Thankful in the quiet.
I have a soul that tends toward comparison and self pity. Leaning and slanting into a puddle of ugly measuring. I know how to battle it now, because there is no better remedy for self pity than the open eyes of thankfulness.
Here are some heart brightening things. Things I love. Things that steer me back to gratitude.
- a quiet morning
- poetry
- the beauty parlor I love, with all the older Thai ladies
- the Thai language
- language of any kind
- rice
- Solomon’s heart
- Isaac’s laugh
- Kenya’s hugs
- Kai’s care
- Leafy’s mind
- Chinua’s voice, arms, songs
- flowering trees
- Isaac’s square little feet
- friends
- boiled peanuts
- spicy food with Leaf
- nail polish
- God with me, even when I’m a wretch
- real change
- good talks with the teenagers
- long days
- yarn
- the fact that the world is in color
- birdsong in the morning
- a cup of green tea in the afternoon
- Christy living here
- the fact that shopkeepers in my town know my name (so they don’t just call me the foreigner anymore)
- our big station wagon
- hot-springs
- the gift of aging
- a faithful husband
- bracelets
- Winnie’s crab dance
- light at every different time of day and year
- my little dog
- kimchi fried rice for breakfast
- yellow noodle yunanese salad
- Lou, my house helper
- books: reading them, writing them, and reading them to my kids
- Isaac in the morning
- fried eggs
- hummus
- my blender
- coconut trees
- the river (I have found myself there several times this week, watching the streetlights on its black night surface)
- my kitchen
- my new friend who greets me all around the town, whenever he catches sight of me, even at my sink when I am washing dishes
- my mandolin
- possibility
- pens, books, paper, paints, pencils
- backwards dancing in the kitchen at night
- talking on the phone with my parents
- sunsets
- my banana seed necklace
- hand embroidered textiles
- my pillow
- frankincense
- hanging out with kids
- mountains
- picking moringa for my salad from the weedy lot next door
- podcasts
- our piano
- God everywhere, loving me.
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