list 10 things that I'm grateful for and 3 reasons why for each.

i could keep listing blessings since every time i turn around i can see one somewhere peeking at me. the secret is i am learning to see them everywhere in all things. some people call them silver linings, well maybe they are but if they are ‘just’ silver linings, my life is limned in silver… it practically glows argentum. and the more i see the silver the more it glows.

i like that.

i am blessed.

with silver lining.

all over. 5 years ago

i know i have a back condition that very often makes everything a pain in the arse but the parts that work are truly blessings beyond compare.

• i can see the brilliant colors of the sunrise and sunset and am able to stand in awe at what the creator has made for me

• i can hold a pencil to draw, to write and my fingers are able to move intricately across a keyboard or form signs to speak to my deaf sister

• i can hear the song of birds, the laughter of a child, the tears of a friend and i can respond to them all

i could keep this list going since there are so many parts that are blessed with being maintenance-free and it would be so easy to forget them if i didn’t have the reminder that although i do have a difficult back the rest of me is divinely blessed and not everyone is as blessed.

i have my legs to walk
i have my arms to hold
i have my mouth to speak
so
i can walk to my children to kiss
i can embrace my children warmly
i can speak the words ‘i love you, to them
and they can hear me
and respond.

i am so blessed and blessed so much more!

http://www.cpe.uchicago.edu/unionarmy/images/da-vinci.jpg
~image taken from here ~ 5 years ago

yes. I am extremely grateful for this! although it may not seem like a thing to feel blessed about; i do. my birthday gifts were actually two new additions to my supplies that I adore since they both enable me to do more nifty things with art; one is a power tool (ar ar arrr!) and the other is a fun jumbo hole punch (yeaaaaah! makin’ shaped holes in paper!!). May not seem like much but it has gotten to the point that

1.i can do many things if i see the technique in a magazine, book or online if i choose to try it.

2. i can explore creatively in many different avenues of art and i am limited mostly by my own imagination.

3. i have enough to share with my children and neighbor so that they to might be blessed by my art supplies and have fun with me :D

yeah, i am very blessed to be able to have such a wonderful stash. i know van gogh would have probably drooled and decided cutting off his ear might not be such a good thing if he ever saw my stash; he would be too busy playing to cut anything off ::laughs::

~image found here ~ 5 years ago

life has blessed me with a most amazing neighbor. we are years apart in age but we have so much common ground. she is an amazing woman despite having had an abusive childhood that would be a horror movie if it was made into a film. i am grateful for my neighbor because
1. she ‘gets’ me. she understands me and allows me to be me.

2. she encourages and affirms me and she feels safe enough to allow me to do the same for her when she opens up to me.

3. she likes artistic things and appreciates having fun with art. she is the best gift recipient for little odds and ends and is the best gifter for the same. we bless one another with small gifts here and there and we both are thrilled with these tiny gifts that say ‘you are important and cared for’. yet she has no expectations of me except that i be true to myself above all else.

she is so awesome and it is amazing that she lives right next door to me. we both live with pain everyday and that makes the understanding between us more keenly felt and although i wouldn’t wish any further pain for her, i am blessed she has it so that she can understand mine. fabulous neighbor, lucky and blessed me! 6 years ago

although there are many things i could grumble about when it comes to my home i think the good outweighs the grumbles.
1. it is mine free and clear
2. it is a safe warm place to sleep and draw and relax and cook and live; no leaks, no drafts, no cracks, termites or crumbles
3. it has all i could need in the form of amenities: fridge, stove, oven, running water, working plumbing, real floors, garbage pickup

when i am reminded that there are people who don’t have these things my home becomes that much more of a blessing. i am wealthy. i have a home. 6 years ago

• 1. they put up with my silliness and crazy zany behavior and love me anyway. my sister gets it when i randomly yell to her ‘noooobody expects the spanish inquisition!’ and as a matter of fact she likes it.
• 2. they support me as much as they are able with my family and my situation. i wouldn’t have a car if it wasn’t for my aunt, mom and sister.
• 3. they are loving and sharing and there to go to if i need a shoulder and they accept the same from me if they need it. when i lost my son my sister stayed with me in the hospital through the whole ordeal. she cried with me and held my hand through the hard parts and held me when i fell to pieces. she helped me grieve.

i love them. i wouldn’t trade them despite their faults and mine. sometime we have personality clashes but we get over it, say we are sorry, cry, hug and make up. how can i not think i am blessed? :D

A picture of my family (my oldest sister is Marilyn, just ask her because that is what i teasingly call her):
http://images.art.com/images//The-Munsters-C10056395.jpeg
~image taken from here ~ 6 years ago