Ramona has given us the prompt of
"celebrating the small things" this month.
My gratitude journal seems to be on repeat these days. Thankful for my morning quiet time and coffee. Thankful for the roof over my head, food in the pantry and fridge, running water, electricity (especially air conditioning), indoor plumbing, access to the internet, money to pay the bills.
None of that seems celebratory. Worthy of gratitude, yes, but party themes? Nope.
I should have been able to celebrate the last day of my work calendar of one of the hardest years of my education career. I've been working steadily on school-related stuff since then, though...so that firecracker fizzled.
And let's face it--the news, especially here in Texas, has been far, far less than celebratory.
So what's left to celebrate, and by celebrate, I mean acknowledge as good and true and worthy of dancing and letting go a bit? Or maybe...just being alive and present and grateful is the celebration. I can dance and let go just because
my body can move to music
I have the privilege of time to dance
I did positively impact my learning community
we did persevere through a really hard school year
(though I think this qualifies as a big thing)
I can take time to rest my mind and body
I can applaud the celebrations of this writing group of friends.
Thanks for the opportunity to pen my rambling thoughts, my fellow travelers. May there be a skip in our steps today.
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| Photo courtesy of m01229 on Flickr |
Chris, a lovely list of things to be grateful for and things to celebrate. A skip in our steps reminds me of the pine cone I kicked all the way home on my walk two days ago. While I wasn't exactly skipping or dancing, it brought to mind my good friend who used to kick pine cones with me on walks. We would laugh at our goofy kicks and chase the pine cone down street after street. Just doing it made me remember my friend and our years of walking together. As a fellow educator who always found it tough to get out of my classroom, it's time to relight that firecracker and clear out! I loved reading your rambling thoughts.
ReplyDeleteYes, yes, yes, you should celebrate that you did "persevere through a really hard school year" - I have witnessed from the sidelines (retired teacher) this past school year and I absolutely echo that it has been extraordinarily hard. So glad you have made it to the 'other side' ! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteChris - I haven't been able to get Uvalde out of my mind. I referenced it in my SJT post and, oddly enough, a musical connection. I feel very slow with my writing these days. I am hoping for new "skips in my steps" as vacation commences on Tuesday. I especially love this line of yours: "Maybe...just being alive and present and grateful is the celebration." Oh yes, I absolutely believe that. I celebrate you and your writing!
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