Sometimes gratitude feels too specific, too personal, to share. Other days thankfulness seems too sweeping to express. In the margin between exactly this and something like that, I arrive here.
Gratitude has a rhythm. It catches and continues. This week I am trying to catch the beat, holding to each note so that I might swing to the next. Repetition helps:
• I spent the week in Seashore Family Literacy's Summer Writing Adventure Camp, leading 9 children and 1 teen in explorations designed to inspire poems, stories, songs, and more. I am thankful for patience, willing, and words.
• As the rest of the world swelters in summer heat, the Oregon Coast stays at a steadfast 60 degrees with a crisp ocean wind. On a field trip this week, the temp dived. By the time we arrived at our (outdoor) walking adventure, the youngsters were far from home, damp, chilled and teetering on tears. I am deeply thankful for hot chocolate, and the refuge of the Pig 'n Pancake.
• Poetry is everywhere, when you're looking. Some of the most poetic lines this week were not written in journals, but spoken in casual conversation. Write that down, I urged, again and again. But the moment moves quickly and we sometimes don't recognize the value of our everyday observations. Thanks to the kids, my ears were tuned to hear.
Heard
lines of conversation from the young writers
It’s the circle of life.
Everything on earth is part of the circle.
How do you blow a bubble?
How tall am I to the tree?
We are waiting.
We are at a crossroads of nature,
an Eden of petals.
Don’t eat the twinberry!
This is a sacred arch.
I have too many words.
The bridge is wheezing.
I hear the zoop zoop zap of life.
This is a sweet exotic treat.
How do you spell happiness?
- edited/arranged by Drew Myron
What are you thankful for today?
It's Thankful Thursday, a weekly pause to appreciate people, places, and things in our lives. Gratitude multiplies with effort and desire. The more we are thankful, the more we recognize the richness of our daily lives — and the more we are thankful.