Small and wonderful things . . .

 

"The world is fairly studded and strewn with pennies cast broadside from a generous hand. But who gets excited by a mere penny?...It is dire poverty indeed when a man is so malnourished and fatigued that he won't stoop to pick up a penny. But if you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then, since the world is in fact planted with pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days. It is that simple. what you see is what you get." ~Anne Dillard

A few of the small and wonderful things which bring untold joy into my life. It's the small things in life which truly mean the most. Simple abundance . . . it's the best.

 

All of the lovely words that you all leave for me in your comments.   I love them.  I try hard to respond to them all and to visit people in turn, but sometimes my time gets away from me.  I wish someone would invent a day with more hours in it, I really do.   That doesn't mean that I don't appreciate all of your love and support, quite the opposite.  You all mean so very much to me and are an integral part of my each and every day.  I am going to write no matter what, but the fact that you even want to read means the world to me, and then when you comment, well, I am over the moon.  I can still remember how very excited I was the first time anyone ever commented on one of my posts.  I was beyond thrilled.  I want you to know that I am still beyond thrilled when one of you comments.  It never gets old and I never take any of your comments for granted.  In fact when I haven't heard from one of you for a few days I get worried that you are ill.   Funny how that goes.   Most of us have never met in person and yet we have this amazing connection.  The only way to describe it is for me to say soul touches soul.  Love you all and appreciate you so very much!  💕 

 

I am grateful for tears.   For the ability to feel and for the ability to let it all out.   I saw somewhere once something which said (and I am not quoting verbatim here) that our heart leaks tears when it overflows.  I am so grateful for the ability to be able to cry and renew my soul with the cleansing power of tears.  Just letting go sometimes and allowing yourself to actually physically feel the things you are feeling rather than holding it all in is a very powerful thing.   Grateful for tears.

I am so grateful for the child in me which still exists and which is the source of all my creativity and whimsy.  I think that the older I get the more in touch with my inner child I become.  When my own children were growing up I had too much to do and so many responsibilities to handle, and even when I was a child, being the oldest I also had a lot of responsibility, especially when my mother went to work.  I have always had to be the responsible one.  When I was raising my family I was on my own a LOT.  I had to be everything to those children . . .  mother, father . . .  everything.  I was often the only one there.  Now I am older, I still have responsibilities but they are not as heavy as the ones I carried for so many years.  Old age brings with it a special freedom and I have been so blessed to be able to embrace that and to reawaken my inner child.

 

It does not matter how old we get or how far away we move from each other either in miles or even in our ways of thinking, I will always love my sister and appreciate her for all that she is, does, becomes, etc.   My sister means the world to me in so many ways.  I think she is pretty amazing. All the things that she does, that she knows, that she is.  I hope that she knows that.   We share an eternal bond, a special bond that we can never share with anyone else on earth.  We have a history that belongs to nobody else.   I am so glad that God gave me her for a sister and that we had each other when we were growing up and that we still have each other.  Of all the people in the world (next to Todd) that I could lose I would miss her most of all. I never thought about that until this morning, this very moment.   It is true.  I would miss her most of all.  I hope that I never have to experience that.   I guess one of the perks of being the oldest of the two, the reality is I will probably leave here first.  That suits me just fine because I don't think I could bear it the other way around.  

This is a photo of my four oldest children.  I love it.  Being a mum has been the one thing in life which has brought me the most joy, above everything else.  It is something which has been a great privilege also.  Not everyone gets the chance to even be a mom once, but to be a mom five times over is a great blessing.  They are all great people.   Good people.  Loving and kind people, each in their own ways.  I wish I had a photo of them all together including the youngest but I don't.  I know they exist, I just am not lucky enough to have one, but that's okay because I carry them in my heart and no photo is needed.  I am glad that they have each other and share a great love for each other.  I talk to my oldest daughter every day and I am grateful for the friendship we share.   Things are not the way I had always envisioned that they would be with some of my children, but I have accepted that and made peace with it.  That has been a very difficult thing for me to do and there is a part of me that will always long for what could have/should have been. I no longer dwell on it.  Like the father of the prodigal son I would kill the fatted calf gladly, but . . .   I love looking at those faces, bad haircuts, beautiful eyes . . . I did my best.  Love each one dearly. 

A thought to carry with you through today . . . 

.° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★
 *.˛.° ˛°. . 
˛*The greatest distance between two people

                is misunderstanding. 

                           ~unknown    •。★★ 。* 。

Spiritual Enlightenment

In The English Kitchen today . . .  Hearty Split Pea Soup.  Sooo good!


Have a fabulous Monday. I hope your week ahead is filled with lots of small and wonderful things. Don't forget along the way that . . . .


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And I do too!