Gratitutude

Day Seven

What's a mama to do when she finds herself in one of those rare moments of being alone at home with time on her hands? 

Declutter, of course.

With the cold days of winter and the celebrations of the holidays on the way, I found myself with some time alone, time alone at home, just perfect to sort through, pack up, pack off, polish and prepare to make room for the days ahead.

In gathering and dusting and sorting and polishing and remembering, there arises in me so much gratitude for the all the goodness our goods have brought to us and others and all the play along the way.

Gratitude for quiet moments.
Gratitude for memories.
Gratitude for possibility.

Gratitude

Day Five

Oh dear. I've slipped off the wagon with the posting of my daily gratitude.

 I have been keeping up with the snapshots so little by little I will catch them up here.

~ this one is with gratitude for the morning my  furry buddy and our morning walks ~

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Gratitude

Day Four

Pop over here for The Basic Rules for Clotheslines as well as sweet musing on the social role of the clothesline. I have such fond memories of the clothesline. Did you grow up with a clothesline in the backyard?

Gratitude

 Day Two 

from this...

 to this...

Earth who give to us this food

Sun who make it ripe and good

Dear Earth, 

Dear Sun

By you we live

Our loving thanks to you we give

~ Christian Morgenstern

15 Days of Gratitude

 Day One 

As the days of November lose their golden glow and the last leaves dance from the trees, bare branches continue to reach up to the light, skeletal like. Perhaps it is the need for food, shelter and warmth, so necessary to survive the cold and snow that winter brings, that illuminates the abundance of the earth and goodness of its inhabitants, a need that draws people together to celebrate the harvest and give thanks for the abundance of life.

As this time of year is one of reflection on gratitude, I am challenging myself to post daily until the end of November something simple from daily life that arouses gratitude within me. Fifteen days of gratitude. I invite you to join me and leave a link with a note in the comments below.

“Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good.”  ~ Maya Angelou

Tea Time and Gratitude

When we show reverence and gratitude by our actions, children absorb it into their bodies and they too will learn to express gratitude from deep within, for the young child, under the age of seven, learns by modelling the behavior of the adults around him and absorbing what lives within the adult. Rudolf Steiner stated, in The Education of the Child in Light of Anthroposophy:

“There are two magic words which indicate how the child enters into relation with his environment. They are: Imitation, and Example. The Greek philosopher Aristotle called man the most imitative of creatures. For no age in life is this more true than for the first stage of childhood, before the change of teeth. What goes on in his physical environment, this the child imitates, and in the process of imitation his physical organs are cast into the forms which then become permanent. ‘Physical environment’ must, however, be taken in the widest imaginable sense. It includes not only what goes on around the child in the material sense, but everything that takes place in the child’s environment — everything that can be perceived by his senses, that can work from the surrounding physical space upon the inner powers of the child. This includes all the moral or immoral actions, all the wise or foolish actions, that the child sees. "

It is not moral talk or prudent admonitions that influence the child in this sense. Rather is it what the grown-up people do visibly before his eyes.

Wash the dishes,

Wipe the dishes,

Ring the bell for tea,

Three good wishes,

Three good kisses,

Thank you for my tea!

Have a cup of tea! The guides are coming. I am manually entering your e-mail addresses for all of the test readers. Thank you all. I am so grateful for all your kind words and enthusiasm and willingness to jump in and help out.

Warmly,

Lisa