thoughts

If you are like me, you know what it's like to be so very thankful for all the blessings in your life yet still, sometimes, have a yearning for something more that you just can't quite put your finger on. I do my best each and every day to practice gratitude, to be in the moment, to cherish the "ordinary"......yet it is my nature to seek, to search, to strive, to dream, to plan. I heard something recently that really resonated with me (and I can not remember for the life of me where I heard it):

"Be in the moment, but plan ahead and take lots of pictures!!"

So simple, but it really sums up my life's mantra :)

I was also reading in my new Artful Blogging magazine yesterday and came across this partial blog post that really spoke to me:

Sometimes I sit and dream.

I think of all the things I'd like to do.

I put off the stuff that needs to be done

trading that time for daydreams.

Thinking of conversations I'd like to have,

with old friends,

current friends and

with friends I've not yet made.

Wondering where the other people like me are.

How do I find them?

How do I connect?

I long to sit and laugh,

sip coffee, or hot cocoa, or tea,

while making a mess with art supplies,

or just chatting about nothing in particular,

or the meaning of life itself.

Deep conversations,

light conversations,

no conversation,

just being.

I don't want to be a dreamer,

I want to be a doer.

I want to paint.

I want to write.

I want to take pictures.

I want to talk.

I want to listen.

I want to have a tribe of my own,

and be a part of the tribe of others.

That is only part of what the author wrote, and the rest is just as powerful!! I don't know the women who wrote this, but when I read her words, it was like looking in the mirror......amazing how words can do that!!

Yet, with all the dreaming, reaching, planning, striving, hoping......

I am so very thankful for: hot chocolate in the winter, snuggling with my family, roasting marshmallows on our back porch, getting cards in the mail, reconnecting with old friends, inspirational blogs, a good book, a worn quilt, singing in church, squeaky clean kiddos in fresh pajamas, wonderful people who help me navigate this world, cozy sweaters, new lipstick, a fire in the fireplace, a wonderful preschool with wonderful teachers, taking photos of the people I love, the color yellow, song lyrics ("Love is alive and at a breakfast table every day of the week."), candy, cheese pizza, Starbucks, chocolate donuts, a quiet bath, a clean house, an empty sink, music, laughter, cheesy Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel, scrapbooking, cupcakes, collections, red barns, and those three wonderful people that I share this life with.