December 6/7 Advent Gratitude
It was a dark weekend – dark outside and inside. Most of my friends and relatives have been gripped by anxiety at points in the last year; this weekend the waves swept over me. I thought about all the things I could not control or change -the past and the future. But in between the rise and fall I caught my breath and noticed the gifts of the now: lying in bed to read the last pages of the Monk of Mokha and feeling grateful for Dave Eggers and his storytelling powers; doing a yoga class by app, and feeling grateful to my sister-in-law who told me to check out Down Dog at the start of the pandemic; going to our garden shop and getting a Christmas tree, decorating it and feeling grateful for all the layers of history trapped in our mismatched baubles; watching my daughter baking banana bread for a sick friend and feeling grateful for her being home; talking to my American family by Zoom.
So when I pay attention life is full of gifts; it’s only in my head that dread dwells. This morning I woke up, and the clouds had lifted – even though it was still foggy outside the window. I could see the beauty of winter again and for that lifting – I feel grateful.
