a short story or a scene in a novel.

Most of the time I didn’t mind not being noticed.  I was doing my job, which, if I didn’t would be noticed and create some big problems.  Maybe that’s the way most jobs are.

Occasionally, a tough day would rear its ugly head and getting through the first job of the day was discouraging and weightier than normal.  Moods can do that to me.  On just such a day, nearing the holidays, I was the recipient of a gift.

I’m sure that the gift giver didn’t realize how significant her gift was.  I’m sure she didn’t even consider it a gift.  She’d be shocked if she knew I thought of that gift a year later, that I still have the package the gift came in.

Here’s what it looked like:

Yes, she offered me a cup of hot chocolate in this very cup, which I’ve kept.

Suddenly I wasn’t a disappeared person.  I was me, a fellow human being, like her, just trying to get through the day.  The invisibility cloak slipped off my head and fell to the floor around me.  I felt cared about.

Somewhere in the universe, some cog clicked into place that settled some ache in my heart that day.  I felt lighter.  I felt lifted.  I felt love.

Her gift to me was more than hot chocolate.  It was acknowledgment, personhood, a hand of kindness, recognition, friendliness, caring.

Reminds me of this quote:

“I can do no great things, only small things with great love.“
– Mother Teresa

Here’s wishing  you a month filled with small things, received and given.

Have you had anything like this happen to you?  What was the gift?  How did it help you? I’d love to hear about it.

I think you might also enjoy reading one of these related articles.
Categories: Gratitude, Love | Tags: , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

I’m Always Learning Something New, This, For Example

Posted on November 22, 2012 by Kami
Portrait of the first president of the United ...

Portrait of the first president of the United States, George Washington (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

 

[New York, 3 October 1789]

 

By the President of the United States of America. a Proclamation.

 

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor–and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”

 

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be–That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks–for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation–for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in thecourse and conclusion of the late war–for the great degree of tranquillity, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed–for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted–for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

 

and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions–to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually–to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed–to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness onto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord–To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us–and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

 

Given under my hand at the City of New-York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

 

Go: Washington

 

Categories: Gratitude | Tags: , , , , , | 1 Comment

A Side Road to Gratitude

Posted on November 20, 2012 by Kami

It’s Gratituesday!  Today I am thankful for National Parks, State Parks, Preserves, Wildlife Refuges, and all those other places set aside and protected and cared for.

There are a few road signs I’ve noticed over the years that point the way to a nearby point of interest, or state park, or other like-minded place.  You know the ones I’m talking about.  Odd named places that you have no idea about.  Or places you’ve heard of, or maybe even seen on TV or looked at photos of, but have never visited.  There are many like that around here.  Some close, within an hours drive, others maybe three or four hours away.

I’ve lived in Arizona for fifteen years and haven’t visited the Grand Canyon yet.  I know there are people from around the world who go to great expense and effort to see something I live so close to. All I need to do is get in the car and I’d be there by lunchtime.  I’ve seen it, when I was thirteen years old.  Blew me away, with its incomparable size, beauty, color, mystery and timelessness.  Perhaps I’m afraid that original experience will somehow be tainted, or changed by another visit.  Maybe I’m just lazy, or busy, or afraid of heights now.  Maybe a little of all of those reasons or more.

I recently took the left hand turn into a small state park I’d seen the sign for.  Sounded intriguing. Finally followed through and visited. It’s called Tonto Natural Bridge. It’s “the largest natural travertine bridge in the world. The bridge stands 183 feet high over a 400-foot long tunnel that measures 150 feet at its widest point.”

I took over one hundred photos.  Most of them didn’t do the place justice, mostly because it’s much more than a two-dimensional experience. MSH and I took the time to really explore, notice details, stop and think about what we were really seeing.

At one point we found a flat rock midstream and sat down, ate an orange, rested, had some water.  Then we let ourselves lie back and look up and felt transported.  I know that sounds silly.  But the way the clouds swirled in a kind of mimicry of the opening above us felt orchestrated and serendipitous.  A bird flying through the camera shot seemed unlikely, but it happened and felt like more than great timing or luck.

It felt like a sacred place, as such hidden gems sometimes do.  I felt blessed, rested, lifted, rejuvenated, lightened by having been there.

I think now I’m more likely to take a detour next time I see a sign for one of these preserved places.  Hurrying less brings its own reward, but sometimes, it can lead to something truly rewarding. Slowing down and turning off the main road can offer a reason for gratitude.

 

If you’d like you can click on a photo to see a closer view.

Categories: Gratitude, Gratituesday, Outdoors | Tags: , , , , , | 2 Comments

Inadequate Gratitude

Posted on November 13, 2012 by Kami
Honoring Veterans

(Photo credit: Fort Rucker)

 

It’s Gratituesday!  Today I am grateful for people who are willing and able to do things I cannot or would not do.  I’m not a brave or daring type of person.  I am continually amazed by people who are willing to go into dangerous situations and  risk their lives, or their personal health and well-being, for something outside of themselves.

 

How does someone willingly put their life out there as a potential, highly likely, sacrifice.  In a war zone, in a militarized zone, in a combat area, in a hostile environment, all those euphemisms for extremely dangerous, life-threatening places scare me beyond reason.  And yet, military personnel daily place themselves in these situations.

 

They defend freedom, they protect the innocent, they help support a fragile peace, they keep anarchy at bay, they stand between madness and hell, they offer a sense of stability in the most unstable of situations.

 

The amazing thing to me is that they do this willingly.  They volunteer!

 

They leave family and sanity, they leave friends and safety, they leave predictability and order, and they go and do whatever the situation requires.

 

I am so thankful someone has the discipline and the courage to do such things.  Grateful that they have faced such difficulties in the past, I stand in awe of these stalwart men and women.

 

How do I repay these heroes?  How do I honor the things they place on the altar?  How do I remember and reverence such acts as these perform?

 

This kind of debt seems unfathomable.

 

My gratitude seems miniscule and minor and wholly inadequate.

 

Veterans Visiting the Graves of Fallen Soldiers

Veterans Visiting the Graves of Fallen Soldiers (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

 

Categories: Gratitude, Gratituesday | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

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