It’s Thankful Thursday, a weekly pause to express appreciation for people, places, things, and more. Whether puny or profound, attention attracts gratitude and gratitude expands joy. Please join me.

Some days I need a great deal to dig out of life’s debris — a vacation, say, or a windfall of some sort. Other days it takes very little to shift the mind and lift the heart.

I’ve taken to collecting small moments: a warm glove, a soft shirt, a beat of sunlight across the floor. This week, a novel calmed and this line called:

She had a feeling that they were

talking in different languages —

each only half-learned by the other.

— from Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont

This 1971 novel was written by Elizabeth Taylor (not that Elizabeth but this Elizabeth). In 2005, the book was made into a movie, starring Joan Plowright and Rupert Friend. I saw the movie years ago, and just recently read the book. Both, I’m pleased to report, are warm and loving.

And really, lately, and maybe always, warm and loving is all I need.

What are you thankful for today?

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The world turns on words. Thank you for reading & writing.

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