Skywatch Friday

These pictures were taken on the drive to Charleston, SC back in November. We pulled over somewhere in rural Georgia to capture the stunning light and color. After pulling back onto the road, we realized that it wasn't the first time we'd found an amazing sunset in that stretch of countryside- this sunset was photographed on almost the exact same date back in 2005! We'll see if the trend continues, next time we head to Charleston for Thanksgiving. :)

A Toast

Warm sun on my face. A lazy breeze shuffles through the magnolia leaves, chilly reminder that even the lowcountry has winter. I watch a cat slink under the camellias, molten, merging into the shadows. Twittering birds erupt in a cloud of scolding. The cat stalks off, disgusted.

Laughter swells as someone backs out the door with arms laden. The storm door slams shut behind them, cutting off the cheerful din. Conversation drifts toward me on the breeze as some of the family stroll back from the nearby pond, where they'd been admiring the resident 'gator. Their voices mingle with the mouth-watering sounds and aromas of frying turkey. Children fly past on bikes and scooters. Somewhere, a dog barks. I stretch my legs out in the grass before me. Another car pulls up, bearing friends and family. The magnolia whispers overhead.

A child bumps my arm as I pour, spilling rich red wine over the rim. Sunlight shimmers in beads of deepest ruby clinging, sliding, as I quietly lift my glass in homage to this day. Thanksgiving, indeed.

Thanksgiving

I know your blog reader is probably awash in gratitude right now, but I can't let this day slide by without acknowledgment. Today is Thanksgiving Day in the U.S., and regardless of the holiday's origins it is one of my favorite days of the year. Some argue that it's counter-productive to set aside one day for giving thanks, when gratitude is something we should all practice on a daily basis. While I understand that point, I don't think Thanksgiving (the holiday) precludes thanksgiving (as a daily practice). Thanksgiving is a reminder and an opportunity. (Not to mention a delicious tradition!)

Before we head to my sister-in-law's, I wanted a moment of reflection. My life is so full of blessings. Health, family, friends, food and shelter. . . so many things that fill me with wonder. I won't list them all here- some of my (walking, talking) blessings are very impatient for me to get moving. ;) I will end simply with the best possible prayer, no matter the creed or faith- the closest phrase I can think of to express this sense of fullness, wonder and gratitude:

Thank you.
Thank you.
From the depths of my being, thank you.

On TV, happiness, good health and gratitude

On TV, happiness, good health and gratitude

Current mood: cheerful

Wow, so I was stuck at the studio for awhile last night (my car is in the shop for routine stuff) and to kill time I was watching TV. I don't ever watch TV (we do not get any channels at all at the house) and I am pretty amazed. What an incredible, colossal waste of time! It was mildly interesting at times, but that wasn't enough to make up for the bland worthlessness, the blatant manipulation and absolute banality of the programming. It was almost like I could feel my brain cells begin to liquefy. I swear I do not remember TV being this bad- either it is worse than it was when I was in high school, or else my absence from the medium has given me an objectivity that I lacked before. I seem to remember the "educational" channels having some good stuff to show. . . but anything that caught my fancy last night turned out to be stretched, edited and beaten into submission so much that it lost what value it's premise held. Man, do they ever know how to beat a dead horse. My resolve to never get TV here at the house has been reenergized.


OK- that said, I did actually come away with a couple thoughts and ideas to ponder. Mostly they are recipe ideas from the food network (mmm, a pinot noir reduction as a glaze for turkey. . .), but there was also one program that discussed "Happiness and Your Health". (The long program could have been condensed into 5 minutes and still easily made it's point, but I digress). It talked about various studies that show that laughing a lot, being upbeat and happy, loving people and having gratitude will all improve your health in concrete ways. Furthermore, if you do not naturally feel happy, you can fake it and still reap many of the health rewards.

There are clubs around the world called "laughter clubs", whose members aim to laugh every day, for many minutes a day. (I remember someone saying 30 minutes a day is a good goal). If they don't feel like laughing, they fake it and laugh anyway- and lo and behold, their mood improves. Over time laughter can improve your mood, lower blood pressure, reduce stress and impart an overall feeling of well-being. (So can meditation, even for beginners).

Caring deeply for others improves your health. Positive people enjoy better health than negative people do. An ability to communicate well with others leads to a better sense of well-being and a more positive outlook. And cultivating a sense of gratitude for the good things in your life can actually have many concrete health benefits.

Which brings us to Thanksgiving: silly perhaps to have a holiday to remind us to be grateful for our blessings, but it doesn't hurt to be reminded of something we need to be doing every day. I love Thanksgiving, not least because I enjoy the food preparation, traditions and the shared meal. But it is also a holiday that is not so commercialized; a holiday whose original meaning is not obfuscated by layers and layers of ancilliary trappings. (Which might only be because it is such a young holiday, but the why of this point isn't really my concern here). It is a great opportunity to practice concious gratitude, and hopefully it can be a jumping-off place for us to remember to practice gratitude on a daily basis.

Be thankful- it's good for you!

Gratitude part 2: an article.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Gratitude part 2: an article. Current mood: tired This is an article that was sent to a yahoo group I'm in, and it directly relates to some of my earlier blog post today. I thought I'd reprint it here for you. Hearth & Soul Jean G. Fitzpatrick How Kids Learn Gratitude There are simple ways to cultivate your child's natural thankfulness. Moments of thankfulness open our hearts to joy, fill us with peace, connect us to those around us. They help us feel blessed. Recently, scientists have been taking a closer look at how positive emotions affect us. Barbara Fredrickson, for example, a psychology professor at the University of Michigan, has found that cultivating gratitude may actually undo the effects of negative emotions such as anger and anxiety. Too often, though, when we try to teach our children thankfulness we go about it in surprisingly negative ways. We wait until moments when we're worried we have spoiled them for life. "You ought to be grateful for all the stuff you have," we tell them angrily after we have tripped over their toys for the 10th time. Or we teach thankfulness as "reverse envy." I once heard a particularly grumpy Sunday school teacher lead a class in a prayer that was a classic of the genre. "Thank you, Jesus, for all the things we have," she said dourly, as her class of kindergartners bowed their heads, hands folded. "Because we know that there are so many other children who have no parents and no toys and no clothes and no nice house." The underlying idea here is that we ought to value our possessions because others don't have them--an approach more likely to inspire guilt than gratitude. The reverse-envy approach was studied by researchers at Southern Methodist University and the University of California at Davis, using three groups of volunteers. One group kept a daily log of five hassles or complaints. The second group wrote down five ways in which they thought they were better off than their peers. And the third group wrote down five things each day for which they were grateful. After three weeks, those in the group who kept gratitude lists reported having more energy, fewer health problems, and a greater feeling of well-being than those who complained or gloated. What's the best way to help children experience the heart-expanding effects of gratitude? Here are some simple ways to help children cultivate gratitude on a daily basis. Give thanks in prayer. Set aside a regular time for thank-you prayers, before dinner or breakfast, or at bedtime. Give thanks for small things--finding a colorful fall leaf on the driveway, getting over a cold, seeing the dog do a funny thing. Young children are naturally thankful, according to Montessori teacher Sofia Cavalletti. She writes in "The Religious Potential of the Child," "The prayer of children up to the age of seven or eight is almost exclusively prayer of thanksgiving and praise." Say thank you to your family. Research suggests that people are actually more likely to express their thanks to strangers or acquaintances than to their own family members or peers, according to the National Institute for Healthcare Research. But when parents show appreciation to one another, to their children, and to other people in their lives, children learn to do the same thing. When your child does a household chore--even if it's one of his or her assigned tasks--say thank you. When your partner does something considerate, express your appreciation. Slow down and smell the roses. Babies and toddlers are fascinated by sights and sounds and smells, from the color red to a ringing bell to cookies in the oven. The older we get, the more oblivious we become to the everyday sensory pleasures of the world we live in. When we pause to enjoy them, we regain the openness that is an essential part of gratitude. Make sure your child doesn't spend so much time with electronic entertainment that he or she misses out on the tactile joys of flowers, plants, crayons, paint, music, and dancing. Create a year-round thanksgiving spot. This is a home altar of sorts. Find a convenient but safe place--the refrigerator door, a bulletin board, or a small table or shelf. Make this a special spot for things you are thankful for--pictures of people you love, souvenirs and memorabilia, handmade treasures, and, of course, your child's artwork. Invite your child to add his or her own items, and set aside time now and then to admire the objects and pictures together. Teach your child to write thank-you notes. Even if kids write them on a computer, thank-you notes means more when they specifically mention the gift and say something appreciative about it. Writing thank-you notes to coaches, teachers, baby-sitters, neighbors, clergy, and other caring adults helps a child appreciate all the people who care about him or her (and it's a nice antidote to the complaints most adults hear). Keep a gratitude journal. One way to help your child develop thankfulness is to cultivate it in yourself. In a notebook, write down three to five things you're thankful for every day. Keep the focus small and specific--give thanks for a child's patience during a long wait, for a pan of brownies that turned out well, for a good joke someone told at lunch. You may wish to share the journal with your child. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

Just a quick check-in

Thursday, December 01, 2005

Just a quick check-in Current mood: busy Whew! Geez, have I been busy- I'm finally getting a couple minutes to sit down and type a bit. I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving- it's one of my favorite holidays, because for the most part it is still meaningful and has not been buried in distractions and commercialization over the years. Sure, the grocery stores rake it in but mainly it is a time to visit with family and be grateful for the blessings we have. This year we travelled to Charleston to be with Billy's family, who all travelled to Charleston to be with Billy's sister and brother-in-law who live there. We had a lovely time, enjoying the city and each other. Billy and Simon rode a bike all over that city, and I managed to leave personal belongings in several restaurants over the course of a couple days. Luckily, I managed to retrieve everything before we left. It's those lost brain cells- I think pregnancy sucks them out of you. Or have I already said that?? It's a shame I have been too busy to blog, because I've had several thoughts that I would like to expand on in writing. And right now, my brain is swimming with all the chores that need doing (etc) and I can't seem to remember or focus on any of them. Ah, well- at least I got to sit down and put my feet up for a minute. I'll see if I can blog tonight.