I give thanks

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who celebrate! I hope you enjoy time with family and friends and make new, warm memories.

And to all my readers: I am thankful for you.

“We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.”

― Cynthia Ozick

Larry

I give thanks for Larry.

I give thanks for Chase Bird.

I give thanks for my mother and Larry’s mother and the rest of our family.

“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.”

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Leaves and pine needles caught in the fence around the raised bed garden.

I give thanks for the familiar pieces of life.

I give thanks for the new and surprising.

I give thanks for the animals and trees and flowers and skies.

Trees at sunset. November 9, 2013.

I give thanks that I have a home.

I give thanks that I always have plenty to eat.

I give thanks for clean water and clean air.

I give thanks that I have access to good health care.

I give thanks for books and words and color and light.

I give thanks for my blogland friends.

I give thanks to God for all that He has given.

“If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.”

― Meister Eckhart

Leaf on leaf: Tuesday muse

"Leaf on leaf"

“Every blade in the field - Every leaf in the forest - lays down its life in its season as beautifully as it was taken up.”

― Henry David Thoreau

I’m joining Tuesday Muse with Nancy of A Rural Journal.

12 years later

“Don't be ashamed to weep; 'tis right to grieve. Tears are only water, and flowers, trees, and fruit cannot grow without water. But there must be sunlight also. A wounded heart will heal in time, and when it does, the memory and love of our lost ones is sealed inside to comfort us.”

--Brian Jacques, Taggerung

Peace and grace to all those who suffered on September 11, 2001. May God have mercy on us all.

First day of autumn



Photos from fall 2010.



“Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.”

-George Eliot

Thanks to Elizabeth of In My Own for sharing this quote.

A hodge-podge at the end of the year

I read an interesting article in the local daily newspaper today that led me to a website that measures people’s implicit attitudes towards mental illness.

Visitors to the Project Implicit Mental Health website can measure their implicit assessments of things like anxiety, depression and people with mental illness.

Project Implicit Mental Health is part of a larger research program, Project Implicit.

Project Implicit's information site shows the study’s website findings after seven years, including the finding that people’s implicit biases can predict behavior.

I’m glad people’s attitudes about mental illness are being studied.

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Thanks to those of you who commented about my decision to try ERP. I appreciate the support. I’m excited! I won’t see my psychiatrist for two weeks, and then I’ll have to wait for an appointment with the cognitive therapy specialist.

I would like to do some research on the therapy beforehand. Any suggestions on sources that have helped you?

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  I am setting goals for myself instead of resolutions, as some of you have suggested. Goals can be made anytime and aren’t tied to Jan. 1. I can make them as I go along.

And I don’t have to take on all my goals at once. I can work on one at a time if I want, and really get specific about the objectives and steps I need to make to reach the goal.

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  I am so glad I started blogging! It has been a beautiful experience for me, and I look forward to writing and posting in 2012.

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  Here are some quotations that are meaningful to me that I would like to share:

“The only escape from the miseries of life are music and cats . . .”

-Albert Schweitzer

“Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace.”

-Albert Schweitzer

“I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.”

-Mahatma Gandhi

“I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.”

-Joan Didion

“Cats are dangerous companions for writers because cat watching is a near-perfect method of writing avoidance.”

-Dan Greenburg

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”

-Matthew 25: 35-40 (NIV)

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I wish you all a safe, productive and beautiful 2012. Happy New Year!