Gratitude List - Ongoing

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.
It turns what we have
into enough, and more.
It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to
order, confusion to clarity.
It can turn a meal into a feast, a
house into a home, a stranger into a friend.
Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today,
and creates a vision for tomorrow."

-- Melody Beattie

Ongoing List of Treasures!
Note: This list is predated to keep it on the top of my journal to remind me to keep adding – sorry for any confusion! 
This year my intention is to draw more of the things I LOVE into my life! There are so many blessings in my life and instead of focusing on what I don’t have, my emphasis will be on what I have in my life and love dearly.  These will not be in any particular order – and I’m not including people in this list. You know who you are! 
  1. Taking a deep breath! Each precious breath.  And the breath of everyone I love!
  2. Nature – all aspects of nature are abundant with treasures!
  3. Watching the sunrise – how many glorious memories by just remembering sunrises!
  4. Listening to my puggle, Zippy, snoring.  Yep!  Right now!
  5. Watching my beautiful Maine Coon Rocky look annoyed at Zippy’s snoring! (Sadly, my precious Rocky passed on to heaven but i know he is still here in spirit!)
  6. My sewing machines – and needle & thread, knitting needles, crochet hooks (Now I have THREE sewing machines and a sewing room!)
  7. Then there are the fabrics, – brocades, satins, silks, linens of every texture and color. 
  8. Zumba classes! Yay Zumba! What fun!!! And Body Flow (Tai Chi, Yoga, and Pilates, oh my! Gold’s Gym, you have changed my life! Missing Gold's Gym. 
  9. My PT Cruiser that takes me on so many grand adventures – often with Zippy!
  10. Journaling – every morning.  3 pages a day since 2-2003! Still going!
  11. Books! Oh, how I love to read! I could list hundreds of favorites.  Another list! And our local Govan's library once a week - part of the Enoch-Pratt free library system in Baltimore. 
  12. Travel! I’ve been SO blessed to travel I could make an entire list out of travel Locally all over Baltimore, Maryland, recently spent a few days in Cumberland, MD, Washington D.C., Delaware, New Jersey beaches. Germany, Austria, Switzerland, India -Delhi, Agra, Lucknow, Jaipur. Tuscany - Verona, Lake Garda, Sirmione, Venice, Florence.  France, Paris, Montmartre, Giverney . . . 
  13. Helping people find their gifts! People amaze me with their talents– and often they don’t even recognize them! Coaching has helped me guide and support peple to find and use their talents, blessing us all. 
  14. Music!  Isn’t there SO much to LOVE in this world! Think of it! Another ENDLESS list! And in Baltimore I've discovered Jazz and I'm currently singing in two fabulous groups - The Renaissance Chorus and the Ding Dongs! In the spring, of 2017,  Nancy Heinold and I taught a seven week course on Musical Notes in Maryland featuring history, types, movies and musicals, and more. 
  15. Creativity!  The creative process as it relates to EVERYTHING! The way we live, think, eat, dress, believe in others . . .
  16. Art.  Again – endless – from crafts to superlative workmanship to fine arts. Love Love LOVE it! We have the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Walter's over flowing with treasures from all over the world. 
  17. Making art – painting, drawing, dancing, singing, sewing, woodcarving, collage, glass blowing . . . 
  18. Loving that almost every thing i mention can be its own list!
  19. Healthy Living!  I can decide every day how I’ll eat and exercise with a focus on health, not pounds and inches!   My Take the Rose Instead course focuses on beautiful, creative and sensuous alternatives to dieting. 
  20. Words! Oh, words just make me squeal with delight!  What we can do with them is endless! We have the power to encourage or discourage - and we need to be aware of the power of our self talk through affirmations and positive messages. As Mike Dooley says, "Thoughts become things" so chose the good ones!
  21. The alphabet!  Wow!!! Only 26 letters ‘can be arranged and rearranged to fill the Library of Congress! 
  22. Hats! Think of all the hats and all they’ve been used for – practical, working, PURE fun, over the top fashion! I once did a Girl Scout Leader training using hat - we need so many - Sergeant to be in control, Fireman to put out fires, Jester to have fun and encourage laughter, Cowboy hat to lasso in great ideas, Graduation hat to encourage thinking, study and completion, French berets to bring out the artistic ideas, Top hat to create magic - and pull out rabbits, Chef's hat to create great meals at the camp fire and beyond . . . 
  23. Shoes. Oh, treasured shoes.  ‘Shoe' will I be today?  All depends on what I put on my feet!
  24. COLORS! Oh, my! From mango to sage green, teal to the color of his eyes! I LOVE color! And the symbolism of color, use in advertising, songs about colors, uses in flags, uniforms, history, fashion, decorating  - they  add an entierly new dimensions! I'm planning to do a course on colors this spring - seven colors - seven classes - ROY G BIV. Note: I wrote this ages ago and I'm currently planning and designing a course to be delivered this spring (2018).
  25. Play! Think of it!  All of the games – board games, track and field, playground games, antique toys, baseball - Orioles!. . .
  26. Trees – to climb, for shade, look at that luscious pear! Ash to make a witches broom, cedar, pine, oak, mulberry, Christmas trees, topiaries at Ladew Gardens, bonsai, each one brings memories. We probably all remember trees that have had a special meaning in our lives. 
  27. Teeth.  Mine – oh, how I love to eat  Animal teeth – how about the snail, Floyd? lol  Floyd Stokes wrote a book called Say Ahh! The Teeth Book! to promote dental health and I got to illustrate it! Say Ahh! The Teeth Book!
  28. Jewelry!! Symbolism – Commitment – Heritage – BLING! Beauty! Bracelets, Necklaces, Rings, Toe and Ear on and on . . . 
  29. Wildflowers! I adore finding wildflowers! Trilliums, Spring Beauties, Lady’s Slippers in the spring, Michalemas daisies, black eyed Susan, thistles and goldenrod in the fall. 
  30. Design!  Patterns! They’re every where! On the sand, leaves in a tree, ferns, bark
  31. Fairytales – The Princess and the Pea, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Happily ever after! This is another endless list with fairytales from all over the world!
  32. Poetry!!  I grew up pining for Byron, Shelley, Keats, Tennyson – now my favorite is JASON MOFFITT!
  33. Water! When we’re thirsty, that is all there is! Then there are streams, lakes, the ocean, rain! 
  34. And snow, ice, gas, steam – water takes so many forms it should have TWO mentions.  
  35. Baths! Bath bags with lavender, roses and rosemary. Or add epson salts and oatmeal . . .And lots of bubbles!
  36. Elves, leprechauns, brownies, pixies – all the little people who help when we aren’t looking! Every culture celebrates little people. There must be some truth to it or it wouldn't be so universal with stories lasting for centuries!
  37. Laces! There’s tatting, clunky cluny lace, crocheted lace, cotton, silk, on petticoats, hats, shoe laces! 
  38. Blogs! I can get lost for HOURS in all of those fabulous blogs!! 
  39. Keeping it all together!! Exquisite buttons, Chinese frogs, funky zippers, velcro designed from the "weed" burdock has impacted how we keep everything more together - from shoes, jacckets, luggage!
  40. Symbols! Imagine! The Cross, Om, dollar sign, logos, fleur-de-lis, the symbolism of zodiac signs, herbs, colors, numbers - I once did an entire course on symbols. 
  41. Herbs!  You've probably noticed, I adore herbs – cooking with them – those flavors, fragrances, herbal lore, medicines, tisanes . . . I created a coures on Enhancing Your Life with Herbs and painted over 200 illustrations!
  42. Humor! Laughter is so healing! Jokes, movies, comedians, cartoons - through the ages, current humorists. It takes a genius to making people laugh!
  43. Take ANY shape – ovals – a face, an egg, an oval ring, perfume bottle, a oval au gratin pan. Now try a circle, or a triangle or a square . . . 
  44. Weeds! A plant whose virtue HAS been discovered!  From Burdock to velcro, foxglove to digitalis. There's a free e-book hidden somewhere on my site describing my perspective on weeds! Mislabeled plants are very similar to mislabeled people - they often cause us to miss the gifts. 
  45. Stars! They are everywhere! Not just in the sky but in designs, inside an apple if you know how to slice it, on flags, in flowers - one month I carried a camera and found a different star every day - photos are hidden in this site!
  46. Musical instruments – guitars, pianos, the french horn, a harp, the harmonica, drums from all over the world, our voices! 
  47. Stones!  "Indoor stones and outdoor stones",  from jewelry to fireplaces to palaces, sandstone to diamonds, granite to emeralds . . . 
  48. Birds! So much beauty – from herons to robins, ravens to eagles – singing, wading, swimming, flying, on the wing!
  49. Wings! Angel wings, butterfly wings, dragonfly wings, bird wings, wing back chairs, airplane wings
  50. Trains and boats and planes and skateboards and skis and buses, cars, cruise liners, sailboats . . .
  51. Hey you guys! I haven’t even mentioned chocolate! I used to live in Hershey, PA, the Sweetest Place on Earth! where my daughter Mycenea was born! Dark, milk, white, cocoa, melted, ice cream . . . 
  52. Or berries! Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, elderberries . . . and the Barry-mores, if your old enough to remember! One year a friend and I created a series of cran (berry) jokes for Thanksgiving. They were dreadful and would make you moan but we laughed for hours as we wrote them! 
  53. The earth! It nurtures everything that grows! And we can use clay to make pottery – there’s another list!, the colors to make dye! Some of the most beautiful pigments are from the soil in towns in Italy – Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber . . .