Gratitude
So I know that I just wrote a post about how my life is going great whereas the things swirling around me aren't so great and that I've been super whiney on Twitter about Thanksgiving, but I really am grateful for a lot of things. Even in the middle of the crap, I still try to find that one ray of funny or maybe even happy. The silver lining, if you will. Naturally, today I am feeling more gratitude than non-gratitude--it is Thanksgiving, after all! And I really am trying to start my day off on a good foot with coffee, a blog post, some yoga, and some reading before the Parade, so that hopefully I can remain in a good mood the rest of the day.
What am I thankful for?
1. The Parade. I love watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade every year. Or at least most of the Parade. I usually miss the last while because we're en route to my grandparents' house. I got to see the whole thing last year and I think I'll get to this year as well. Yay!
2. Coffee. My relationship with coffee began when I was in the seventh grade, when I became hooked on lattes during a visit to my aunt's house in Texas. My relationship continued and strengthened until the day I began drinking black coffee. Honestly, I want to go back in time to the day in college when I decided to drink black coffee and give myself the biggest hug ever. I also want to give myself big hugs on the days that I decided to purchase a French press and when I decided to use Starbucks Italian roast. I owe coffee a lot. It is part of who I am.
3. Two magazines--The Yoga Journal and The New Yorker. I don't know what I would do without them. Flipping through their pages is the highlight of my month or week, as the case may be. One feeds my body and the other feeds my mind. I have a hard time recycling issues of either magazine because what if I need something from it? What if I missed something? Eventually, I'll need to stop being a wiener about it and just stop the hoarding.
4. Socks. I've recently discovered that I can't do much of anything if my feet are cold! I'm just really, distractedly uncomfortable. But if I throw on a pair of socks--bam! I'm ready to write or read or sleep or whatever. One can never have too many pairs of fuzzy socks. I kind of feel bad for guys because they don't really get to wear fuzzy socks.
5. Yoga Mat. I just got a great new yoga mat for my birthday. My older one was simply disintegrating. I felt bad about leaving pink foam behind whenever I went to practice. My new mat has a layer of jute on the top, which is pretty durable. I just need to find the time to practice more! Yoga has been a great blessing to me this year. I started going twice a week to a lunch class before I moved and I can't even begin to tell you how fantastic it was for my mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing. I would love to get back into that kind of practice. (OK--I'll do it!)
6. Bubble baths. I have gotten into quite a bubble bath phase. It just melts away all of the bullshit that goes on! Sylvia Plath once said "there must be quite a few things that a hot bath won't cure, but I don't know many of them." So true. Even her directions about getting the water as hot as you can stand it and then slipping in are just perfect and on point. I love reading in the bath. I love getting warm in the bath (hello--it's gotten cold! [that is, it stays below 60 degrees] so I need to warm up somehow). I love just slipping up to my shoulders, looking at the ceiling, and thinking. Just perfect.
7. Sylvia Plath. I had to look up the bubble bath quote and came across this list of 49 Absolutely Stunning Sylvia Plath Quotes. It's been so long since I've read anything by her that I had forgotten how much I love her. I once started reading her journals. I can't tell you how many times I wound up saying either aloud or to myself "You said it, sister!" I really should pick up her journals again. It was so nice to read about someone who had the same concerns and fears about life that I did. I know she didn't have the best ending, but I think she's definitely someone to look up to.
8. Music. I've never really been super into music. I have singers that I really like, but I've never delved deeply into it. But I'm really starting to appreciate music. I don't think I could write without it in the background. It has the power to change your mood or to help you indulge in your mood. The place I work has already started playing Christmas music every few songs and the cheeriness is kind of infectious. Or I'll be kind of blue and flip on Lana Del Rey and burn. Or I'll hear Katy Perry or "All About that Bass" and just feel kind of sexy and empowered. So I'm grateful for the way that music can either deepen or change your mood, depending on what's going on.
9. Books. This goes without saying. I don't know what I would do if I weren't a reader. I don't know what I would talk about if I weren't a reader. I don't know what I would spend my money on if I weren't a reader. As always, I am thankful for the printed word, for parents who didn't monitor what I read (which gave me the chance to read books I probably wasn't ready for), and an extended family who always supported this habit. I think my love of books was written in the stars.
10. My family and friends. Of course. I couldn't make a list without including them, but I also wanted to explore some of the smaller things in my life that I am grateful for. Be a little silly. Not be so serious. I have a wonderful family, even if their decisions do drive me a bit crazy sometimes. I am so blessed for the opportunity to reconnect with some old friends now that I've moved back home. I am so blessed to be able to keep my friends that I moved away from. I also have a wonderful assortment of online friends who are just fantastic.
Those are some of the things I'm thankful for this year. Most of them are small and silly, but I think that those are the best things to appreciate and acknowledge because they are so often taken for granted. Then again so are some of the bigger things, like people. Hm. OK, well, I'll just say that it doesn't hurt to be grateful and to say that you're grateful. Things can go from good to bad to worse very quickly and I think that the ability to find even that one tiny thing in the middle of the dark is an important and defining characteristic that not everyone has. So, lastly, I am grateful that I do have the ability. I've known people who don't have that and they easily get buried when even the tiniest bad thing happens.
I know that not everyone celebrates Thanksgiving, but I'd love to know what you're grateful for!
I cannot believe that the next time I post it will be full-fledged time for Christmas music!
Have a lovely day!
What am I thankful for?
1. The Parade. I love watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade every year. Or at least most of the Parade. I usually miss the last while because we're en route to my grandparents' house. I got to see the whole thing last year and I think I'll get to this year as well. Yay!
2. Coffee. My relationship with coffee began when I was in the seventh grade, when I became hooked on lattes during a visit to my aunt's house in Texas. My relationship continued and strengthened until the day I began drinking black coffee. Honestly, I want to go back in time to the day in college when I decided to drink black coffee and give myself the biggest hug ever. I also want to give myself big hugs on the days that I decided to purchase a French press and when I decided to use Starbucks Italian roast. I owe coffee a lot. It is part of who I am.
3. Two magazines--The Yoga Journal and The New Yorker. I don't know what I would do without them. Flipping through their pages is the highlight of my month or week, as the case may be. One feeds my body and the other feeds my mind. I have a hard time recycling issues of either magazine because what if I need something from it? What if I missed something? Eventually, I'll need to stop being a wiener about it and just stop the hoarding.
4. Socks. I've recently discovered that I can't do much of anything if my feet are cold! I'm just really, distractedly uncomfortable. But if I throw on a pair of socks--bam! I'm ready to write or read or sleep or whatever. One can never have too many pairs of fuzzy socks. I kind of feel bad for guys because they don't really get to wear fuzzy socks.
5. Yoga Mat. I just got a great new yoga mat for my birthday. My older one was simply disintegrating. I felt bad about leaving pink foam behind whenever I went to practice. My new mat has a layer of jute on the top, which is pretty durable. I just need to find the time to practice more! Yoga has been a great blessing to me this year. I started going twice a week to a lunch class before I moved and I can't even begin to tell you how fantastic it was for my mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing. I would love to get back into that kind of practice. (OK--I'll do it!)
6. Bubble baths. I have gotten into quite a bubble bath phase. It just melts away all of the bullshit that goes on! Sylvia Plath once said "there must be quite a few things that a hot bath won't cure, but I don't know many of them." So true. Even her directions about getting the water as hot as you can stand it and then slipping in are just perfect and on point. I love reading in the bath. I love getting warm in the bath (hello--it's gotten cold! [that is, it stays below 60 degrees] so I need to warm up somehow). I love just slipping up to my shoulders, looking at the ceiling, and thinking. Just perfect.
 |
| I loved this image from Google. Just fun! |
7. Sylvia Plath. I had to look up the bubble bath quote and came across this list of 49 Absolutely Stunning Sylvia Plath Quotes. It's been so long since I've read anything by her that I had forgotten how much I love her. I once started reading her journals. I can't tell you how many times I wound up saying either aloud or to myself "You said it, sister!" I really should pick up her journals again. It was so nice to read about someone who had the same concerns and fears about life that I did. I know she didn't have the best ending, but I think she's definitely someone to look up to.
8. Music. I've never really been super into music. I have singers that I really like, but I've never delved deeply into it. But I'm really starting to appreciate music. I don't think I could write without it in the background. It has the power to change your mood or to help you indulge in your mood. The place I work has already started playing Christmas music every few songs and the cheeriness is kind of infectious. Or I'll be kind of blue and flip on Lana Del Rey and burn. Or I'll hear Katy Perry or "All About that Bass" and just feel kind of sexy and empowered. So I'm grateful for the way that music can either deepen or change your mood, depending on what's going on.
 |
| Literally my favorite, music-wise. |
9. Books. This goes without saying. I don't know what I would do if I weren't a reader. I don't know what I would talk about if I weren't a reader. I don't know what I would spend my money on if I weren't a reader. As always, I am thankful for the printed word, for parents who didn't monitor what I read (which gave me the chance to read books I probably wasn't ready for), and an extended family who always supported this habit. I think my love of books was written in the stars.
10. My family and friends. Of course. I couldn't make a list without including them, but I also wanted to explore some of the smaller things in my life that I am grateful for. Be a little silly. Not be so serious. I have a wonderful family, even if their decisions do drive me a bit crazy sometimes. I am so blessed for the opportunity to reconnect with some old friends now that I've moved back home. I am so blessed to be able to keep my friends that I moved away from. I also have a wonderful assortment of online friends who are just fantastic.
Those are some of the things I'm thankful for this year. Most of them are small and silly, but I think that those are the best things to appreciate and acknowledge because they are so often taken for granted. Then again so are some of the bigger things, like people. Hm. OK, well, I'll just say that it doesn't hurt to be grateful and to say that you're grateful. Things can go from good to bad to worse very quickly and I think that the ability to find even that one tiny thing in the middle of the dark is an important and defining characteristic that not everyone has. So, lastly, I am grateful that I do have the ability. I've known people who don't have that and they easily get buried when even the tiniest bad thing happens.
I know that not everyone celebrates Thanksgiving, but I'd love to know what you're grateful for!
I cannot believe that the next time I post it will be full-fledged time for Christmas music!
 |
| This is the part I basically never get to see! |
Have a lovely day!
If you come and visit me on the last Thursday of November one year... we could go to the parade and you could see it IN PERSON!
ReplyDeleteHi thanks for poosting this
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