in thanks

When I open my eyes each morning, I will open my heart as well and begin with thank you.

When the list is long, and I’m not sure what to do first, I will start with thank you.

When life feels impossible, or heavy and hard, I will remember the ease of being thankful.

When I think I can’t, I’ll know I can. And feel thankful.

When I’m worried, may gratitude take me under her wing in comfort and hope,

When jealousy whispers all I have not, may gratitude sing joyously of all I do have.

When the day slows and darkness returns, may I find my heart open still and end with thank you.

silence

I’ve been craving a bit of silence.

Is there such a thing as sound fatigue? A resounding societal din I’m no longer able to tolerate?

Last week I sat outside after dark. It was cold and raining. Rainfall, I thought. A sound to soothe the dissonance. A remedy.  

Maybe peace on earth begins with a little bit of quiet. 

One second of silence between drops of rain. Or an overnight swaddling of snowfall. Or the soundless caress of candlelight.

Deep, restorative, necessary.

Helpful.

Hopeful.

here is my day

Here is my day.

What will I do with it? What attitudes and expectations will I bring to it? What goals, dreams, or ambitions do I have for it?

Or, shall I simply live it?

Come what may.

Life’s complexities are often of my own making – or perhaps my own participation. It’s likely, life’s simplicities can be mine as well.

Here in this day, may I be mindful of simple living. The choice of simple living.

What does this simple living look like? How will I know when I’m living it?

Maybe it’s in the noticing and then the appreciation.

Appreciating the burst of black crows against a blue sky. The prayer of a pair of leaves roadside. The ability to hoist my own socks after a debilitating few weeks of back pain. The first few flakes of snow adrift on a breezy afternoon.

A year’s worth of accumulated hope.

So is simple living walking one step at a time on the day’s path? Expecting nothing but noting everything? Delighting in each minute’s arrival and feeling grateful as it departs? In the moment, of the moment, and most especially . . . author of the moment.

How grand to watch the sun travel across the sky, taking great pleasure in the simplicity of being here to see it.

How glorious to greet the first star as night falls, grateful for living today and wishing on that star for a simple tomorrow.