Here are the posts from the final partial week, along with some closing thoughts. For what this is all about, go here and start at the bottom.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 43: I'm grateful for the opportunity to see a live production of The Laramie Project last night. The acting was impressive but the real inspiration was the tangible commitment to the project. It was a wonderful cap to a week full of challenge and insight around our human creative (and destructive) potential.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 44: I'm grateful that I made myself brave the swirling snow and yucky roads yesterday morning to go where I needed to go and do what I needed to do. Sometimes snow is an opportunity to take a break; sometimes it's an opportunity to keep going.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 45: I'm grateful that my brother, Pete, celebrates his birthday today. It's been a difficult year for him, health-wise, but he's doing well. I'm happy he's part of my life!
47 Days of Thanks, Day 46: I'm grateful that so much of my work, both paid and unpaid, is about imagining a future and bringing it to life.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 47: I'm grateful to friends and family, many of whom have accompanied me on this journey, and all of whom have given me so much to be grateful for!
I finish this adventure with mixed feelings, which is par for the course with me. This week in particular was busy and productive, and it was hard not to feel nostalgic in advance that I was coming to the end of the 47 days.
Here are some of the highlights (for me) of the experience as a whole.
On one hand, 47 days is a whacking long time. Coming up with something to post on Facebook first thing in the morning was sometimes more difficult than I expected. On the other hand, 47 days is also only one-and-a-half months--a blink in a lifetime, less than 1/6th of a year.
Regardless of my perception of the rate of time passing, lots of “stuff” happened during this 47 days.
Some of the stuff was big stuff. One of my aunts died--that family's first loss of a parent, which marks a new stage of life for my cousins, bless them. One of my brothers had his last round of chemo and celebrated his birthday feeling strong and optimistic. I am now eligible for CARP membership myself.
Some of it was less-big stuff, though not small. A cousin's son (in fact, the grandson of the aunt who died) is in a vocal singing group whose video of Lady Gaga's Bad Romance went viral. It was fun to see the video appear on diverse friends' Facebook pages. Also, there was much busy-ness about jobs and work and clients and organizations.
In fact, much of what I was grateful for reflected the groups I am part of: a church and its Wednesday evening series, a writing group's readings and workshops, the book club, the occasional theatre production (as audience).
Some of my gratitude reflected the time of the year. A windstorm suspended electricity and took down trees and I was reminded, again, that my life is far easier than many. In summer, we might shrug at all the opportunities to see wildlife. In the fall, birds on the deck or a fox trotting through the yard are Events again, and thus reasons to stop and watch.
When I started, I felt somewhat petulant and in need of an attitude adjustment. This exercise certainly helped me focus on gratitude for at least a small part of each day. As the American holiday approached, I began feeling positively festive, so much so that I made a celebratory meal yesterday and took the day “off.”
Therefore, my Thanksgiving-Day-to-Thanksgiving-Day journey is complete, but the experience will stay with me for awhile.
One insight I'm still mulling over. Early on, I said that it's possible to find things to be grateful for even in the face of difficult times. That continues to be true for me.
But I can also see how someone could focus on gratitude as a form of denial. Your daughter stays out past curfew but, hey, you're grateful she didn't end up in jail. You're behind on a project and don't want to tell your boss, so you focus on the beauty of the lemons in the bowl on the counter. Turning your face toward gratitude could become a way to turn your back on challenges--having those difficult conversations, exercising the self-discipline you know will make you happier in the long run, or even making large, difficult life changes. “It's not as bad as it could be” could be either a positive insight or, ultimately, a destructive one, if it keeps you from fixing things you can actually fix.
But I'm still thinking about that, and about the other lessons from the whole 47 days. And I think I'm most grateful for that--the fact that this experience has given me so many rewards, so much to contemplate--most of all.
Showing posts with label 47 Days of Gratitude. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 47 Days of Gratitude. Show all posts
Friday, November 26, 2010
Saturday, November 20, 2010
47 Days of Thanky Gratitudinal Goodness
Here we are, week 6 already. One partial week left.
For what this is all about, go here and start reading at the bottom.
Here's a recap of the week, with thoughts at the bottom.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 36: I'm grateful for the first snow of the season! It's a beautiful addition to the otherwise relatively bland November landscape.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 37: I'm grateful for the sense of continuity that comes in a day when you can see life at both "ends." Yesterday I remembered loved ones lost and got to see pictures of a friend's brand-new granddaughter.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 38: I'm grateful for my iPod and CBC radio podcasts. Sometimes when I'm walking or working outside, they're just background noise, but often I get a gem--new musician or writer or quote--that stays with me.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 39: I'm most grateful for the opportunity at a writing workshop last night to play around with characters--creating them, defining them, presenting them. It's useful sometimes to remember that creativity is FUN.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 40: I'm grateful for another evening that gave me a compelling idea--happiness is like a mirror. Other emotions can pass in front of it but it doesn't change the mirror's essential nature. That's what I'm finding about the life I live today
47 Days of Thanks, Day 41: I'm grateful for days when I wake up in a winter wonderland. I know that snow is a pain in the neck for some; I know rain will make the world a sloppy mess this afternoon. But now, this minute, it's beautiful, and I'm grateful.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 42: I'm grateful that not ALL the scones got burned on the bottom. Sigh.
Again, another mix of sublime and mundane, which is a reflection of my life. Lots of my days are taken up with twiddling and fixing--reorganizing others' ideas and clarifying their meaning. Yet I also have time for creative work and I'm grateful for the structure of a couple of groups that formally address creative living.
The first snowfall mostly disappeared before we got the heavy, covering snow, some of which has itself blown away. I left the scones in about a minute too long. But why must these scones be destined for sharing with company??
Ah, well. Into each life a little snow, and burned pastry, must fall. It's just my turn, I guess!
For what this is all about, go here and start reading at the bottom.
Here's a recap of the week, with thoughts at the bottom.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 36: I'm grateful for the first snow of the season! It's a beautiful addition to the otherwise relatively bland November landscape.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 37: I'm grateful for the sense of continuity that comes in a day when you can see life at both "ends." Yesterday I remembered loved ones lost and got to see pictures of a friend's brand-new granddaughter.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 38: I'm grateful for my iPod and CBC radio podcasts. Sometimes when I'm walking or working outside, they're just background noise, but often I get a gem--new musician or writer or quote--that stays with me.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 39: I'm most grateful for the opportunity at a writing workshop last night to play around with characters--creating them, defining them, presenting them. It's useful sometimes to remember that creativity is FUN.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 40: I'm grateful for another evening that gave me a compelling idea--happiness is like a mirror. Other emotions can pass in front of it but it doesn't change the mirror's essential nature. That's what I'm finding about the life I live today
47 Days of Thanks, Day 41: I'm grateful for days when I wake up in a winter wonderland. I know that snow is a pain in the neck for some; I know rain will make the world a sloppy mess this afternoon. But now, this minute, it's beautiful, and I'm grateful.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 42: I'm grateful that not ALL the scones got burned on the bottom. Sigh.
Again, another mix of sublime and mundane, which is a reflection of my life. Lots of my days are taken up with twiddling and fixing--reorganizing others' ideas and clarifying their meaning. Yet I also have time for creative work and I'm grateful for the structure of a couple of groups that formally address creative living.
The first snowfall mostly disappeared before we got the heavy, covering snow, some of which has itself blown away. I left the scones in about a minute too long. But why must these scones be destined for sharing with company??
Ah, well. Into each life a little snow, and burned pastry, must fall. It's just my turn, I guess!
Saturday, November 13, 2010
47 Days of Gratitude and/or Thanks, Week 5
Here's this week's round-up. For what this is all about, go here and start at the bottom.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 29: I'm grateful for aaaaalll the laughter about changing the clocks: "I turned all the clocks back!" "But I did some of them already" "Did you do this one?" "I don't know, what does it say?" "Well what time is it?" Etc. Note to self: next year, this is the job of ONE PERSON.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 30: I'm grateful for a day with some chunks of time to put toward projects, as opposed to the slivers that have been more typical of my days lately.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 31: I'm grateful for the ongoing warmish weather, which is allowing us to clear the trees off the camp roads in shorter sessions, a couple of hours a day, instead of in two or three backbreaking days. We're maybe 1/3 done. Good exercise!
47 Days of Thanks, Day 32: I'm grateful for the wee aches and twinges my body shares when I do real work outside instead of an approximation of work in a gym setting. It's a nice grounding in the physical. (Also nice to get trees off the path.)
47 Days of Thanks, Day 33: I'm grateful for those who speak their truth about their experiences so that I learn what their sacrifice was like.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 34: I'm grateful for days that bring a variety of tasks. If something isn't going well, I can move to something else for awhile.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 35: I'm grateful for today's lesson in the meaning of the term "exponential." As in, two grandsons cause exponentially less mayhem than three.
This week brought a nice mixture of ceremonial gratitude, with Remembrance Day, and solitary gratitude, with opportunities to work outside. It started with the companionable laughter of the two of us bumbling our way through life's tasks, and ended with a more boisterous family time, when two grandsons spent a night and a day and reminded us again that learning the right way to safely cut your sandwich with a sharp serrated knife is really fun.
As my husband is wont to say, "Life is good."
47 Days of Thanks, Day 29: I'm grateful for aaaaalll the laughter about changing the clocks: "I turned all the clocks back!" "But I did some of them already" "Did you do this one?" "I don't know, what does it say?" "Well what time is it?" Etc. Note to self: next year, this is the job of ONE PERSON.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 30: I'm grateful for a day with some chunks of time to put toward projects, as opposed to the slivers that have been more typical of my days lately.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 31: I'm grateful for the ongoing warmish weather, which is allowing us to clear the trees off the camp roads in shorter sessions, a couple of hours a day, instead of in two or three backbreaking days. We're maybe 1/3 done. Good exercise!
47 Days of Thanks, Day 32: I'm grateful for the wee aches and twinges my body shares when I do real work outside instead of an approximation of work in a gym setting. It's a nice grounding in the physical. (Also nice to get trees off the path.)
47 Days of Thanks, Day 33: I'm grateful for those who speak their truth about their experiences so that I learn what their sacrifice was like.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 34: I'm grateful for days that bring a variety of tasks. If something isn't going well, I can move to something else for awhile.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 35: I'm grateful for today's lesson in the meaning of the term "exponential." As in, two grandsons cause exponentially less mayhem than three.
This week brought a nice mixture of ceremonial gratitude, with Remembrance Day, and solitary gratitude, with opportunities to work outside. It started with the companionable laughter of the two of us bumbling our way through life's tasks, and ended with a more boisterous family time, when two grandsons spent a night and a day and reminded us again that learning the right way to safely cut your sandwich with a sharp serrated knife is really fun.
As my husband is wont to say, "Life is good."
Saturday, November 6, 2010
47 Days of Gratitudinous Thanks, Week 4
The days are flying by (tickety-boo*), rather like the years (tickety-boo-hoo) and we come to the end of another week.
For what this is all about, go here and start at the bottom.
Here are the individual days from Week 4, followed by a lesson or two.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 22: I'm grateful that I shared part of my afternoon yesterday with a whiskey jack (gray jay). While I sat at the dining room table shuffling papers and scribbling notes, s/he hunted flies outside, first on the front porch and then on the back deck. They have a way of looking at you that is so friendly!
47 Days of Thanks, Day 23: I'm grateful for the comfort and nurturing of quiet morning routines: making coffee, emptying and refilling the dishwasher, taking out the garbage.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 24: I'm grateful to have made it through a full five decades of life. I can't wait to see what the next ones bring!
47 Days of Thanks, Day 25: I'm grateful for all the kind birthday wishes and for being in touch with family and friends via FB, via regular mail, and in "real life." Also, last night I had the opportunity to remember "the saints"--those who live on in my mind and heart. It was a great (grate-ful) day.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 26: I'm grateful for the lesson I learned yesterday while watching a pileated woodpecker go to town on the insides of a downed pine tree: find a likely spot, work like hell, and don't let anything distract you or scare you off.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 27: I'm grateful to have a front-row seat to the changing seasons. This morning, the lake sports a thin skin of ice near the shore.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 28: I'm grateful for the security of having food in the pantry and refrigerator--and even some choice about what to eat!
The effects of the storm and power outage linger in the form of gratitude for the simple and natural things, like the company of animals (I didn't write about the pair of foxes that came to play on the lawn between the house and the lake, or the several deer that have cavorted through).
Also, speaking of the power outage, we threw away a lot of food that was spoiled, though we didn't lose too much. It's nice to know our food supply is safely replenished--and I am recognizing first-hand the role of food as a measure of security.
Again and again, and especially this week, I am reminded of just how wealthy I am, in family and friends, in life circumstances, in health. It's humbling, and inspiring.
*Hmm, I knew "tickety-boo" reminded me of something. Pooh's "tiddley-pom," anyone?
For what this is all about, go here and start at the bottom.
Here are the individual days from Week 4, followed by a lesson or two.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 22: I'm grateful that I shared part of my afternoon yesterday with a whiskey jack (gray jay). While I sat at the dining room table shuffling papers and scribbling notes, s/he hunted flies outside, first on the front porch and then on the back deck. They have a way of looking at you that is so friendly!
47 Days of Thanks, Day 23: I'm grateful for the comfort and nurturing of quiet morning routines: making coffee, emptying and refilling the dishwasher, taking out the garbage.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 24: I'm grateful to have made it through a full five decades of life. I can't wait to see what the next ones bring!
47 Days of Thanks, Day 25: I'm grateful for all the kind birthday wishes and for being in touch with family and friends via FB, via regular mail, and in "real life." Also, last night I had the opportunity to remember "the saints"--those who live on in my mind and heart. It was a great (grate-ful) day.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 26: I'm grateful for the lesson I learned yesterday while watching a pileated woodpecker go to town on the insides of a downed pine tree: find a likely spot, work like hell, and don't let anything distract you or scare you off.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 27: I'm grateful to have a front-row seat to the changing seasons. This morning, the lake sports a thin skin of ice near the shore.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 28: I'm grateful for the security of having food in the pantry and refrigerator--and even some choice about what to eat!
The effects of the storm and power outage linger in the form of gratitude for the simple and natural things, like the company of animals (I didn't write about the pair of foxes that came to play on the lawn between the house and the lake, or the several deer that have cavorted through).
Also, speaking of the power outage, we threw away a lot of food that was spoiled, though we didn't lose too much. It's nice to know our food supply is safely replenished--and I am recognizing first-hand the role of food as a measure of security.
Again and again, and especially this week, I am reminded of just how wealthy I am, in family and friends, in life circumstances, in health. It's humbling, and inspiring.
*Hmm, I knew "tickety-boo" reminded me of something. Pooh's "tiddley-pom," anyone?
Saturday, October 30, 2010
47 Days of Thanks/Gratitude, Week 3
Here are the posts from Week 3. To see "What the heck is this?" and weeks 1 and 2, go here and start at the bottom.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 15: I'm grateful for days when the toughest pre-9 a.m. decision is "Is THIS gorgeous sunrise worth taking pictures of?"
47 Days of Thanks, Day 16: I'm grateful for friends whose infectious laughter cuts through the hubbub of a restaurant and makes everyone smile.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 17: I'm grateful that I stopped to investigate that black thing bobbing in my morning coffee. It WAS a bug. And now it's down the drain, and I get to drink fresh coffee while sitting inside, dry and warm, on a windy, rainy morning.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 18: I'm so grateful the high winds haven't knocked our power ou--
47 Days of Thanks, Day 19: I'm grateful our power is back on. In this house, that means not only light, heat, refrigeration, and Internet, but also running water! Flush toilets and warm showers!
47 Days of Thanks, Day 20: I'm grateful that of the ~25 trees we will have to deal with (not counting ones that fell that we're leaving), only two came close to structures, and the damage was minimal (one eave).
47 Days of Thanks, Day 21: I'm very grateful to be married to someone who, when hearing that trees are down, rubs his hands together and says, "This will be fun!" Then he gets out the chainsaw.
And here's what I learned.
1. Never say "I wonder what Week X will bring." Week 3 brought gale-force winds and a big storm that brought down trees. As you might have gathered. Which was slightly freaky to me, as you also might have gathered. On the up side, being without power for more than 30 hours has made me more mindful of the little things: Lights that come on when you flick the switch. A functioning plumbing system. The invention of things like candles and batteries.
2. Doing this exercise has kept me mindful longer of those things, which is usually not the case. When I'm sick, I long to feel well. But when I'm well, well becomes "normal" and I long for something else. Because of reviewing the things I can be grateful for, the gratitude for normal has stuck around longer.
3. As I told a friend over coffee, I would suck as a Chilean miner. It wasn't so much the discomforts of being without power that bugged me--those were minimal. It was the not knowing, and the many, many arenas in which I couldn't know. When would the lights be back on? Was that balsam at the point coming down on the little camp? Where else would the roof leak? What's happening in town (they also lost power in spots)? That balsam--we should have taken it down but how could we when it wasn't safe? And speaking of safe, when will it be safe to go outside and check the trees? Et cetera.
4. Even in the middle of the gale, there really was a lot to be grateful for. Namely, that I was in a house, however leaky when rain is driven at the windows with such force, and thus relatively safe. Also, 30 hours is not that long in the scheme of things. It's October (though the weather has turned chilly), not January, so heating was not as big an issue as it could have been. Lots of extenuating circumstances and I was more aware than otherwise of those, thanks to this gratitude exercise.
LOTS of learning this week. Evidently I enjoy control and routine. Also being able to take a shower whenever I want. Which isn't learning so much as re-learning or being reminded of. Which is okay, too.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 15: I'm grateful for days when the toughest pre-9 a.m. decision is "Is THIS gorgeous sunrise worth taking pictures of?"
47 Days of Thanks, Day 16: I'm grateful for friends whose infectious laughter cuts through the hubbub of a restaurant and makes everyone smile.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 17: I'm grateful that I stopped to investigate that black thing bobbing in my morning coffee. It WAS a bug. And now it's down the drain, and I get to drink fresh coffee while sitting inside, dry and warm, on a windy, rainy morning.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 18: I'm so grateful the high winds haven't knocked our power ou--
47 Days of Thanks, Day 19: I'm grateful our power is back on. In this house, that means not only light, heat, refrigeration, and Internet, but also running water! Flush toilets and warm showers!
47 Days of Thanks, Day 20: I'm grateful that of the ~25 trees we will have to deal with (not counting ones that fell that we're leaving), only two came close to structures, and the damage was minimal (one eave).
47 Days of Thanks, Day 21: I'm very grateful to be married to someone who, when hearing that trees are down, rubs his hands together and says, "This will be fun!" Then he gets out the chainsaw.
And here's what I learned.
1. Never say "I wonder what Week X will bring." Week 3 brought gale-force winds and a big storm that brought down trees. As you might have gathered. Which was slightly freaky to me, as you also might have gathered. On the up side, being without power for more than 30 hours has made me more mindful of the little things: Lights that come on when you flick the switch. A functioning plumbing system. The invention of things like candles and batteries.
2. Doing this exercise has kept me mindful longer of those things, which is usually not the case. When I'm sick, I long to feel well. But when I'm well, well becomes "normal" and I long for something else. Because of reviewing the things I can be grateful for, the gratitude for normal has stuck around longer.
3. As I told a friend over coffee, I would suck as a Chilean miner. It wasn't so much the discomforts of being without power that bugged me--those were minimal. It was the not knowing, and the many, many arenas in which I couldn't know. When would the lights be back on? Was that balsam at the point coming down on the little camp? Where else would the roof leak? What's happening in town (they also lost power in spots)? That balsam--we should have taken it down but how could we when it wasn't safe? And speaking of safe, when will it be safe to go outside and check the trees? Et cetera.
4. Even in the middle of the gale, there really was a lot to be grateful for. Namely, that I was in a house, however leaky when rain is driven at the windows with such force, and thus relatively safe. Also, 30 hours is not that long in the scheme of things. It's October (though the weather has turned chilly), not January, so heating was not as big an issue as it could have been. Lots of extenuating circumstances and I was more aware than otherwise of those, thanks to this gratitude exercise.
LOTS of learning this week. Evidently I enjoy control and routine. Also being able to take a shower whenever I want. Which isn't learning so much as re-learning or being reminded of. Which is okay, too.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
47 Days of Thanks and/or Gratitude, Week 2
The round-up from the second week of this grand experiment (go here to see what this is or here for Week 1):
47 Days of Thanks, Day 8: I'm grateful that our dump (uh, landfill) recycles paint! We got rid of a lot of old stuff and are ready to start fresh in the spring.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 9: I'm grateful that the round of chemo my brother Pete starts today is his last and that his bloodwork keeps giving such good results. Thanks, medicine! Go, Pete!
47 Days of Thanks, Day 10: I am inexpressibly grateful to have about 38 hours when I can work from home and just BE here without any need to go to meetings in town. First extended time at home since last Monday (including weekends). Ahh.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 11: I'm grateful that my brother, Pete, is surrounded by such a loving and gifted family. I admire how his wife, Lois; his daughter, Elizabeth Agnew Cochran (her husband Mike keeps their home fires burning); and his son, the irrepressible Peter, work together to care for Pete and each other. Thanks, y'all!
47 Days of Thanks, Day 12: I'm grateful for two opportunities yesterday to contemplate happiness. One here in a FB discussion and one at Trinity United Church--part of a series of 8 (Weds at 7:30; 6 more times; all independent yet linked) led by Rev. Randy Boyd and linking research in positive psychology to faith. So thought-inspiring!
47 Days of Thanks, Day 13: I'm grateful for technology that connects me to extended family and friends. Through FB, I can stay in touch with cousins during a difficult time or have a "hi how are you?" moment with someone I knew well 30 years ago and still miss. Could I do this with old technology like pen/paper? Yes, but would I? Not sure.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 14: I'm grateful when my schedule allows me to sleep in and my body cooperates! It's great to feel rested.
Here's what I learned this week.
1. I haven't run out of gratitude! I am finding both cosmic and local things to be authentically grateful for. And here I thought I was more curmudgeonly than your average bear. Which leads me to #2.
2. It's possible to be grateful when I'm sad or blue or stressed or curmudgeonly or generally fretful. For example, this week is my brother's last chemo treatment, and I am conscious of his ordeal yet hopeful at his results. Also, my aunt lies in a health crisis, and my heart goes out to my uncle and cousins. I'm sad not only remembering my own family's passage through that valley but also because my vital, vivacious aunt's time with them seems near its end. Yet I can still be grateful for discussions of happiness and for the ability to stay in touch with them in their important time.
3. Feeling gratitude doesn't magically transform those other feelings. I didn't feel any less stressed or blue when I stopped to feel grateful. But the conscious exercise of gratitude does remind me that my life is a kaleidoscope of feelings. I am more than the quivering, nervous, martyred, unachieving creature I sometimes feel myself to be. I am also blessed, and grateful for it. Even if I feel it only for a moment.
I wonder what Week 3 will bring.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 8: I'm grateful that our dump (uh, landfill) recycles paint! We got rid of a lot of old stuff and are ready to start fresh in the spring.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 9: I'm grateful that the round of chemo my brother Pete starts today is his last and that his bloodwork keeps giving such good results. Thanks, medicine! Go, Pete!
47 Days of Thanks, Day 10: I am inexpressibly grateful to have about 38 hours when I can work from home and just BE here without any need to go to meetings in town. First extended time at home since last Monday (including weekends). Ahh.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 11: I'm grateful that my brother, Pete, is surrounded by such a loving and gifted family. I admire how his wife, Lois; his daughter, Elizabeth Agnew Cochran (her husband Mike keeps their home fires burning); and his son, the irrepressible Peter, work together to care for Pete and each other. Thanks, y'all!
47 Days of Thanks, Day 12: I'm grateful for two opportunities yesterday to contemplate happiness. One here in a FB discussion and one at Trinity United Church--part of a series of 8 (Weds at 7:30; 6 more times; all independent yet linked) led by Rev. Randy Boyd and linking research in positive psychology to faith. So thought-inspiring!
47 Days of Thanks, Day 13: I'm grateful for technology that connects me to extended family and friends. Through FB, I can stay in touch with cousins during a difficult time or have a "hi how are you?" moment with someone I knew well 30 years ago and still miss. Could I do this with old technology like pen/paper? Yes, but would I? Not sure.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 14: I'm grateful when my schedule allows me to sleep in and my body cooperates! It's great to feel rested.
Here's what I learned this week.
1. I haven't run out of gratitude! I am finding both cosmic and local things to be authentically grateful for. And here I thought I was more curmudgeonly than your average bear. Which leads me to #2.
2. It's possible to be grateful when I'm sad or blue or stressed or curmudgeonly or generally fretful. For example, this week is my brother's last chemo treatment, and I am conscious of his ordeal yet hopeful at his results. Also, my aunt lies in a health crisis, and my heart goes out to my uncle and cousins. I'm sad not only remembering my own family's passage through that valley but also because my vital, vivacious aunt's time with them seems near its end. Yet I can still be grateful for discussions of happiness and for the ability to stay in touch with them in their important time.
3. Feeling gratitude doesn't magically transform those other feelings. I didn't feel any less stressed or blue when I stopped to feel grateful. But the conscious exercise of gratitude does remind me that my life is a kaleidoscope of feelings. I am more than the quivering, nervous, martyred, unachieving creature I sometimes feel myself to be. I am also blessed, and grateful for it. Even if I feel it only for a moment.
I wonder what Week 3 will bring.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
47 Days of Gratitude, Week 1
Here are the status updates from Week 1. You'll notice (or maybe you won't) I use "Gratitude" in the tag but changed that to "Thanks" in Facebook to save characters. And then I didn't need all those characters after all, which is probably for the best.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 1: A quiet north-of-the-border Thanksgiving. I'm so grateful I had the chance to be with family recently!
47 Days of Thanks, Day 2: I'm grateful that I enjoy my regular life so much that I spend holidays, like today, doing many of the same things.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 3: I'm grateful that yesterday I happened to be in the right place (kitchen) at the right time (staring out the window at about noon) to see two bald eagles doing aerobatics over the bay.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 4: I'm VERY grateful for the inspiration of hearing good writing read VERY well last night at the reading sponsored by the Northwestern Ontario Writers Workshop. People around here do good work!
47 Days of Thanks, Day 5: I'm grateful that creative, dedicated people go into science and engineering to make possible new technology that will improve our lives--and pull off feats like the miner rescue in Chile. Now, how about making it safer to be a miner??
47 Days of Thanks, Day 6: I'm grateful that gray, cloudy days (like yesterday) can start with a colo(u)rful, striking sunrise! And I get another one this morning--bonus!
47 Days of Thanks, Day 7: I'm grateful for all the online resources that make it possible for me to participate in today's Book Club discussion without re-reading every single word of A Tale of Two Cities. (It was an issue of time, not interest, but I know my high school English teacher looks down on me in disapproval. Sigh.)
It's been an interesting journey so far. Of course I have developed "rules," or anyway "rule." I have picked one thing from that morning or the previous day that actually inspired the feeling of gratitude in me, instead of casting about for something I think should be grateful for or going for a "motherhood" topic.
I'm also finding that I stop occasionally during the day to notice feeling grateful for something, because I know I will have to pick something for my status update. Which, as my mother would say, is the benefit of the discipline of doing gratitude this way.
So...on we go.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 1: A quiet north-of-the-border Thanksgiving. I'm so grateful I had the chance to be with family recently!
47 Days of Thanks, Day 2: I'm grateful that I enjoy my regular life so much that I spend holidays, like today, doing many of the same things.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 3: I'm grateful that yesterday I happened to be in the right place (kitchen) at the right time (staring out the window at about noon) to see two bald eagles doing aerobatics over the bay.
47 Days of Thanks, Day 4: I'm VERY grateful for the inspiration of hearing good writing read VERY well last night at the reading sponsored by the Northwestern Ontario Writers Workshop. People around here do good work!
47 Days of Thanks, Day 5: I'm grateful that creative, dedicated people go into science and engineering to make possible new technology that will improve our lives--and pull off feats like the miner rescue in Chile. Now, how about making it safer to be a miner??
47 Days of Thanks, Day 6: I'm grateful that gray, cloudy days (like yesterday) can start with a colo(u)rful, striking sunrise! And I get another one this morning--bonus!
47 Days of Thanks, Day 7: I'm grateful for all the online resources that make it possible for me to participate in today's Book Club discussion without re-reading every single word of A Tale of Two Cities. (It was an issue of time, not interest, but I know my high school English teacher looks down on me in disapproval. Sigh.)
It's been an interesting journey so far. Of course I have developed "rules," or anyway "rule." I have picked one thing from that morning or the previous day that actually inspired the feeling of gratitude in me, instead of casting about for something I think should be grateful for or going for a "motherhood" topic.
I'm also finding that I stop occasionally during the day to notice feeling grateful for something, because I know I will have to pick something for my status update. Which, as my mother would say, is the benefit of the discipline of doing gratitude this way.
So...on we go.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Forty-Seven Days of Thanks
As I said last year in November, I have a personal history of feeling ambivalent about Thanksgiving. The ambivalence pre-dates my move to Canada, but now that I'm here, I have two days to feel ambivalent about it. I guess that keeps me balanced.
This year, I'm trying something different. Today is Thanksgiving in Canada. (Tomorrow is the holiday, but today is Thanksgiving. No, I don't understand it, but that's how my husband explained it.) November 25 is Thanksgiving in the U.S. By my count, that's 47 days, counting both today and November 25.
For each of these days, my Facebook status will be something I'm grateful for. Something different. I am grateful for chocolate every day, but I can't say that more than once during these 47 days. (And that was just an example, so yes, it's still an option. Sheesh with the rules, already.) I accidentally started today, even though I wasn't aware that this was a plan.
I would like to think I could sit and list 47 things I'm grateful for--sincerely grateful for, not just funny-ha-ha-grateful, like chocolate--but I suspect the exercise will be harder than I imagine. In any case, I'm hoping to not prepare more than a day or two in advance.
I will report back here from time to time, too, but mostly it will happen on Facebook.
Other Americans, Canadians, and Camericans (Can-mericans? Canamericans? Ameradians?) are welcome to play, too, publicly or privately.
Because from where I sit, it seems that focusing on gratitude might do us all some good.
This year, I'm trying something different. Today is Thanksgiving in Canada. (Tomorrow is the holiday, but today is Thanksgiving. No, I don't understand it, but that's how my husband explained it.) November 25 is Thanksgiving in the U.S. By my count, that's 47 days, counting both today and November 25.
For each of these days, my Facebook status will be something I'm grateful for. Something different. I am grateful for chocolate every day, but I can't say that more than once during these 47 days. (And that was just an example, so yes, it's still an option. Sheesh with the rules, already.) I accidentally started today, even though I wasn't aware that this was a plan.
I would like to think I could sit and list 47 things I'm grateful for--sincerely grateful for, not just funny-ha-ha-grateful, like chocolate--but I suspect the exercise will be harder than I imagine. In any case, I'm hoping to not prepare more than a day or two in advance.
I will report back here from time to time, too, but mostly it will happen on Facebook.
Other Americans, Canadians, and Camericans (Can-mericans? Canamericans? Ameradians?) are welcome to play, too, publicly or privately.
Because from where I sit, it seems that focusing on gratitude might do us all some good.
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