Being Thankful

Today is the U.S. holiday of Thanksgiving: the most-traveled weekend and one of the most family-oriented holidays. Something about giving thanks reminds us of family even if our definition of family is different. For some it is blood relations. For others it is family-of-choice. For many it is a blending of blood relations, marriage relations and friends. A time when we open our hearts and our homes to others.

At some point, I learned to be thankful for everything. Perhaps it came in young adulthood with the Bible verse that says In everything give thanks. Although I don't recall ever following that as precisely as it directs, I learned to acknowledge and express my gratitude more and more.

According to the Law of Attraction, we draw to us whatever it is we think and talk about. The more I felt and expressed my gratitude, the more I found coming my way to be grateful for. I'm not sure if it was that more wonderful things happened or that I was noticing more of what was already there.

I plan to regularly acknowledge more of the things for which I am grateful even beyond this Thanksgiving season. At this moment, some of the things are simple: clean sheets, heat, cold pack for my jammed toe, the cat. Other things are essential: my partner, my daughter, my family and friends. Still others, though non-essential, bring me joy, peace, camaraderie: my Starbucks' kaffeeklatsch, my exercise class, my Facebook writing support. Once begun, I find myself on a roll until I mention even the most minute item. My best time to consider them is before falling asleep. In the space of being thankful, I sleep far more peacefully.

For what are you thankful? How do you categorize your gratitude? Do you have ~ or have you had ~ a gratitude practice? What is/was it? Have you noticed the more you express your gratitude, the more things come your way to be grateful for? Why do you think that is? How do you celebrate Thanksgiving?

Letting Sadness Be

Aleph, Paulo Coelho

For some unknown reason, I felt a great sadness weighing me down part of the day yesterday. It's a moveable feeling. It shows up every now and again, as though I have lost something or someone recently. Grief. And yet not quite to the defined extreme as grief can be.

When I came across this quote, it was amazingly applicable to what I felt. Most specifically, Tears are words that need to be shed. Something inside me, deeper than I knew possible at the moment, needed to be shed. Needed, even called, to be released.

I know people who believe that we continually need to keep our energy and perspective at the highest vibration or level possible. If we continue to focus on the positive and the best outcomes, we draw that to ourselves. That's the Law of Attraction. Although I agree with the principle, my experience is that For me personally, I must let the emotion be. I must call it by name, not to focus energy on it, but to acknowledge it. If and when I do that, I release the emotion into the Universe, into the hands of the Divine, to be transformed. If and when I do not acknowledge it, it continues to knock on my inner door, disturbing my stability.

That brings me to the final sentence of Coelho's quote: Without them, joy loses all its brilliance and sadness has no end. In my life, I have kept tears at bay. I have swallowed them before they ever left my eyes. I have walked away from situations so I would not let the tears flow. Without the tears, and the ensuing words that create and embrace them, dullness takes over. In my experience, I cannot call it sadness because its texture is different. Sadness has emotion and power that arrives with it. What I feel is dullness. As though nothing can penetrate and touch my space, my mood, my being. I would rather let the tears come, let sadness be, know that tomorrow will bring another chance for joy.

What do you do when you feel sad? Do you ever feel a general sadness, without a reason? How do you handle that? How does it feel when you act as though sadness is gone (and it truly is not)? What do you do to work through that feeling?

Relaxed Mind

I began my day today with a cup of tea ~ which provided this lovely Teabag Tarot comment. Reflecting on several recent discussions, I chuckled and shook my head when I saw it... that relaxed, creative mind also calls forth these quotes or images. It's as though the mind, given the space and the stillness, creates what it most needs to thrive.

One friend would refer to it as the Law of Attraction. Relaxing my mind, reaching for the higher vibration, attracts the flow which, for me, shows up as creativity. For someone else, it may show up differently. I want to attract creativity. I like the feeling of that creative flow. So here I am, writing about it.

When I feel tense (as in distracted, upset, stressed, or overwhelmed, to name a few sources of tension) my brain and being shift closer to or into survival mode. At that point, creativity is not bubbling forth as an option. I am into protecting myself. Everything is focused on that end. Even though creativity and rational thinking may be great allies, they are difficult to access. If I'm fortunate enough to recognize that I've gone reptilian, I take a minute or two or more to refocus, to shift. I breathe deeply. Or I stretch my limbs. Or I go outside, change the scenery. It generally doesn't take long.

After my breath returns to its normal, less constricted pace, and my muscles find movement comfortable, I can pick up a pen or sit at a keyboard and write or grab a brush and paint or look for images in a magazine. Anything to keep myself balanced and relaxed. Then even the muscles of my face relax into a smile and I find centered space and joy.

Understanding that creativity finds many forms, what does your mind create when its relaxed? What activities keep you centered? What clues does your system give to let you know you're tense? How do you shift from tense to relaxed?