THANK YOU FOR SMALL THINGS

 How small can something be and still be worthy of thanks?  We are staying at our friends' home in Southern California, and my husband filled their bird feeders this morning.  They are visited by mostly Mourning Doves and House Finches, the male with a rosy face and breast, the female a less opulent brown.  The doves are grateful for the ground spill; the pairs of finches show their pleasure by jockeying for rungs of the feeder as soon as it is filled.  

I'm always glad when I find an auger, those tiny sand-dwelling carnivores that live in the warm waters of North Carolina.  My mother hunted them too--it takes a good eye as they hide in gravelly shell piles of broken bits that wash up and stay as the tide recedes.  I won't find any here on the Pacific.  Come to think of it, I haven't seen shells at all, just smooth stones, half-buried or lying on the sand.  Not surprising given the abundance of sandstone, limestone, and shale hugging the coastline.   

Any piece of sea glass brings my thanks. My immediate thought is a thank-you that I came out just when this treasure rolled in with the morning's tide.  With just a little creativity, I arranged the auger with dark green and aquamarine sea glass on paper of gold, blue and white swirls.  The worm shells in the second picture are smaller than a finger too.  Then I framed the photos to adorn our remodeled bathroom.  My own creative endeavors are modest, but I'm grateful for them. 

I'm also thankful when I've been waiting for a sign of new growth.  My pot of parsley looked to have turned to dust, so I pinched it all back and watered it.  After a week green sprouted.  Why that brings so much joy I'm not sure, but it does.  Same when the buds appear on the camellia.  Or on the Rose o' Sharon.  I watch and watch for the first bloom, in fact, wake up looking for them.  

Or maybe Mr. Wiggles hasn't been eating, and now he is.  That brings a small burst of gratitude.  I want that boy to live long.  We watch our pet's health with a close eye. 

And then there are the bits of good news about our wellness that answer our prayers and bring relief.  This happens often but maybe, as we age, not often enough.  Waking without pain.  A medicine working.  The scan showing that we're stable.  Small but perhaps not, perhaps large.  

What small (or not so small) things are bringing you happiness this week?  

                                                       Thoughtfully, Nina Naomi

                                                           
  

SHOW YOURSELF SOME KINDNESS

"Show Yourself Some Kindness" is the name of an article in a magazine I like called The Simple Things.  As we enter the third year of the pandemic that's a good idea.  And on the anniversary of the insurrection in the capitol building in Washington, DC--the lowest point in recent US history. 

This date gives context to anything we might say; it can't be ignored.  Franklin Roosevelt called Dec. 7, 1941 a date which will live in infamy.  He was referring to the bombing of Pearl Harbor which preceded the entrance of the United States into WWII.  We can say the same of Jan. 6, 2021.  

So with this backdrop . . . it seems that most of us have experienced some level of suffering lately. And not just something as extreme as the suffering and fear caused by the attack on our democracy a year ago.  We're all affected by the strictures of living in a pandemic. After all, bouncing from variant to variant does feel like Wack-a-Mole.  

And it's not like that's all that's happening in our lives either.  Some of us have SAD, seasonal affective disorder. Some are in the midst of divorce; some, fitting chemo into their lives; or struggling to feed their families.  The list is long. Nothing has slowed normal losses.  Life has never been easy. 

At the same time, the abundance of goodness and beauty also cannot be denied.  Leaves turn, snow falls, birds sing, day breaks, sunsets dazzle.  People help eachother.  Life goes on.  And although we've learned that nothing is perfect, nothing lasts and nothing is finished, life is about finding what's special in the day-to-day.  No matter how imperfect each day is, we almost always find something good in it.  Just the idea that imperfection is fine, including my own, makes me breathe easier. 

So what is OK?  Everything, really.  Our lives as they are.  Just a few good friends is OK.  Or even none.  It's OK to have a pet and be calm and rest in that unconditional love. It's OK to be content with whatever you have, even if what you have wakes you in the night.  Anxiety is OK;  Fear is OK; so very normal.  So is abundance.  

How to show ourselves kindness?  So many ways.  Think of saying "Thank you" to you.  For instance, we can thank our bodies for all they do.  We can thank our bodies with exercise, with yoga, with water and with healthy food.  And with rest.  When things are worrying, it's OK to curl up and mother ourselves.  

We can thank our minds too.  By gazing at the stars, watching the sunset, walking in the cold winter darkness, reading poetry (or writing it); anything we do that is creative.  Creativity rewards our minds for all their hard work processing everydayness.  Creativity puts our minds in a state of flow where, experts say, the ego falls away.   Whatever we do where time is immaterial is flow.  Turn on the music and dance?  Paddle (or swim), each stroke building on the one before?  Write in a journal?  Spend time with a child? 

And our spirits of course.  They are ready for nurture.  Reading, praying, meditating, consoling.  On this the one-year anniversary of the insurrection President Biden gave a stirring speech about the lies that led to that blasphemy. My heart is saying Thank You to him.  And to all who fight these lies. Truth frees the spirit.  

This is not such a touchy-feely post.  Today's date doesn't lend itself to that.  But it is about kindness. Let's direct it first toward ourselves, next toward others. In that way goodness and mercy may follow.

                                                            Nina Naomi