(Time to read: 1 minute for the first 2 sections, 9 minutes for the whole thing)
Third Time Lucky
I have been working for three years to get this decade’s birthday celebration to feel complete for me, and I think it has finally happened, with much thanks to John.
I had a wonderful birthday lunch with my parents last week, at which I got to give them some gifts, as well as receiving gifts from them.
And my sister and I have a long-standing tradition of spending a day at a local craft show to celebrate our birthdays, so I’m confident in that connection.
And now a key third piece of the celebration has fallen into place. John and I are alone here at his family’s cottage, on the shore of Lake Simcoe. The weather has been gloriously clear and sunny (and cold) since we got here, which has made for both spectacular sunrises (strikingly clear shades of blue, green, gold and rose), and beautiful sun dappled days.
I’ve seen the sunrises thanks to my cat, Midnight, who is here with us, and who likes to be up and out in the early pre-dawn hours.
Thanksgiving
I was born just before the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. My mom tells the story of lying in her hospital bed, feeling very grateful.
Perhaps that’s why I have felt that expressing appreciation is an important part of my purpose here.
Which sometimes presents an interesting challenge, since it seems to be a natural part of my make-up to notice what’s not working and could be made better.
While I’m writing about appreciation, it is important to me to acknowledge my father, who consistently expressed appreciation for my mother’s cooking at every meal.
Daily Appreciations
There are some things that make up part of each day for which I’m very grateful.
I am grateful every day for the ability to see, and hear, and walk. To be able to see colours, recognize faces and voices, understand language and read, express myself in spoken language and writing and be understood by the people around me.
And I appreciate the glasses which restore a clarity of vision that had disappeared with the years and many hours in front of a computer.
I am grateful for the soft comfort of the cotton clothing I wear – from socks and underwear, to t-shirts, jackets and trousers. For the farmers who grow the cotton, for the people who harvest and process it, for the designers and those who sew the clothes. For the people who are involved with the dyes that produce such beautiful colours. For the people who help me know the clothes are available, to everyone involved in bringing them to me.
I am grateful for the access I have to supportive shoes for every activity, so many of which are old and dear friends. From the lovely red Crocs I wear indoors most days because they slip on and off so easily (given to me by John’s son Luke, his wife Lizzie and their two daughters Zoe and Dylan); to the supportive running shoes I wear when I’ll be standing a lot; my soft, supportive and comfortable sandals; my 25-year-old black Mephistos for walking in spring and fall; my 15-year-old Lee Valley red gardening sandals (that are so wonderful when I’m at John’s family’s cottage because they slip on and off easily and keep my feet completely dry on dewy mornings); the red wool slippers that keep my feet warm on cool days; the beautiful Spanish low-heeled pumps I wear when I’m training in the summer; and the smooth black leather shoes I wear for winter trainings because they fit my orthotics.
I’m grateful for the refrigerator and freezer that hold the food for my breakfast. For the hot plate and double boiler that allow me to heat chicken. For the people who invented and manufactured them. For the animals whose life has sustained my life. For the farmers who have grown the carrots and almonds and bananas I eat. For the people who have picked and packed and cleaned and transported them to me. For the workers in the grocery store who arrange them attractively for me so that the act of shopping for groceries is an experience in beauty.
I’m grateful for this “room of my own”. And for having had the opportunity to decorate it in a way that is very satisfying for me. For the couch that I bought when I finished graduate school, that is still as beautiful to me now as it was then. For the board that John put in it to make it more comfortable for my back. For the cupboards that hold the things that support me in my work and in my rejuvenation, in a way that is visually calm. For the tables that support the tasks that I do, from eating to writing to assembling handouts. For the peaceful beauty of the deep turquoise rugs that complement the yellow walls. For the life-supporting beauty of the pictures on the wall (all of which include water, interestingly enough).
I am grateful for my cat Midnight who brings the gift of life and connection to my days.
I’m grateful for the vitamins that support this body of mine, that does not seem to be able to extract sufficient nutrients from the food that I eat to keep me healthy. And for Dr. Burford-Mason who uses her skill to identify what vitamin and mineral support will help my body function optimally.
I’m so grateful for having clean water to drink as I take these. And for the beautiful and functional containers I have to drink the water from.
I’m grateful for the litter box that allows Midnight to live indoors here with me and honour her body’s processes in a way that also works for me.
I’m grateful for my iPhone and the True Weight application that allows me to record and track my weight over time, which helps me to make eating choices that keep my body functioning in a satisfying way.
And the Eternity Time Logger app that helps me keep track of how I’m spending my time, and how long things take me to do, so I can make choices that allow me to make choices that feel satisfying with this gift of life.
I am grateful for the gift of the telephone, that makes it easy for me to coordinate timing with John to go for a walk. I am so very grateful to live close enough to a very large body of water (Lake Ontario) that we can go and walk beside it every morning. I am grateful to the people who made this stretch of shoreline into a park, so everyone can have access to it. And the people who built the boardwalk, and all those who maintain this park so that it remains beautiful.
I am grateful for the gift of the daily cycle of the sun. And the variations in the weather that make the shifting panorama of sky and water a daily adventure.
And I am grateful for John’s companionship. For the feel of his hand in mine. For the sound of his voice, the gift of his listening, and the wisdom he shares.
I am grateful for the things I use to maintain my body’s comfort as we walk. My beloved hiking boots, the orthotics that are in them, and all the people who created both. Sunglasses to care for my eyes on bright days, a hat to shield my head when it is hot, extra clothing and sunscreen to protect my body from excess sun. Hats and mitts and jackets and scarves and neckwarmers and long johns to protect my body from cold and rain.
I am grateful for the relative quiet of the place that we walk.
I am grateful for the car that enables us to experience this life-restoring place each day, while also fulfilling our other responsibilities, since it gets us here so quickly. And I am grateful for the roads we use, the traffic signals and lines on the road that support clarity, safety and ease for everyone using the roads. I am also grateful for the public transit system that allows me to travel to many places in the city more quickly and easily than I could by car, and so supports me in supporting the environment.
I am grateful for the beautiful bathroom, that was created to my specifications before I moved into “my own room”. I appreciate the sweeping lines of the bathtub, and the step up to it – built by necessity to allow the water to drain, and that makes me feel like a princess each time I climb into it. I am grateful for the miracle of hot and cold running water. For the choice of whether to have a shower or a bath. For the epsom salts that soothe my muscles when they are sore. For the support of gentle, scent-free soap, shampoo, conditioner and moisturizer.
I am grateful for the gift of my iPod Touch, and the way it makes it possible for me to sing hymns in accompaniment to my father’s voice while I take a shower. I’m grateful to him for recording all his church services. And to my mother who extracted my favourite hymns from those recordings and put them onto cassette for me. And to the people who invented, manufactured, packaged and transported the equipment that enabled me to copy the material from those cassettes into digital format.
I appreciate my soft, absorbent towels – and the fact that I was able to find ones that match the blue in the picture that hangs in the bathroom. For the towel rods that hold the towels ready to use, and help them to dry. For the rings John installed by the sink that hold both a handtowel and dishtowels. For the one behind the door that holds rubber gloves and a dish cloth.
For the toilet that whisks bodily products away quickly and easily, and allows me to do this indoors in warmth and comfort (I’ve experienced outhouses on cold winter days). For the water treatment plant that helps ensure those wastes don’t pollute drinking water sources. For soft and gentle toilet paper.
I am grateful to my mother for recording so many of my favourite books onto cassette and then in digital format so I can listen to them while I do my stretches, or do dishes, or fold laundry. I am grateful to companies like Recorded Books and Audible that make books available in audio format. I am grateful to the people who record them, those that build the websites to make us aware of what is available, the financial services and technology people who enable me to purchase them and download them onto my computer so quickly and easily, the people who make the speakers and headphones that allow me to hear them, the writers (professional and reader reviewers) who write about the books that are available to help me choose ones that I enjoy. And of course to the many wonderful authors who create and share characters and stories that amuse and intrigue me to the extent that they seem like dear friends of mine.
I am grateful for the opportunity to do the work I have felt called to do since my teens – to help people enjoy their lives more fully. I am grateful for all the amazing opportunities I have had to learn powerful skills to support me in doing this, and to all the people from whom I’ve learned. And I am grateful to all the people who have trusted me to support their search for greater satisfaction in their lives. And for the joy and delight I’ve had the chance to share with them as they saw new ways to empower themselves to create the lives they most want to live.
I’m grateful to my parents for having made the choice to move us to Ontario because they believed that offered us the best opportunity for a good education, which they recognized as the foundation for a life of choice. So many wonderful learning opportunities have flowed from that decision. And I know it was probably not an easy one, moving far away from their families to a place where they knew almost no one. I am touched by their deep commitment to what they believed was best for us, their children.
I am grateful for my beautiful Mac computer. I have loved computers since I was first introduced to them – for the power they offer to analyze data, and the support they offer us humans to create things in a way that makes it easy to change and refine and update them. Whenever I choose to replace a section of text, a part of me remembers back to the days when the most advanced technology that everyday people had access to was an IBM Selectric typewriter – and the painful choice between tearing the page out of the machine and starting over, or trying to cover up the original material and replace it (which often seemed to take longer than just doing it over).
And on top of this, the many aspects of beauty that are built into my Mac computer. From the gleaming aluminum of the case, to the beauty of the night sky and the magenta galactic cloud that greets me when I open / start my computer. To the colorful beauty of the icons that identify the different applications I can choose to work with. The power and effectiveness of the search (“spotlight”) capacity. The incredible intelligence of iTunes, with the capacity to group and organize songs and other audio material into as many different combinations and permutations as I wish, without duplicating the original material. The fun and ease of working with iPhoto, iMovie and KeyNote. How readily everything integrates and syncs without my having to think about it.
And I’m grateful for other applications, like Skype, which enables me to connect with people all over the world. Including being able to see and visit with my parents in their study without having to travel the 1 1/2 hours by car to where they live.
I am grateful for the telephone and the computer that enable me to connect with clients and friends around the world.
Thank You for the Memories
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