Tag Archives: Joy Jam

Gratitude Friday

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frozenmarshThis post started as a mashup of The Little Bliss List and Joy Jam, and as such is meant to celebrate: the little things that brought me hope and happiness this week, the sweet stuff of life, those small gifts that brought me joy this week. By sharing them, I not only make public my gratitude, but maybe also help you notice your own good stuff and send some positive energy out into the world.

1. Friends who will gently and lovingly tell you the truth about yourself. And who are willing to be vulnerable and share their own truth, and stick around for long, heartfelt conversations about what’s working and what isn’t, and to brainstorm what might ease some of the suffering, but also to remind me that it’s not that bad, that in fact it’s all pretty workable and some of it is even great.

2. Light. People may be taking down their holiday twinkly lights, but the candles on my meditation shrine make me feel that same quiet anticipation of good things.

shrinenewyears3. Time away from my paid work. Some emails are starting to trickle in this week, but I’m mostly staying away. I need the break, the rest, to reset and restore, contemplate and plan. I feel much clearer about a lot of things and am grateful.

4. My Soul Mantra One Word necklace from Liz Lamoreux. I chose to use “free” instead of my full word for 2013, freedom, because I wanted the necklace to communicate the way I want to feel. I chose the open circle washer because, well, it’s open. And I went with a light green aventurine because I like the color, it reminds me of beach glass, and because this gemstone represents opportunity and luck. It is said to increase perception and creative insight, and it is a heart chakra stone.

freenecklace5. This idea, #15 on the list, “Turn Your Hangers to Find Out What You Really Wear.” I am totally doing it. I’ve heard of a similar idea before (put all your stuff on black hangers, and after you wear something, put it back in the closet on a white hanger, and anything still on a black hanger after six months, get rid of because you aren’t wearing it), but had never done it because it was a tad more complicated and sort of wasteful (I’d have to buy a whole new set of hangers)–but this version is SO simple. I want clothes that look and feel good, are functional and high quality and beautiful, and that’s not at all what is in my closet right now. Let the great purge begin!

Bonus Joy: While a tiny part of it was a bit rough, we had another week with Dexter. Here’s a picture of him this morning. I was at my desk writing and he was underneath chewing on his Little D, his favorite toy. Little D has beans in his feet, and Dexter likes to crunch them (I think some ancient and wild part of him thinks they are real bones).

bigdlittledbones

Gratitude Friday

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decembersky02This post is a mashup of The Little Bliss List and Joy Jam, and as such is meant to celebrate: the little things that brought me hope and happiness this week, the sweet stuff of life, those small gifts that brought me joy this week. By sharing them, I not only make public my gratitude, but maybe also help you notice your own good stuff and send some positive energy out into the world.

1. We are still here. I don’t actually believe in dire catastrophic predictable “the world will end on this certain date and time” scenarios. I think think it will either come in a flash without warning, or be clearly on its way, coming at a slow creep but equally unstoppable, and I think that if it happens it will be kind of like how our individual deaths will come–as either a surprise, a shock, suddenly, or at the end of a long goodbye. And yet, I did today as I do when I wake up every morning and felt gratitude for still being here, for getting another chance to ease suffering in the world and in myself, to begin again.

2. Netflix and Hulu, TV on demand. I don’t want or need TV all the time, but when I am tired and need to rest on the couch, when sleeping is too much but reading would be too hard and I don’t want to stare at my toes or the wall, when I want someone to tell me a story, I want to be able to watch. Sometimes that might mean an important documentary like Half the Sky, and others it might mean something silly and slightly creepy like the entire three seasons of United States of Tara.

3. SNOW!!! We finally got some, only about four inches but so beautiful and cold and quiet. More, please.

4. Christmas Music and The Happy Holiday Hearth. Probably because of Dexter’s cancer and “what happened last Friday,” I am feeling extra raw, homesick and weepy this season, wishing for the long gone days of Christmas at Grandma’s Farm. Along with twinkly lights, classic holiday music sung by voices much loved but long gone and my fireplace dvd bring me comfort. (Don’t mock me until you’ve tried it–it’s all kinds of awesome).

happyholidayhearth5. Permission to take it easy. I’m at least a week behind on Reverb12 posts, my house is a mess, laundry needs done, the checkbook should have been balanced almost a month ago, I didn’t do any Christmas cards or bake, lots of people I normally give to this time of year might feel slighted, but I just don’t have it in me. I am honoring instead how hard I’ve been working this year, how much I’ve accomplished, how many times I tried and failed, how much is still left to do, and giving myself permission to rest, to give up, surrender, let go and just be.

Bonus Joy: Dexter is still here. Apparently, he plans on sticking around for Christmas, so I bought him presents yesterday, three new “babies.” This picture was taken on Sunday morning towards the end of our walk. His left eye is running, (a symptom of the tumor in his nose), so he looks sort of like a Goth dog.

dextereye