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Tag Archives: gratitude


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empty bowl. full bowl. [kerri’s blog on d.r. thursday]

it is monday as i write this.

thursday is thanksgiving.

we have no plans.

yet.

we do know we will be fortunate to share a meal together. we know we will cook something nourishing, light a candle, place cloth napkins at our seats, have tumblers of water and perhaps a glass of wine. we know that whatever food we choose, it will be with thanks-giving at its center.

since it is monday and since thursday is merely three days away now, it will not likely be a turkey and all the traditional trimmings. our families are elsewhere. our children are grown, doing other things. our friends have their own plans. it is just us and we simply cannot devour a turkey-and-sides – nor do we want to. we will gather – the two of us.

and instead, we will focus on the giving-thanks of thanksgiving. we will lift gratitudes for each of these people not sitting with us at the table. we will hopefully get outside for a bit. we will realize that this moment in time is a moment in time. in the overarcing of life, this is the moment we can touch.

this time has not been without lessons. this time has not been sans reflecting. this time has not been without peering into dark looking for tiny smidges of light. this time has not been without wistful grief.

this time has been with learnings. this time has been with the sharing of burdens. this time has been with others offering starlight from a deep universe. this time has been with realization. this time has been with the cut-to-the-chase-ness of breathing-right-now.

the bowl may be empty. the bowl may be full.

our thanks-giving hearts are.

“we are a landscape of all we have seen.” (isamu noguchi)

*****

happy thanksgiving.

IN QUIET PRAYER acrylic 16″x20″

read DAVID’s thoughts this D.R. THURSDAY

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the i-withs. [kerri’s blog on merely-a-thought monday]

we passed the bench in the park. i couldn’t read the rest; it’s possible that the spraypaint was -somewhat- erased for a reason. nevertheless, what remained: i with.

in these days fraught with division, they were words of prompt, words that made me think, words that made me wince. because they hold in the air other words: i against.

it seems somewhat closed to just ponder the “i-withs” when one can see the “i-againsts” just as clearly. and, in this polarizing world, it’s generally the i-againsts that carry a charge. we read the news, we watch the world teeter and it becomes alarmingly clear how against we are against the againsts. our blood boils watching the mockery of governing; our hearts break watching the taking of lives in violent disagreement. we shudder at inequity; we are disgusted with closemindedness. we grit our teeth – nauseated – as we watch progress regress. close-in and further out, we are capable of listing our i-againsts.

and we are also capable of listing our i-withs. the place we stand – holding humanity, peace, fairness, equity, kindness, generosity. the tenets we stand with, the people who – actually – hold to those tenets. we ferret out those who pontificate, those who are righteous, those who are sanctimonious. instead, we clear the spaces next to us for the transparently authentic, who really do stand in the intention of goodness, who really do walk with us. the i-withs.

and we have gratitude for the i-withs. for we know, we are capable of days on this good earth because of our i-withs. we have gratitude for the i-withs for we know we could not be without them. we have gratitude for the i-withs and, in our mind, we spraypaint our list on the park bench.

*****

read DAVID’S thoughts this MERELY-A-THOUGHT MONDAY

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in the taffy-pull. [kerri’s blog on d.r. thursday]

i procrastinate putting away the wrought iron table and chairs. i just want to leave a couple pillows out, a place to sit, the possibility of a meal – one more time – at the table on the deck.

all the other things-of-summer are put away. we’ve cleared the potting stand. we’ve transplanted the lavender. we’ve put the tiki torches and the fire column in the garage. the old door and the black and white prayer flags are taken down and the rugs are rolled up. it’s not easy – this nod to impending winter. and so, we keep out the wrought iron table and chairs and just a couple pillows.

and this week – it has been possible – because this week has been a gift of sun and warmth. and this week we have been able to stretch it out a bit longer, pulling on the taffy of early-autumn just a little bit more.

it’s like a gear-up moment. a chance to sit – for no other purpose but sitting – in the sun. a chance to ponder the coming holiday season. a chance to daydream a bit. a chance to let go – even momentarily – of worry.

and when bellaruth – in my guided imagery meditation – asks me to imagine a place, to see it, to feel it all around me – i would guess that one of those places might be sitting at this outside table, pillow behind me, feet on another chair, eyes closed in the sun. or maybe, sitting on the edge of the deck in the taffy-pull of glorious fall days.

*****

read DAVID’s thoughts this D.R. THURSDAY

Autumn Hillside

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anticipation. [kerri’s blog on not-so-flawed wednesday]

there is this corner in our lakefront neighborhood. we take walks around the ‘hood, looking forward to this particular spot.

in the middle of every other nod to autumn, this corner glows. the maples there are in soft focus – all golden and pink. it is like seeing through a filter, stepping under a fresnel spot with a lighting gel. we make room to stop and take it in…each and every time we pass by.

some things are like that. we know them well and, yet, we anticipate them, knowing how they make us feel, knowing that we will be better for them. these trees.

there are spots on our favorite trails like this…when we enter the pine stands or when the trail curves through the forest…when we walk high above the river below us…when we turn into the afternoon sun with the meadow to our right. there is a spot as we come out of the tunnel on the highway and i can see the high rockies stretching out in front of us. there is a spot on the ditch trail in aspen – at the end – deep in the woods where there are rocks you can sit on as the stream breaks around you. there is a fallen log in breckenridge, up a ways on the path, next to the brook. there is another higher, in the meadow that opens to the sky.

someday, i will go stand again where my daughter and i stood, in canyonlands, and i will satisfy the anticipation of being there – in that spot of unspeakable emotion – once again.

someday, i will go stand on crab meadow beach again and – with anticipation and all-that-has-been-since washing over me – maybe i will feel what i used to feel there, way way earlier, the freedom of being, the anticipation of future.

the knowing of these places doesn’t take them off the list of places-to-go. rather, it’s the sheer knowing that keeps them on the list. it’s the recognition, the familiarity, the unbridled comfort.

as we turn the corner and look ahead, we can see the trees down at the next intersection. so much beauty. we both look forward to getting closer.

we are not on a luxurious vacation nor are we rambling much away from our careful budget. we are recognizing the we-are-here-ness and that is what we have right now – we have right now. if we can remember to anticipate each moment this way, we will truly be living.

and then, there is the feeling when we see our driveway, when we walk in the door. the spotlight pulls back and bathes our home in gratitude.

*****

read DAVID’S thoughts this NOT-SO-FLAWED WEDNESDAY

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hold gently the miracle. [kerri’s blog on two artists tuesday]

every vein of this leaf – xylem and phloem cells – transporting nutrients to each part of it for photosynthesis to occur. it’s truly a miracle. sacred. ancient.

the sun was shining through the leaf propped up on the trail. i imagine it floated down and landed with others and this particular one was the leaf left standing. it was luminous as we approached. and, in the moment of bending down and photographing it, i was struck by its uniqueness. one leaf – in a forest of leaves – beautiful, a part of the bigger story.

i stop often on the trail – any trail, every trail. there is always something to notice, something to wonder about, something that is glorious. we’re surrounded by opportunity of seeing. we’re granted the chance to revel in beauty. we are reminded to pay attention.

in a world where so much is fraught, where there is division and anger, agenda and disrespect of others, it is beauty – unexpected, simple, glowing – to remind us of the much bigger narrative and that we must remember to hold gently the miracle.

read DAVID’S thoughts this TWO ARTISTS TUESDAY

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life itself. [kerri’s blog on merely-a-thought monday]

“we got the chance to be young and the chance to grow old.” (kate)

in her next breath, her voice huskier with emotion, she added, “not everyone has had that chance.”

in the arc of the art of living, we hold gratitude for this very life.

and, hopefully, somewhere in there we have gained some wisdom. hopefully, somewhere in there we have held love and relationships before material gain. hopefully, somewhere in there we have chosen truth over institution or divisive politics or agenda. hopefully, somewhere in there we have helped someone else and we have tried to grasp what it might be like walking in their shoes. hopefully, somewhere in there we have stood in a sunrise or sunset, incredulous. hopefully, somewhere in there we have seen extraordinary color and shape in art, heard exquisite frequencies of pitch and timbre in music, moved in a dance, read words we store away to never forget. hopefully, somewhere in there we have granted and been given grace. hopefully, somewhere in there we have felt the flimsy threads of a floating dandelion seed, the solid rough granite, the dirt, beneath our feet, the breaking wave on a shore or a stream as it flows through our fingers, rain and sun on our faces, the embrace of a beloved, the wind carrying the love and wisdom of the arcs of all before us.

hopefully, we hold life itself – breathing – tenderly.

*****

read DAVID’S thoughts this MERELY-A-THOUGHT MONDAY

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quietly listening. [ kerri’s blog on k.s. friday]

the harmonic overtones ring, free in the wind. they are a voice of purity, peaceful in the day and night. they drift into our window and i lay still, quietly listening.

for years as we walked our lakefront, we would stand on the sidewalk at a certain house and listen to the tenor windchimes hanging on one of their trees. the pentatonic scale sang from the backyard all the way to where we were standing, swirling around us. we would just stand there, quietly listening.

we had looked at chimes in garden shops and boutiques, but they were out of reach and we just agreed on “someday”. so we wrote about them – such a thing of beauty and meditation. and one day, guy wrote to us to inquire if we would like to adopt their set of chimes as they moved on to a home where there would be no place for them. and “someday” arrived.

the windchimes hang on a blue spruce in our backyard, back by the birdbath and bird/chippie/squirrel feeder. they are nestled next to the grasses and are stunning against the white fence. because they are not out in wide open space, they don’t ring with every breeze. instead, they seem discerning, choosing only breezes from a certain direction, a certain velocity. sometimes, it is merely a prolonged single note we can hear, floating. other times, when the wind picks up a bit, several notes will ring out, immediately bringing us pause, a moment of peace, a moment to reflect and root and center.

in much the same way that experiencing intentionally-played crystal singing bowls can rejuvenate, the frequencies of these windchimes resonate with the place in my heart that is hungry for sublime sound. translucent pitches that wrap around us – in gratitude, we are quietly listening.

*****

PEACE from AS IT IS ©️ 2004 kerri sherwood

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this side of the corn. [kerri’s blog on d.r. thursday]

fall is coming on. there is no denying it. everything is starting to wane.

the sky is starting to gray. the corn will be soon plowed under and, one of these days, the cabbage fields will have to turn over, the yield from their crop slowed to a stop. the colors are changing.

george winston recorded an album called autumn. you listen inside his wistfulness as he toys with the emotions of the changing. the album was released in 1980 and, for me, that was a distinct time of heading into fallow.

some fallows last longer than the seasons and the tilted axis of the earth seems to evade warming sunlight. the seeds gather strength in the ground – centered in us, even without us nourishing them. and eventually, ever-so-slowly sometimes, the earth tilts back toward the sun and the orbital horizon is rebirth, spring.

it seems to happen fast – the waning. the ebb and flow of the cold. there is nothing as constant as change and, so, we need remember that in times of fallow. the tide – like the corn and the cabbage – will come and go, come and go. an ancient story.

we join hands with others on our path – they are quite possibly on the same ebb and quite possibly will be in the flow with us as well. they stand with us, they encourage us, they surprise us. the shapes of others appear – like revelations – from out of the mist of our fixed frame of reference. everything looks different.

standing on this side of the corn, gazing into the grayness of sky, the dance of color as it fades, i am finding – with much gratitude – that there are others standing right there with me, gazing as well. the wistful tugs at us; gravitational effect far from the sun but with promise of the pull. we stand still, roots under our feet, steadfastly hand-holding, looking at the horizon as it shifts.

and time passes and the seasons flow and flow and, eventually, the axis finally – at long last – tilts and the fallow ends and the seeds that were planted so long ago break through the frozen ground and we know that we have – together – affected even the tiniest change.

and winter comes as we stoke up, readying ourselves for the riches of spring.

*****

read DAVID’S thoughts this D.R. THURSDAY

FLOATING acrylic 48″x24″

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a little decadence. [kerri’s blog on not-so-flawed wednesday]

and we finished with an exquisite slice of flourless chocolate torte. it was as simply beautiful as it was scrumptious.

we never order dessert. we hardly ever order anything we don’t share. to cut to the REAL chase, we hardly ever go out to dine.

so this was a pretty special day.

we had hiked about eight miles that day, the day before about nine. all told, in three days we hiked about twenty-two miles or so. it was the day after our anniversary. we finished our hike and arrived back at littlebabyscion starving. and, completely out of our frugal character, we spontaneously went to the cool pub nearby.

in an extraordinary move, we ordered two glasses of wine and three appetizers to split – not just one and not even just two. three! it was absolutely remarkable! we could tell that the waitstaff was amused by our complete glee and they each were sweet and solicitous, filling our water glasses and checking in on us. we felt like royalty. but, really, we were just two people on barstools engrossed in an experience that is now as rare as it is wondrous.

“a little something sweet,” we spoke aloud, as the server handed us the dessert menu. we shooed away any thoughts of over-indulging. we even giggled as we ordered the torte.

a smidge of rejuvenation, a nod to our own worth, balm to troubled hearts. it was an amazing afternoon on those stools, feeling like the world and possibility were at our fingertips.

a little decadence goes a long way.

*****

read DAVID’S thoughts this NOT-SO-FLAWED WEDNESDAY

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bistro table. [kerri’s blog on k.s. friday]

to sit at a bistro table – to eat a meal, to sip wine, to talk and linger – such a simple pleasure, so rich, brimming with visions of sidewalk cafes and closely sharing time. we bring to any table the joy of being together, the gift of gathering. there is not much Lovely that a bistro table and wrought iron chairs doesn’t elicit for me.

what we bring to the table…this pause in our day…a sacred preparing of foods for those we care about. in those moments of frenetic movement, of too-busy-busy-ness, of emotional or physical overload, this pause – at the table – to slow down and relish taste – to breathe the air of another – to sate our hunger and stoke our energy – moments we so often rush through.

and so, i think maybe i will approach any table instead as if i am about to sit at a bistro table, about to hold time in a little bit of suspension to enjoy whatever the meal may be – simple or fancy – unadorned or with a beautiful table-setting. i’ll bring to the table my utter appreciation for sustenance, for those i am gathered with – even if alone – for the act of living. i’ll bring to the table my knowing that this ritual of goodness – to eat, to carry on, to experience hunger, to eat – is a privilege i have enjoyed my whole life – even when my hunger was bigger but my dinner was cornflakes. i’ll bring to the table gratitude for taste, for texture, for spice and organic, for the delicious.

and i’ll sit at the table acknowledging the very moments there. i’ll collect my table-sittings in my oeuvre of song and prose that will scatter someday into the galaxy. too often we forget we are merely blips in the compendium of the universe and each good moment that is ours is truly a gift of time, a wonder.

and so, i’ll bistro-table each meal.

*****

GOOD MOMENTS from THIS PART OF THE JOURNEY ©️ 1997, 2000 kerri sherwood

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read DAVID’S thoughts this K.S. FRIDAY

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