Live in gratitude & be happy even if the rest of the things on this list never happen

...one quick thing I forgot. This one is for Saafir, if he hasn’t seen it. An essay by Dr Karl Paulnack on how music is essential for life. So inspiring!

I started out today feeling a bit blue, but it turned out to be a great day!

The spring weather was wonderful for cheering me up. All that sunshiny warmth makes it much harder to be down in the dumps.

I had some shopping to do today. Oftentimes this stresses me out a lot, particularly when I can’t find what I want or, worse, I don’t know what I want. But today was all smooth sailing. I picked up a great birthday present for a friend of mine and some business shirts.

And best of all, I picked up a dozen pieces of cardstock in different colours for a craft project I spent the afternoon. What glorious fun that was! I really should do things like that more often.

Hugs are great. I got a hug from my dad this afternoon. I take him far too much for granted sometimes. I am grateful that he loves me and grateful to know that he loves me.

I feel like I’m getting back on my feet today. I’m a bit more cheerful and stuff continues to get done.

By the time today is over I will have managed to spend some time with my two favourite men today—my sweetheart and my dad. My sweetheart and I are heading out to the movies to see Coraline tonight. Being a bit of a Neil Gaiman fan, I am rather looking forward to it.

My dad and I spent some time this afternoon looking at some of the photos he had taken over the weekend. He had a couple of lovely shots of some Gang Gang Cockatoos, which are rare birds in this area. The pair were nesting in the Botanical Gardens.

And speaking of gardens, I managed to get out into my own this morning. The rain we’ve been having today made the ground nice and soft to dig, but there’s still a lot of work to be done. I’m starting to think I’ll need to thin out some of the bulbs.

I was having a bit of a blue day today. I am grateful that I managed to regather myself and actually get a fair bit done.

I had a lovely chat with my sister today. Since she started her new job she hasn’t had quite as much time to catch up, so it was especially good to hear from her.

I’m grateful my thumb was aching quite a bit less than it has over the last couple of days.

Final Fantasy Advent Children. Awesome.

Homemade lasagne.

Oh, what a day! I took a very lovely break from my routine and spent a good chunk of my morning outside. It was glorious. The sun was shining strong and warm, there was a bit of a breeze out and my garden has started flowering. It feels like spring. Not just the weather—I feel it deep inside me. Even though it came up cloudy and chill late in the afternoon, even though my body started aching terribly, even though we’ll still get frost and cold days, I feel like spring is here. I feel somehow younger and more spontaneous, more alive.

The weather is set to be rather ugly for my Imbolc celebrations tomorrow, but I am looking forward to it anyway.

I felt much more cheerful and energetic today, for which I am very grateful.

Perhaps it was the gorgeous spring weather we had today. The sun was warm and everywhere I looked the flowers were beginning to show up—wattle and daffodils and violets. Just gorgeous.

I am very grateful for my sweetheart and the lovely little surprises he arranges for me. I am grateful for the way he likes to make me laugh.

Progress was made on a couple of writing projects today. I’m very pleased.

I’m looking forward to lunch with a friend tomorrow.

Today I am grateful for a good night’s sleep. It was amazing how much better I felt this morning!

I was on my way to the bus stop today when I saw a pair of black cockatoos fly past. They’re rare enough in this area that it is always an enormous thrill when I see one.

I’m grateful for oranges. I love the way they smell, the feel of the rind, the way they taste.

My gerbera is looking gorgeous with a pair of new flowers.

I am grateful for a special craft project that I have been working on that is turning out in such a lovely way. I also had an idea for the story I’m working on—definitely a sign I’m feeling better!

I’m grateful that I get to see my sweetheart much earlier than expected today. He was supposed to work late, but things got cancelled so I get to spend even more time with him!

After another long break I find myself needing to come back to this goal. My head has not been in a good place lately and this seems like the best way to help.

I’m grateful to have come to this conclusion. I am grateful for the moments of peace, awareness and love I’ve had today.

I am grateful for the sunshine.

My sister came to visit today. Our time together felt far too brief, but I’m grateful for what we had.

I am incredibly grateful for my own space.

I had good news from a friend of mine that she’s due to have a baby boy in about 15 weeks. I’m absolutely thrilled for her.

I had lunch with a couple of other friends yesterday, one of which I hadn’t seen for a few months. It felt good to catch up again. She also gave me a tip about a potential publishing job that I shall have to follow up on.

The writing has been going really well today, which is a huge relief to me. It’s nice to get a bit of focus back and get things really rolling.

And we’ve had such gorgeous weather for the last couple of days! It has been nice to see the sun’s return.

I also managed to get out into the garden this morning. Everything is looking so green after the recent rain we’ve had.

Today was a great day! I saw a rainbow out my kitchen window as I was making breakfast and there were magpies carolling nearby. It was a wonderful way to start the day.

I started to get my writing mojo back after my stint away housesitting. Feels good! I’m very grateful for friends that threaten me into working.

I’ve also spent a good part of the day updating my story records—what I’ve written, when, what the word count is, where it has been submitted to. There’s a significant gap in my records, where I’ve been very slack in keeping records over recent years. It has been so nostalgic to look back over some of the old stuff and has been helping me get my head back into a writing space.

A friend also announced today that she is going to be published soon! I sent her an email about a local anthology taking submissions and it turns out that they’ve accepted one of her pieces.