I’m reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy right now. It’s a very disturbing telling of a man and his son who are living in a post apocolyptic world, constantly scavenging for food, always on the lookout for people whom the circumstances have turned incredibly evil and desperate. The man and his son are always cold, always wet, there is no sun, no animals, nothing. When the book starts, it’s already been several years that they’ve been at this and the author tells of the man’s vivid dreams of things that once were taken for granted….grass, his wife in a cotton sundress, water, a roof over his head, things that we just have and don’t think twice about.
It was quite disturbing last night as I was reading this…me on my end of the sofa, tucked under a blanket and sipping tea while reading, Ray on his end having a rye and coke while reading his book and our dog between us. When I looked up from the book for a moment and looked around, it struck me that while we’re not exactly expecting an apocolypse, it is a good reminder to be grateful for the little things that make your life liveable. Besides the obvious things like safety, freedom and food, there are a host of little things each day that it might be worth opening our eyes and looking right at. Things that comfort us or help us or make us smile or sigh. And so my list below….I am loathe to use the word “Gratitude Journal”, Oprah has pretty much ruined that one for me. I’m going to call it my love list….and I’m going to try to add a couple things to the bottom of each post. I encourage you to do the same, if not on your blog, maybe in the comments on mine, in a book of your own or at the very least in your mind.
DISCLAIMER: For anyone who is going to read this list and think that I am materialistic or greedy, go ahead and think that…but that’s sort of the point of the list….graciousness for things that I love that I am free to buy, to have, to use or to eat. Because these are the things that make our own lives liveable. Post as you feel it, not as what is politically correct.
LOVE LIST ~ October 5, 2011
my coffee this morning that had a nutty flavour to it
strawberry ice cream
leather boots
my radio station
fleece lined pants
instant hot water
quietly snoring dog
my iPhone
hot tea
warn rain
soft, silly kisses
OPI nailpolish
hard boiled eggs
passion fruit lip gloss
dental floss
roasted squash
red wine
the heater under my desk
cucumbers
eye cream
Future lists probably won’t be as long, just a notation really….but it should be a different frame of mind making an effort to notice the good things in life. I’m hoping that it makes me more gracious and grateful for what I have. I’m hoping it sheds a nice light on what are sometimes crappy days. I’m thinking that however crappy the day, there must be something that I’m thankful or grateful for.
Fitty vs Fatty 