At the crossroads of Creativity, Nature and Spirituality is Transformation.
For friends, community and family . . . for our beautiful earth . . . for our creative spirits: this is our true wealth, and for all these things I am deeply grateful. Much love to you all!
(Thanksgiving Day Snow in our backyard, Rainbow Cottage, Bellingham WA. Music: “A Winter’s Night” by Craig Olson, MidwinterMoon.com)
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Think of a 12 year old girl that you know. A relative, or a friend’s daughter, or a neighbor down the street. Maybe she’s a 14 year old girl like my young friends Chloe and Marina. Or a 2 year old girl like my granddaughter Gracie.
Then watch these videos. And imagine that a girl you love is in a position like these girls. And after you’re done weeping, give what you can to the Girl Effect, like I did yesterday. Nope, it’s not convenient to give out of your grocery budget or your latte fund or the money set aside to color your hair (I’m talkin’ to myself here), but oh the difference we can make in these girls’ lives!
We are so privileged . . . and they are not.
We take the right to an education for granted . . . and they do not.
We struggle to figure out how to make an authentic living doing the things we love . . . and they struggle to keep from being married and pregnant before they’re 16.
What a joy to know that we can help to turn their lives around. Spread the word!
(I’m participating in Tara Sophia Mohr’s blogging campaign to raise awareness of the Girl Effect. Why not join us?)
Blessed be.
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Have you noticed how many folks write and talk about the practice of gratitude as we draw close to the American Thanksgiving holiday? (Here I am, doing it myself.)
Gratitude has almost become a cliché, a stereotype, something where we say “oh, gratitude — I know all about that. It’s so last year.”
But here’s the deal. Gratitude really is the key to the secret of life. (Can you see my impish grin?)
I wrote a blog post a couple of years ago called “It all comes down to gratitude.” It’s worth another read.
There’s a teaching going around that emphasizes that one way to bring more abundance into your life is by practicing gratitude. I’m not sure who said it, but it goes something like this: “You won’t attract ‘more’ into your life unless you’re grateful for what you already have.” Which is true. So true! But the underlying message seems to be that practicing gratitude is a strategy for attracting more into one’s life, instead of an authentic thanksgiving from the heart.
Shouldn’t we be practicing gratitude for its own sake? “It’s not happy people who are grateful, it’s grateful people who are happy,” says Brother David Steindl-Rast. “What you appreciate, appreciates,” says Lynne Twist.
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Craig and I saw Ruthie Foster perform at the Mt Baker Theater here in Bellingham last weekend. It was one of those rare concerts where you’re full of joy when you walk out, feelin’ glad to be alive. I first discovered her at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival several years ago, and followed her around from stage to stage all weekend to hear her perform as often as I could. Fell in love with her music, her style and her big warm heart.
The song Craig and I have been singing to each other all week since the concert is called “Thanks for the Joy” from her album The Truth According to Ruthie Foster
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