Thankfulness from One Woman's Heart

Photo by Ernestine

This morning's entry  is from a dear friend, Ernestine. She is One Woman who is wise and compassionate and always takes the time to stop by and visit my blog and offer a kind word. She sends me personal emails and holds me in her prayers, but even more important, this gentle spirit holds me in her heart as a friend. I am young enough to be her daughter, but she calls me friend, and I LOVE that. We have never met and likely never will in person, of course, you never know, life is FULL of surprises. I hold Ernestine in my heart too, that's what friends do. The photo above is of her charming wooded property in Tennessee.

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Thankfulness and gratitude - two words.  Two words that never leave my thoughts.  There is never a moment that I cannot find something to be thankful for...

How does this One Woman even begin to share how thankful she is for her gift of life.   

A life that has not been easy.  Now that she looks back over 70 plus years, she can visualize the journey more clearly.  All has served a purpose.

Doors have opened and shut along her pathway and there has always been someone there to encourage her along the way.  A smile, word, hug, phone call, letter, book - all came at the right time.   One thing she has learned is that this encouragement usually did not come from where she might have expected it.

They were angels along her path of life.

I am thankful for my strong belief in God, a prayer time that I could not exist without,  and ever aware of this in my life  - it never leaves.

I am thankful that my beliefs have broadened over the years. Thankful for a son who lives part time over the ocean - is in constant contact with his mother and who has introduced me to a culture, wisdom and a way of life  that for many years I did not know existed. 

I am thankful for all of my children and grandchildren - they bring me so much joy. 

I am thankful that a few years ago when I did not know if I wanted a computer - that I had my son-in-law install one for me. It was put on my desk which sits in front of a window,  every home always a view of nature.

I am thankful for friends close by, and  the many online friends I have made through my sharing. My sharing intended as an online diary so my grandchildren might know their grandmother better has turned into communication with special people from around the world.  Each person that responds to me is a blessing and encourages this One Woman along the way.

I am thankful that when I was allowed to leave the home place that healed me over 30 years ago - that I was allowed to return 18 months ago.   It was a difficult time with building a home in the city, moving, trying but my heart knew this was not where I belonged.  Thankful that I was able to return to my woods property and build a home that is perfect for someone in the last part of her life. Thankful that when many questioned if this was a smart decision, that I knew in my heart that this was what I was suppose to do. 

I am thankful that I can see, hear, walk, talk, drive, write, and have a sensitive heart.

I sit and type and at a loss for words for all the thankfulness in my heart.  I wonder how can you express totally with words you put on paper.  It is impossible.

Consistently expressing sincere and heartfelt gratitude for what you already have is the underlying and often overlooked force which opens door to immeasurable abundance and happiness.

More writings of the heart from my friend Ernestine can be found here @ 

 My Journey to Mindfulness

Don't forget to stop by Hey Harriet today too, to discover more photos with interesting shadows like the ones in Ernestine's image above!

Gratitude for Difficulty: Brooks Hall

I am so grateful to be able to introduce those of you who don't know her yet, to Brooks Hall, here at Shine the Divine today. Brooks is a friend I've met through blogging. She is a yoga teacher in Chicago with deep wisdom not only about the body and the art and intricacies of of yoga, but the soul as well.  She is a frequent contributor to Elephant Journal and has been featured in *Yoga Journal  too. Thank you Brooks!

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Photo by Brooks

I am grateful for healing and prayer, which seems to necessitate an appreciation of illness and times when experience feels flat and material. Something is a little off if I only appreciate the healing without acknowledging the illness or disagreement that served as a tool for accessing the beauty of healing and forgiving. And things are similarly off if I only am thankful for the seemingly magical times in life, without seeing the blessing of sometimes feeling lost in a shallow world.

Laura’s request to write on gratitude came right at a crossroads between a magical time, and a desolate reckoning. I was so grateful to receive the request, as I am so thankful for Laura’s beautiful presence on the Internet. So my answer seemed a no-brainer: yes!

But then I had to deal with the self that I seemed to be right then: downright ungrateful.

So, today I am grateful for the dirt and difficulty. I am grateful for an awareness of a time when it has been difficult to see the light.

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Learn more from my wise friend Brooks @ her award winning blog Yogic Muse or if you live in Chicago check out one of her classes at YogaView             

*Brooks was featured in Yoga Journal, August '09, p.85 -Yes we can!

Grateful Time: Rabbi Myriam Klotz

Myriam, Myr-I-Am, is one of my official teachers. And in the seven years since we have known each we have developed a special friendship. We like to play with words. We are yoginis, we like to play! The other day she sent me a message:  "I just typed your name but the 'l' deleted by accident, and i discovered your dear "aura".  of course!" She signed the message Myr-I-Am and I responded: "Words are so full of fun and deeper meaning....And Myr...I think of you as one who reflects our beauty and sacredness back to the I am's...(all of us) who are blessed to know you..." 

Rabbi Myriam Klotz is co-founder of the Yoga and Jewish Spirituality Teacher Training Institute  at Isabella Freedman with my other esteemed and loving yoga teacher Diane Bloomfield. Myriam is also Director of Yoga and Movement Practices at the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. I studied diligently with Myriam for a total of 3 years if you put the two intensive 18 month trainings I did with her together, and I continue to study  with her through IJS and YJSI because I value all of the wise and supportive teachers and the wisdom they share with deep generosity. And while Myriam is an excellent teacher, Spiritual Director, Rabbi and Yogini, you need to know she is also a loving partner, mother, friend and all around compassionate, beautiful human BEING. LoVe YOU Myriam!

Photo by Myriam

Grateful Time

Tall thick trunk of oak that shoots from ground acres up into the sky

Few branches,  years in the making

Yesterday I looked up to see

And saw

The one or two leaves still left

Trunk to tip from ground  to up-gaze

Grateful

For the gift of Time.

In whose hands

Seed springs to sprout and supple turns to strong and small grows into Big and Stable and Rooted and Tall

Grateful.

For the gift of Time

In whose hands

Friendship sparks and grows hot with recognition, longing

Fires of desire for

Time

Grows, cooling fears

Longing held in Time’s hands

Steadies, ah!

Bursts, births into Trust through Time  and

Love.   Steady warming and

It took the time it took.

Grateful.

For the gift of Time,

In whose hands

I have learned how to pause,

How to listen,

How to see,

How to renounce,

How to take pleasure

And Love

In the slow sometimes steady and sometimes jolting

Growth of the Life I have

Blessed to Be

A part of

This,

Love

This,

Friendship

This,

Companionship

This,

Parenting

This,

Body

This,

Now,

Trust

As hairs grow grey

As warm turns to chill

And it is all arrested.

But now I know

Time’s Gift to Linger

Suspended Breath Ever Steady

It is

Ever.

Grateful

For the gift of Time

To Know

There is

Always.

Listen to Myriam as she shares a Restorative Yoga Practice for Stressful Times in this podcast titled Waters of Repose (Psalm 23) by clicking HERE 

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Next offer yourself some more peace and deep relaxation by visiting my friends @ 

 

for spectacular views that may or may not be punctuated by trees! 

And I just found out one of my favorite trees from my Lech Lecha post is being featured @ 

   
this month, but it is well hidden amongst the other trees @
  wander the woods with us

 ...gentle steps through the internet forRest my friends,

LauraX

Deep Breath: clytie

This morning I welcome my friend Clytie to Shine the Divine...and this sweet soul shines. Clytie has a way of finding hearts (the symbol of love and compassion) pretty much everywhere she goes!!! I discovered Clytie's blog through Nina's blog, when Nina had sent out a prayer request for her friend Clytie...and I felt compelled to find out more about Clytie and healing prayers just flowed, because it is impossible NOT to love Clytie.

And since today is Guest Heart Thursday, it seemed quite apropos to have Clytie be a guest at my blog and a guest heart guest at her own blog! 

I also want to share that today is my Great Aunt Bella's Yartzeit (day of remembrance). Bebe lives on in my heart, always encouraging me to be compassionate and full of faith, as she  was when she lived here on earth. She was one of my first spiritual teachers.

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Photo by Clytie...the stone with the random heart is carnelian.

Deep breath ... and here I go -

Life began anew for me last December, when at the age of 48, I suffered a moderate stroke which rendered me completely paralyzed on my right side and I was rushed to the ER. My sister rushed to the hospital, and prayed over me ... and a miracle happened. The 'clot buster' medicine, which was supposed to take 72 hours to show results - worked in a matter of minutes. The stroke itself was the size of a silver dollar on the first MRI, but subsequent MRI's showed it to be the size of an acorn. The surgeon took my sister aside, and quietly told her "whether it was the prayers or the medicine, I don't know. But this is not normal". My own doctor quipped "well let's get that blood pressure down - we can't have you hogging ALL the miracles!"

I would not have been given this second chance without the prayers and thoughts of my friends and family. Without the healing touch of my sister's faith.

I wrote this poem just 5 days after the stroke. Just 2 days after my release from the hospital. Now nearly a year later, my gratitude is as strong as ever. I try to live each day to it's fullest, knowing how precious life is. How precious family is, and friendship.

I thank you all,

From the bottom of my heart

For your prayers, your thoughts

When my world fell apart.

God heard your prayers

And lifted the curtain

A true miracle occurred!

Of this I am certain.

A little while longer

I have been given

A gift, a wonder,

A heart-felt present.

December 9, 2009

Clytie Garretson

Visit Clytie at Random Hearts 




And visit some of our other friends who have a knack for finding hearts in surprising places!

And my friends at IP, where the cracks in our broken-hearts allow light and healing to flow!

A Post by Kim Talon: GREAT with a little ATTITUDE

Kim is a gifted writer who I have been blessed to connect with through blogging. I am so honored that she accepted my invitation to share her words of wisdom with us today. The instruction I gave to all of my guest hosts it pretty much the same as the one I offer all of you who I HOPE will participate in this year's Second Annual  Mega Moebius Gratitude Quilt:

Read these instructions through first and then...Close your eyes. Exhale fully. Inhale fully. Exhale again with a full sigh of release, relief, opening to gratitude. What do you feel grateful for in your life in THIS moment?

Gratitude – it always reminds me of the word great with a little attitude. And I think gratitude is about attitude and how you view all the things around you and all the events that happen to you...it’s about your view on life.

Following Laura’s instructions, I’ve cleared my mind of its usual clutter. I’ve taken some cleansing breaths and I’m in this moment. At this very moment, I’m grateful for the sun (noticeably absent of late) pushing through the clouds and making a Saturday morning temporarily bright. I’m grateful for the Japanese Maple in full autumn regalia outside the window. Its fiery foliage is tinting the room the most amazing color and I’m grateful I’m getting to see this space in a whole new light. I’m grateful for the squirrel jumping from the nearby cedar and sitting, for a moment, in the maple and twitching his tail as he watches me watching him.

But you know how minds are—they’re tricky. They refuse to stay completely in the moment and keep darting back to the past and forward to the future. Past gratitude sustains me through the times when present gratitude is a little hard to find. And I know I’ve been guilty of saying this many times—“I can’t wait until (fill in the blank) is over with. I’ll be so grateful when that’s over.” So an anticipation of gratitude is another thread that binds it all together.

One thing I find interesting about gratitude is that when you look for the little things to be grateful for, it adds up to a whole lot over the course of a day. Sure, there are those huge moments in a life where you are flooded with gratitude—when test results are negative, when a child is born strong and healthy, when an accident occurs and no one is seriously injured, when severe weather doesn’t destroy your neighborhood, when you gather around a table with family and friends and share a collective gratefulness—but there are as many little moments to be grateful for. I’ve found that between big moments of gratitude, the little moments of gratitude (which are quite often personal and private), are just as fine and just as important.

I often wonder if people who seem less grateful (I tend to recognize them by the negativity they seem to spout at every opportunity) are really any less grateful than I am. It could be they’ve been disappointed by anticipation of future gratitude that simply didn’t play out the way they thought it should or would. Or maybe past disappointments have left them doubting they can ever be grateful again. Or maybe they simply don’t think about gratitude in the same way. Maybe they don’t see sunshine as a gift or rain as a blessing. Maybe they don’t see opportunity for gratitude in even the most annoying times – like traffic jams (this is when my best car singing occurs) or bad hair days (who can’t be grateful they at least have hair on days like those). Maybe they take things like breathing or walking or laughing for granted so they’ve struck them off their list of gratitude-worthy things.

 If I were to list all the things I am grateful for—all things from the magic to the mundane—I would still be writing an hour from now...probably a day from now. Gratitude is defined as “the state of being grateful: thankfulness”. And thinking of things to be thankful for, my mind overflows.

And I’m very grateful for having people like Laura in my life.  Thank you, Laura, for reminding me that gratitude is something to not only celebrate, but to honor. 

To read more of Kim's inspiring writing click on her name below:

Talon

Thank You: Naomi Less

To open up our month of gratitude I am so thrilled to share with you one of my dearest friends on earth, Naomi Less. Naomi is one of those people who walks into a room and you have a sense that "this woman is a force of nature!" Naomi is like the Sun...she radiates warmth, light, generosity and has a gravitational pull that draws you to her loving, creative spirit. I met her about 6 or is it 7? years ago when we studied, prayed, meditated, practiced yoga and played together in a unique program for Jewish Educators through the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. We were chevruta's. Soul-buddies, and study partners for part of the training. On the last day of our final retreat (after 18 months of intensive body, mind, heart and soul learning) we participated in this exercise in which we had to thank our partner. N and I pretty much blubbered through the whole thing! As though we would never see each other again. Well, we do not "see" each other often because she works and lives in NY and I live here at the Gnome Mound in NH. But we constantly email, we have long chats on the phone, and we have visited each other on occasion. When our Rosie was so sick in the hospital 2 years ago, Naomi stayed in touch by email or phone everyday!!!! 

I am so genuinely grateful for this soul-sister of mine. I love you Naomi!!!

When Naomi and her husband Glenn were married, I was too sick to travel, because I had only been recently diagnosed with MS and was experiencing a pretty intense exacerbation. But I was there at their wedding anyway. She had asked me to design blessing cards for her friends to write messages on...blessings for the bride and groom. She made sure everyone knew I had designed these cards and had a special photo taken in which she's holding out the basket of blessings, and sent it to me to let me know that I was indeed present with her on that day.

Ok, enough from me.

ps. Naomi begged me to tell you that this is not the "finished" cut...but I LOVE the raw, true Naomi that shines through...to me it is PERFECT just as it is.

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Click hear (oops) HERE  to hear Naomi sing you her song of gratitude simply titled:

Thank You- Modah Ani
lyrics and music ©Naomi Less 2010 all rights reserved

For the way that I breathe. 

For the loves in my life. 

For the wind in my sails. 

For the strength from my strife. 

For the lessons I still need---the ones I have learned. 

For the gift of a hug and respect I have earned.

Woke up today simply to say: 

I give my thanks to you. 

It sounds like nothin' but to me its somethin'. 

Please hear from me---

You're bringing back my soul.

For the mornings that bring sweet escape from the night. 

For the phone call from St. Paul at first morning light. 

For encounters by chance, and for meeting my friends. 

For a nuzzle, a deep look. 

For holding my hand.

Woke up today simply to say: 

I give my thanks to you. 

It sounds like nothin' but to me its somethin'. 

Please hear from me---

You're bringing back my soul.

For our inside jokes that last all these years. 

For our riotous laughter that brings me to tears. 

For delays on the train. 

For a random path home. 

For a smile from a stranger when I feel so alone.

Modah Ani Lifanecha
I give my thanks to you
Shehechazarta - Shehechezarta
Bi - Nishmati
For Bringing back my soul...

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You can learn more about Naomi and the wonderful program she has created to teach adolescent girls about personal empowerment @ Jewish Chicks Rock  and purchase her music @ Naomi Less

ABUNDANT GRATITUDE

Pumpkins on the Side of the Road © 2010 Laura Hegfield

Hello Dear Ones,

As you all know my body has been having a rough time of it recently. My mind and heart and spirit have been very busy writing and writing and taking photos and writing more and well….I haven’t exactly been resting.

Treetops Through My Window  © 2010 Laura Hegfield

And so, out of gratitude for this blessed holy vessel that is MY BODY, I have decided to mostly take the month of November off from writing my own posts….but, BUT…I have asked friends and colleagues to help me out and guest host about gratitude for the entire month!!!!! So there are a few days here and there when I will have a word or two to share…but mostly you will be hearing from other wise and generous souls this month. All have been teachers for me, officially and unofficially. There is much to learn in this life...and everyone has the potential to be a malach, an angel, a messenger with something important to share in a particular moment in you life. Listen closely at all times. Look carefully. Something you need to know, something you have been longing to understand might be right before your eyes and if you do not stop and look and listen, you'll miss it. I'm hoping this month will be filled with many of those special moments and messages for all of us. I think, sometimes when we hear, see, read about what other people are grateful for in their lives...it helps us to open to the abundant blessings that are present for us too.

Looking Up © 2010 Laura Hegfield

I want to also take a moment here to say I’m sorry I have not been wonderful about visiting your blogs lately or responding to comments (now I mostly do that privately through email anyway)…but I’m just wiped out these days. So please forgive me for not being the best blog neighbor. But sometimes…no all the time…it is important to listen to our bodies. When the body says rest…well, then that’s what needs to happen. That is true gratitude for the blessing of being an embodied soul.

Looking Down © 2010 Laura Hegfield

Last year, just before Thanksgiving I started having difficulty with language. FAS, Foreign Accent Syndrome became a new member of our household, brought on by an MS exacerbation. At that time even accessing words and putting them into proper syntax when talking was difficult. I still have FAS, but I don’t usually channel Yoda these days, just occasionally. Anyway, my mind was working perfectly fine, despite my language difficulties so I devised a plan for a special Thanksgiving post, the Mega Moebius Gratitude Quilt.

It was such an awesome experience to read the beautiful patchwork quilt of gratitude from people of all ages and religions from all over the world on Thanksgiving Day (TG in the USA). This year, I’m inviting all of my blog readers (there are a whole lot more of you NOW) and other friends to send me their gratitude comments for what will now be the Second Annual Mega Moebius Gratitude Quilt!!!  (Moebius implies a loop that never ends and so shall it be ) All you have to do is send me your submissions by Sunday, November 14^th via email laura@shinethedivine and I will lovingly “stitch” our global quilt of comfort and love together to post on November 25^th, Thanksgiving Day here in the USA. (I know, I said I'll be resting...this is easy stuff, don't worry!) Now, for all of my friends from other countries, I KNOW that this is not your holiday tradition, at least not on this specific date…but isn’t every day a day to feel grateful???

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Here’s how it works, read through all the instructions first and then: Right now in this very moment, take time to rest. Close your eyes. Breathe out to make space...breathe in new awareness...exhale again a deep sigh of relief and release opening your heart and now opening your eyes too and type in whatever words flow from your soul without thinking about it or editing....stream of consciousness writing.

I'll begin (don't worry, yours doesn't have to be as long as mine...you know how wordy I can be....but just go with the flow, very stream of consciousness...don't think...feel and write.) 

Rainbows of Promise on the Pond © 2010 Laura Hegfield

"Sometimes when we aren't looking, the holiness comes breaking through like a rainbow." 
~Madeleine L'Engle 

In this moment I am grateful for the love and support I feel around me constantly, from family and friends near and far...loved ones passed on and Spirit within...angelic beings. I am grateful for this beautiful world filled with color and light and sound and fragrance. I am grateful for the blessing of breath and for courage and inner strength. I am grateful for this life, not the one I planned or expected, but the one I have been gifted with...the tough stuff, the lovely parts....the joy, tears, fears...ALL OF IT! I am grateful.