Saved by the Shower

#51- Hot Water - feeling a little short on my gratitude list tonight, I was saved when I took a shower and remembered how wealthy and luxurious I am to have hot water.




#52 - Oprah's phone pledge -“I pledge to make my car a No Phone Zone. Beginning right now, I will do my part to help put an end to distracted driving by not texting or using my phone while I am driving. I will ask other drivers I know to do the same. I pledge to make a difference.”

#53 - My follow-through - even though I am ready for bed and didn't have more than 1 or two gratitudes in mind. There was no doubt in my mind that I would sit down, write this, and find some.

#54 - William Kamkwamba - The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind - using a half of a bicycle, items that had been discarded, books from a library, and lots of ingenuity, he made a windmill that produced power and transformed the lives of his whole community.

#55 - Memorized quotes that nourish my mind and heart - Kamkwamba's story reminded me of this one

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."

Gandhi

So Here Come the Politics

#46 - My Fiesty Self - My fiesty side comes out rarely, so it is always a surprise when she is suddenly there. Today - I got on the bus - and as I walked to my seat the man pictured below asked me, "Whose signs you got?"

"John Marty."

"Waste of time."

Well, instead of feeling crushed, that fiesty woman inside woke up and thought,

"Why would you tell anyone who is participating in the political process that they are wasting time? I can think of a lot of common activities that might be considered a waste of time, but supporting someone who is a beautiful honorable man who is working hard to help others could not possibly be a waste of time." Then I thought, "Hey, this guy just gave me something to be grateful about in my gratitude blog!" Then I thought, "It would be so great if I could take his photo.......but I am not that fiesty."

Well, soon after I had this thought, the person behind and in front of me left the bus and no one else seemed to be paying attention. So I did it!



And it doesn't stop there. When he got off his cell phone (which he'd been on the entire time) he approached me and asked some condescending yet somewhat interested question. I answered. He said he had spoke to John Marty that day. I asked if here were lobbying. No, he's a "political writer."

"Is that why you discourage people from doing what they believe in?" I asked in a genuinely pleasant voice because I was feeling happy. He said then that he and John Marty disagreed about things (obviously)...and that was my bus stop.

#47 - John Marty - just because I genuinely trust and like the guy and he is in our government and he is trying and that is simply beautiful.



#48 - Phone Conversation with Rukavina supporter - I was calling delegates tonight and one woman I called said she was making phone calls for Rukavina (also running for governor). She wanted to get my last name because we live in the same district and she would need to call me. I gave her the info on my Dad too so she didn't need to call him...and we just had a wonderful conversation. I learned some more about another candidate from her and why a bus route got changed....

#49 - Corporations are Not People - I called a man named David tonight. He is the CEO of a small (1 person) contract software engineering corporation. He and his friend Kurt, who is also a CEO, are going to the government center this weekend to apply for a marriage license for their corporations. (It took me a moment on the phone to get the joke in that, but he wasn't joking.) He has called ahead and the Government Center will accept the application and refer it to the county attorney. The county attorney will deny it and tell him to take the letter to the district court...

If corporations are people (as the supreme court recently ruled) they can get married.

David asked if I had been to the recent town hall forum with our state senator. I hadn't. Our state senator said that all the laws on the books that limit corporate donations are now unconstitutional.

"So when will Corporations literally be able to vote?" David asks. Well, this weekend his corporation is going to try and get married!

#50 - A Quote About Wild Women

"Your wild woman is your authentic, powerful self. She's not the wild woman whom the media and society have exploited to mean someone who's lost her center, who's out of control. No, wild woman is your centered self, your divine self, the woman you were born to be."

Lorraine Mejia-Green

The Loft Literary Center Summer Catalog 2010

http://www.melissaharris.com/
(the card)

I wonder what I am going to be grateful for tomorrow?

#41 - Two strangers comments - Two women I don't know, who live in other countries, made comments that they enjoyed my blog today. I knew it was good for me to write this, and at the same time just writing it for myself wouldn't sustain me long term. Those comments were beautiful gifts. Thank you!

#42 - Ripples of water running down a melting street




#43 - Eckhart Tolle - Listening to him speak is like a bath of warm water - worries, thoughts, useless mental activity go down the drain and the quiet space of clarity - arrives.

http://www.eckharttolletv.com/eckharttolle.com

#44 - Central heat - Sometimes when I hear the furnace kick on, I sit beside the vent on the floor. I read, or write, or simply enjoy the warmth. This is a very simple pleasure in life and I've never understood why I am the only person I know of who does it. It helps if your house is kept slightly cool, you are drawn to the warmth.

#45 - Ukulele

"Today, like every other day, we wake up empty and frightened

Don't open the door to the study and begin reading

Take down a musical instrument

Let the beauty we love

be what we do"

Rumi
(Coleman Barks translation)

A few weeks ago I guess those Rumi words sank in. I was feeling empty and frightened and I took down a musical instrument that sat on top of a cabinet for 20 years, and started playing. I thought it would last 5 minutes, but using the Fun with the Ukulele book that was beside it, a half hour later I was still playing. I played a few times more that week and then for a couple weeks in a row I played at least 1/2 hour daily. The library doesn't have too many ukulele books, but using inter-library loan I have a fair number on my way.

This is something I never had any desire for previously and now I am daily drawn to it. I don't know its purpose, where it will take me or how long it will last, but I do know that now it is simply fun.

***************

Last night I laid in bed and thought to myself, "I wonder what I am going to be grateful for tomorrow?"

The Dead Live On

#36 - An email sent from a former writing instructor - She wanted permission to use my writing as an example in her current class, it does "such a wonderful job of illustrating how intuitive writing flows and how it can lend itself to deeper writing and more cohesive "complete" pieces." YEAH!

#37 - How the Dead are Still with us - I was reflecting on this last night. My cousin was giving my face a massage and then she lifted my head and gently kind of rolled it around in her hands. I was instantly reminded of my mother. My mom used to offer "head cradles." Krystal was the only one I remember taking her up on the offer. Now, more than a few years later, that action was still inside her and being passed on.



I also thought about this today in relation to my grandfather. He was a musician. However, he died when I was 4 and music was hardly present in my life as a child. We have a few instruments left over though, which my cousins and I played enthusiastically this weekend. They never met our grandfather, but because of him, music was pouring through our hands.

#38- Lungs of harmonica players - This is more an appreciation...one of the instruments we played with was a harmonica. I don't smoke and I play soccer, so I think my lungs would be pretty good, but I played the harmonica maybe 20 seconds and they were exhausted. Harmonica players have impressive lung capacity.

#39- Time to myself - This has always been extremely important to me as someone on the far end of the introvert scale. I appreciate it tonight in the quiet after the house is emptied.

#40 - Safe, restful sleep - I knew this would end up in here. I wanted to wait until I really felt it. Right now I am so grateful that I am about to go to bed - safely. I am not concerned about violence outside my home, I am not concerned about violence inside my home, my insides are not being eaten up with worry. I will rest believing and knowing - I am safe.

Full of LIfe

#31 - Geocaching at 4:30am - My brother suggested getting up at 4:30am to go geocaching and my cousins enthusiastically agreed. (I guess he really didn't think they would get up, but they did.) They still have such excitement for life.

#32 - Not having children - has given me lots of time and energy to spend time doing things I otherwise probably wouldn't - like having close relationships with my cousins.


#33 - My cousin made me laugh so hard when she came out in this outfit to teach an aerobics class.

#34 - Simple touch - They were rambunctious and then one of them suggested we use the massage table to give backrubs and they instantly quieted down. I have always thought that everyone looks beautiful when they are fully relaxed.



#35 - They have to sleep - at some point though, thank God, because I get exhausted ( even though I did not get up at 4:30).

Hanging with My Cousins

#26 - My Winter Breakfast - Steel cut oats, pecans, walnuts, almonds, and raisins





#27 -  The picture individual volunteering to unload groceries - and her ability to quietly and without light enter a room where someone is sleeping



#28 - My cousin in pink's excitement to do a reader's theater I wrote in college.

#29 - A Conversation - Looking at this blog and explaining lobby day sparked a great conversation with one of my cousins. (We were lobbying about comprehensive sex ed in schools).


#30 - Reading before bed with my cousin - this is undoubtedly one of my favorite things in life when someone else and I am in that quiet space together before bed, with a book.

Bebe

#21 - Electronic savvy of my Dad and Brother - I wonder what my life would look like without them. Would I have any electronics? Most electronics I've owned were either gifted or passed on from them. They also help me figure things out - like today a virus warning which I'm not sure how to proceed with.


#22 - Letter from my cousin - I feel honored that when my 11yr old cousin was assigned to write a letter for her language arts class, she chose me to be the recipient. This reminds me of when she sent me "Flat Stanley" a few years back. Flat Stanley is a boy (in a children's book) who got squished flat as a pancake when a bulletin board fell on him, otherwise he is fine, and his flatness allows him to go in the mail on adventures. Ashley sent him to me as another school assignment. I was supposed to take him with me and write about what we did. At the time I worked in an office, so Flat Stanley sat in my cube all day and actually made friends with some small sized characters who lived in a co-workers cube. Flat Stanley also came with me to Yoga class. I put him (a bit self consciously I admit) at the head of my mat leaned against the mirror. Before class a woman leaned over and whispered to me, "Is that Flat Stanley?" :).

#23 - Having someone else in the house who cooks (healthy too :)



#24 - Bebe - Ha! I "published" this 10 minutes ago and had "quiet" listed as my #24, but then my brother put in the new Bebe CD, and I'll use quiet another day! I'll add my brother to this because he has introduced me to some good music over the years - Ani DiFranco, Jason Mraz, Shakira (who I have mixed feelings about), and Bebe. Bebe is by far my favorite musician in the Spanish language. The music is catchy and diverse whether or not you know Spanish, but if you do know Spanish, the lyrics are full of substance as well.



#25 - Nothing - Similar to how sleep allows us to function awake, I think doing nothing/letting the mind wander aimlessly allows us to pay attention. This reminds me of a quote from Christine Northrup M.D. "Illness is the only acceptable form of meditation in Western society." When I was looking up that quote to verify the source I found something else I scarcely hear, but myself feel. "Instead of stopping to take a break to rest or recharge in our daily lives, illness becomes the acceptable form of mediation and rest. Illness gives people a reason to take a break from the busy grind of daily living, and also gives our body permission to rest. Is getting a cold or the flu a bad thing? Perhaps not! Maybe our body needs the rest and it is better to rest with a cold or flu than with a more serious form of illness." Rachela Bounincontri http://alturl.com/3cxz