All the While

I am so happy that Fall is here. I love this time of year! September will always be the time of new beginnings for me; too many years of starting a new school year I guess. I'm feeling renewed, especially with some cooler weather, but realizing how long it's been since I've been inspired to write. My last post before today was July 16th!

Clearly, this means that I have not spent enough time outdoors recently, since nature is my best inspiration. And this has been pointed out to me in a couple of indirect ways. I've had a difficult time sleeping the past few weeks and it was suggested to me that I should walk around outside, barefoot for about a half-hour each day. Something about how static electricity builds up in our systems and walking barefoot outside discharges it. Then I came across this quote in two different places over the course of a couple days: "Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair" -Kahlil Gibran.

How beautiful is that! I can no longer ignore the message as it's being so clearly presented to me. And as I stepped outside this evening to pot my spider plants I breathed in the cool, moist air; I felt the dampness of the earth on my feet as I stepped from the driveway onto the lawn; I listened to the songs of the crickets fill the air; and I simply felt alive!

Thankfulness

I've always liked the idea of the "gratitude stone"...keep it in your pocket and everytime you feel it there, think of something you're grateful for. Or even my gratitude journal...writing down 5 things each day that I was thankful for. Recently, however, I've decided to try something a little different.

I started some laundry the other day and as I looked down at the 4 loads to be done, I felt a sense of dread...doing the laundry isn't so much the problem as folding it is! And suddenly this thought popped into my head, this feeling of gratitude consumed me. I felt thankful that we have the clothes to create this laundry; that we have a washer and dryer; that I have a loving husband whose laundry I get to do; that I can be here to help Gram with her's; and I just let those thoughts keep flowing. I felt so good doing laundry that night, that I have decided to apply this exercise to all my "little" chores.

Today I went grocery shopping alone! On the drive I thought about how grateful I was to have a vehicle to drive to the store; to have money to buy groceries; to be able to provide healthy, delicious meals for Ron and Gram; to have had three excellent cooks in our family who taught me (thanks Mom, Dad & Gram!). Even cleaning the bathroom this evening...I can't even express how thankful I am that Ron and I have our own beautiful bathroom now; for my dad who is such an incredible handyman that he did most of it himself; for indoor plumbing and hot showers!

I feel over-joyed with the blessings of this life...maybe chores aren't so much fun, but the life that surrounds having those chores is beautiful. Or maybe I'm just trying to psych myself up for folding all that laundry now...!