It's Thankful Thursday.
Gratitude. Appreciation. Praise.
Please join me in a weekly pause
to appreciate people, places & things.

I like small surprises.
Not big and showy acts (parties, skydiving, sweepstakes and pageants) but quiet gestures (daisies over roses, written notes over loud declarations). This week, I am thankful for quiet surprises.

I found fresh herbs on my doorstep. No name, no note, just carefully bundled sprigs of rosemary and other undetermined edibles (dill? oregano? sage?). Last night I made an herb-infused dinner, seasoned with kindness, surprise, and scent.

An unexpected invitation arrived — to lead a writing workshop next month in Newport, Oregon, for the Willamette Writers Coast Chapter. I am surprised and delighted.

Words returned. For the past month, my writing mind has been barren. I've got nothing, I admit to a friend, My poetry permit has expired. I've been here before, and each time I think the dry spell is terminal. Do you know this place? Even before pen hits page your words feel dull and done, and so you stop trying.

When I'm in this space, I counter the dread by ramping up my reading. But lately my enthusiam for books is tepid, too. Still, I trudged through a few so-so selections. The other night, while reading a novel with beautiful prose (but a mediocre plot) I was moved to copy down a few passages. Within minutes, I was jotting my own words. I was writing! (see: Bill Murray in What About Bob? He's tied to the mast, exuberant, shouting, I'm sailing!).

The next morning I re-read my words, and wrote some more. It's not stellar work, but that's not the point. The surprise is that the tap is flowing. I am writing and thankful.

It's Thankful Thursday. What are you thankful for today?