Recently, I camped at the Hollywood RV Park in Los Angeles. An artist painted beautiful tributes to the Wizard of OZ throughout the park. This morning, I wonder where the yellow brick road will take you?
Continue reading
This is my 32nd post on gratitude, and we have learned so much. To the extent to which you want to practice gratitude, I invite you to consider the various pathways from which you may select your “state of gratitude”. I borrow labels for your choices from current soft drinks, political strategists, podcasts, and traditional print literatures.
Gratitude may be expressed at any point along a continuum. In my post “What Money Can’t Buy”, I discussed intentional acts from sporadically grateful to always grateful. Thus, imagine a horizontal line from left to right with little markings (like on a ruler) to indicate your “extent of gratitude”.
Continue reading
This morning I woke to bright sunshine. It surprised me so early in the morning as typically the sun begins to shine around 10 a.m. As my morning routine began with a glance at my computer, I found something perfect for today!
Nature Deficit Disorder
What made this phrase so perfect is because I suspect that many of you in Texas, on the East coast, and Canada are experiencing this disorder just about this time of year (February) with the tough winter you have had. The dark, gloomy, cold, chilling winter has given you all a “nature deficit disorder”.
Continue reading
I like to think about gratitude as a “state of being”, but I am searching to learn how to keep myself in that “state” throughout the days and weeks. On tennessean.com I found an opinion piece by Bishop Joseph W. Walker III about gratitude. One particular point he made was:
Add up the things in your life that money cannot buy.
Continue reading
My son gave me a cute little pocket gratitude journal from Pockitudes. It was perfect timing for his gift because this last week of February 2021seems full of strife: women in my local book club are stressed, the warranty for my new touring coach seems to be worthless, and my little Cockapoo had to go to the Vet. It seemed really hard to express joy and gratitude to you today! Thankfully, I found something to tell you!
Continue reading
I just watched the movie Nomadland (2020), about a woman living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad, traveling through the American West after she loses everything in a recession. It was an interesting snapshot with persons I have met, especially during this pandemic. It seems that we are all managing our daily joys and problems, as best we can according to our personalities and temperaments.
I love water. I love the ocean, so when I came across an article on the Big Five personality traits from Wikipedia, known as the OCEAN model, I took a closer look. The model identifies five traits:
Continue reading
Last year I made a YouTube video titled “Through” on my YouTube Channel, Aspiring through healing to health and wellness, and learned the mighty power of one little word “THROUGH“. I had forgotten about that video until this morning when I came across an article titled, “9 Eye-Opening Ways to Expand Your Empathy and Gratitude” by Chris Holder. Hence, I am reminded of the power of words and when attached to images, change is amazingly possible. Through our words and images, especially on social media today, we motivate others to action.
Dr. Holder describes 9 actions we may each choose to keep us in a “State of Grace”. When I got to his number 4, I paused:
Continue reading
Yesterday was a beautiful day, full of sunshine, so I went to the ocean. The sunset was lovely, families were on the beach, and all seemed well. When I returned home, I flipped on the TV and watched the terrible news about the freezing crisis in Texas, the power outages, the burst water pipes, and I felt awful watching those suffering families.
I wonder how can I feel two emotions, gratitude and empathy, in a matter of moments? Is it ok to feel blessed by the weather near my home while feeling horror watching the weather just a few States away? The suffering of the children in Texas is difficult to watch against the joy of the children on the beaches in California.
Najma Khorrami, in Psychology Today, described how empathy and gratitude are linked to each other through an explanation of neuroscience.
Continue reading
People are so meaningful in our lives. It is interesting for me to listen to others’ impressions and expectations for these posts. Some of you love “the photos” in each post; others love “the written words”. You are building a community of “gratitude expressers”daily, and my sincere appreciation to each of you for your kindness. In response, my intention is to be a stimulus for our community. But, my questions for today, include:
Should we deliberately find an event, or act about which to express gratitude today? Or
Should we randomly go about the action of “everyday responsibilities” and wait to see if we see or feel gratitude?
Look at this bird, freely flying through the air. Do you think the bird flight is purposeful or random? Maybe the bird enjoys both. Maybe the bird doesn’t care where he is going; he is just hanging around.
My friend “Siri” tells us that to be purposeful is to be determined, intentional, or to have a useful resolve. She notes that random is made without “conscious decision”, unspecified, unfamiliar, having an equal chance to happen, unusual, unexpected, or unknown.
Continue reading
As I examined the wooded setting of Airy the RV in the photo above, I found pleasure in the breaking of dawn through the trees, as well as in the lit underbelly of the coach. Both types of lighting touched my mind’s eye and I asked why? One light protected me near the the RV, while the other protected my early morning drive from deer leaping, or hikers walking.
One light is man-made and artificial; the other is God made and natural. Jill Harness noted on hunker.com that there are several differences between natural and artificial light, between firelight and candle light, and fluorescent bulbs, flashlights, or sunlight. There are a surprising number of differences between light sources found in nature versus electronic sources.
The intensity of light, the duration of light, and
the amount of light is only under your control with artificial lighting.
I made a note to myself to ask “Do I have control of my life’s light?”
Continue reading
Gratitude Squared 