I'm having a hard day. Nothing terrible has happened, but I've got a couple worries on my mind.
As a distraction, or perhaps antidote, or perhaps balm, I'm thinking about what I would post today for my daily FB status update in the "30 Days of Thanksgiving" practice. And it's a LOT, too much to fit in that little box. So here it is.
-- I'm grateful for a warm house and food to eat and jobs we're good at that we like--all the things that make up our daily sustenance.
-- I'm grateful for family; they are far away, and that makes me a little blue, but I'm looking forward to seeing them again. And talking by phone & catching up on e-mail and FB in the meantime.
-- I'm grateful for my beloved dead--those ancestors of blood and spirit who have passed on, and friends, too, who are no longer here. I love talking to them and remembering them.
-- I'm grateful for the music that's playing on my stereo (a Pandora.com station of Celtic music). I'm grateful music is my companion and helps me express my heart.
-- I'm grateful for knitting, and for expressing love through handknits.
(My sister-in-law Donna wearing the prayer shawl
I made for her, summer 2013.)
-- I'm grateful for my friends in town who are my village, helping us raise our son and give him and us support and create a good life for us all--one that includes goofiness as well as classical music.
(July 4th, a couple years ago, my friend Jonalyn teaching.)
-- I'm grateful for my friends who live in faraway places--friends we've made along the way in Maryland, Georgia, California, Minnesota, Chicago... And my goodness, I'm grateful that I get to keep up with them on FB. (For all its silliness and weirdness, FB is still a boon to me for that reason!)
-- I'm grateful for my friends and colleagues whose work is revitalizing native languages and cultural practices and narrative traditions and art and philosophies. It's hard work, but so needed. And I'm grateful for those native friends and colleagues who are making art informed by these things, taking us into the future.
-- I'm grateful for my students, who give me hope for the future and make me proud and make me laugh; and I'm grateful for my colleagues, who are so damn smart.
(With the travel-learning crew in May 2013,
in South Dakota and in Minneapolis.)
-- I'm grateful for dinner last night with my friend Chris and his daughter Maya; they fed us wonderful food and shared laughter and stimulating conversation with us. It was exactly what I needed!
-- I'm grateful for our friends Cy and Debbie, who have invited us to go to a Thanksgiving buffet at a fancy restaurant with them later today. Exciting! We get to share the meal with lovely people, and we don't have to deal with the half-broken stove. Once again, just what I need!
-- I'm grateful for the faraway teachers and friends who enrich my spiritual practice. They help me see beauty and love. They have made my life immeasurably better.
-- I'm grateful for my friends in South Dakota, whom I miss. And I'm grateful for the land, and the spirits of that land. I can't wait to go back there.
(I heart the Missouri River!)
-- I'm grateful for the writers whose work I love and enjoy, those stories and poems that help me discover another new way to think about the truth of life. Sometimes I read things I barely recognize, and sometimes I read things that sound like they came right out of my heart.
(One of my favorite places to buy books! Here's their web site!)
-- I'm grateful for animal companions--the ones who live with us and the ones who live with our friends and family. Even as one in particular tests my patience and optimism (ahem), I recognize the sweetness of having them with us.
(The culprit... being too cute and "tagging" me
when I come up the stairs.)
-- I'm grateful for the health of my physical body--that it lets me walk and dance and laugh and sing and think.
-- I'm grateful for sitting here and writing in my pjs, a cup of tea brewing. I'm so very grateful for finding my voice in my writing, and sharing it with others.
That's not even the whole list. So for now I will say, to the four winds and all the spirits all around: thank you!
May you feel the love of gratitude today--and many other days besides.
Cheers,
Karen
