Gratitude Gumbo

I’m always inspired by people who have regular features on their blogs, and I’ve been thinking about some “right fits” for me.  Liv Lane does a weekly Little Bliss List that celebrates what’s brought her joy and happiness during the week and Louise Gale does a weekly Joy Jam.  Great ideas and fun names, no?!  Both of these feature linky lists so others bloggers can play as well, and you can blog hop and find some kindred spirits in the blog universe as well.

I often talk about how important I  think gratitude is – how being in that energy shifts everything and opens us up to even more possibilities and expansion.  And that’s part of what I like about Liv’s and Gale’s lists – giving us peeks into what they’re grateful for.   And I’m going to play as well, making a bit more public what’s always been a private practice.  But I think the more we all invest in our gratitude practices the better off we all become.

And so today I’m beginning my own blog version, Gratitude Gumbo.  Just like the best recipes that take pinches of this and a bunch of that and simmer into a marriage of rich and complex wonderfulness, that’s what my gratitude practice and my lists look like.

So here’s a random share for today:

1. I’m blessed to have the camaraderie of a group of angel-invoking, laughter-generating, process-unraveling friends scattered across the country with whom I connect every Thursday evening by phone for a dose of sanity-inducing joy.  I’m utterly and absolutely grateful to each and every one of them.  But this week I’m celebrating a new phrase coined by one of our group that I’m totally stealing and plan to use liberally whenever I get the chance — “Love and Blissings.”   What may have been a Freudian slip certainly brings a new level of encouragement to living with you feet on the joy trail.  YES!

2. I delight in my weekly CSA (community supported agriculture) delivery of organic produce.  This week brought lots of delicious goodies including the wonderful alien-looking Romanesco broccoli in the photo above.  I always postpone  consuming this cluster of cone-headed greenness until the last minute so I can spend more time giggling and being amazed by its otherworldliness.

3.  I’m relishing  the “small stone” practice I wrote about here.   While I suspect I may continue to capture some of them here on the blog in the future, I’m hoping it’ll become a daily journal practice.

4.  Whoever invented fortune cookies is a superhero in my book.  I don’t think I’ve ever cracked one open where I didn’t have a delicious sense of anticipation of what little bit wisdom or triteness might appear.  I love using those little slips of paper in my art, and my carry-out Chinese order earlier this week included a couple extra cookies.  It’s always nice to have multiple fortunes to choose from.

5.  I’m really grateful for all the magic that’s happening in the SouLstorm Intensive community I’m playing in, where a group of gorgeous women warrior spirits are crafting our conscious creative legacies.  It’s an honor to hold these women’s visions along with my own.  Magic is afoot indeed.

6. My pile of books to be read is reaching staggering proportions which I’m beginning to feel guilty about.  But I did manage to decrease the number by one.  A  light-weight murder mystery was a perfect indulgence during a dark and stormy afternoon.

7.  We had a string of the most adorable trick-or-treaters this year.  I always love seeing the little ones dressed in their finery and having fun, but this year especially felt magical.  I honestly felt like I was privileged with visits from some amazing beings beaming love.  Some serious goodness out there shining through those kids – and what a delight to witness.

So there it is.  A rundown of seven (a lucky number!) things that made my heart happy.  What about you?  What delighted you this week?