#10Thankful – A Heavy Heart
It has been a week of such sadness.
I’m sure most of you know of the terribly sad and tragic headlines that have filled our news feeds this week. My heart is also heavy for people in my life who are grieving the loss of family and beloved companions, people who are struggling with illness, emotional and physical pain, financial difficulty, and so much more. There are so many hearts out there in need and lately it seems that there is far too much hurt to be helped.
I’ve started my list of thankfuls at least ten times over the last few days, and each time I sit in front of it, it seems…something. Trivial? Wrong? I don’t know. None of those is either true or fair, really. We are not wrong to be thankful for the blessings in our lives, yet many of us find ourselves thinking that somehow we should not be celebrating when so many are hurting. I know I’m not alone in this; a few friends have shared similar feelings. It’s more than OK to go on, to live, to continue putting foot in front of foot as we make our way through each day set before us. And yet, somehow, things like weight losses and spiralized vegetable noodles and replacement mobile phones seem…trivial. Wrong.
I’m dancing dangerously close to the deadline to add my list to the link-up for this week, so unless I’m planning to just opt out because I couldn’t figure myself out, I need to make a little haste here. I would rather get a few short things down and acknowledge them here than give up. Love wins. Goodness wins. I do believe that with all my heart, no matter how much evil floods my news feed. I refuse to believe that there is no good, no joy, no blessing in life. I’m not blind to what’s happening. I’m not ignorant of the problems in the world. I know. We all know.
I also know that light and cool meals made with spiralized veggies are perfect on a hot summer evening.
I know that reaching any goal is better when you have friends to encourage you.
I know that I am so very glad to have the opportunity right now to live my life in a manner that allows me to spend time with my daughter and my husband and do the work I love from the peace and comfort of my home.
I know that I am glad when we check projects off our to-do list.
I know that I am happy when our Cat One feels better after a bout of his tummy troubles. And I am definitely glad when his tummy troubles don’t land on the new carpet.
I know that losing a cell phone down a composting toilet shaft is definitely not the end of the world, just a relatively minor inconvenience to replace contact info and the phone itself. I do have to admit being very sad for the loss of some very special photos that had not yet been transferred to my computer. That bugged me. But they’re photos, not the actual people in them. Everyone is alive and safe and I know I will always hold those memories in my mind and my heart.
I know that I am grateful for my Husband’s patient ear when I need to talk and cry a bit.
I know that tears are wonderful, powerful things. And I know that crying helps and is necessary sometimes.
I know the same is true of writing – at least for me. It is a wonderful, powerful endeavor, even if the words never see anyone’s eyes but mine. It helps and it is necessary sometimes.
I know that the world is not all bad all of the time. If the world were good and perfect all the time, well, it wouldn’t be this world, now would it? It would be something else entirely. I know that love wins and eventually, somehow, some way, good does triumph over evil. We just have to keep working on improving our selves, our lives, our world, one little bit at a time.
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Love this! Definitely going to join this link up. So important to be thankful all the time really.
Sash, it’s a great link up and a great habit. Join us any time!
Hey, Lisa. I am so glad you wrote this. I think all of us feel the pain of the day, and it makes our own issues sound so petty and trivial. And yay for spiralized veggies. I do zucchini and yellow squash the most, but I’ve done sweet potatoes and carrots and cucumbers as well. Did you know you can take those noodles, but them in a food processor and make them into veggie rice? I haven’t tried it but there is a cookbook I have that recommends it. I love what you say about tears and writing.
Thanks, Val.
Yes, I’ve seen the veggie rice thing. Also a fun idea but I have to be honest – do I really want to spiralize and then dirty up the food processor besides? Seems like an awful lot of clean-up. 😀 The spirals are definitely cool – just a nice different prep approach. I am looking forward to trying a few things with beets. But again – the cleanup from beets? Always icky. Looks like an autopsy no matter how hard you try to keep it neat. 😀
The thing I really wish, Val, about the sadness and violence in the news, is that people would stop being so selectively upset and concerned about events in the world. Some spawn massive waves of attention and commentary, while others (just as horrific) go virtually unnoticed. I’m not minimizing anyone’s concerns, just kind of feel like we should be consistent in our worry, you know?
Haven’t read any of the posts yet for this week, but I’ll be over soon.
This is a great attitude post, Lisa. I really like it. Love DOES win, even though it doesn’t feel like it a lot of the time, but I have such faith in the small good things done by everyday people, lots, and I think and hope that together, one day, we’ll crack it. We’ll see the love at the core of humanity and all be swept away by it.
One day.
Meantime, I’m glad your carpets are unmessed, and your phone is sorted, and your week had good bits in it 🙂
Would you believe that the cat had an accident on the carpet last night??? Ugh.
Well…SHIT! ( 😉 )
LOL Precisely! 😀
I agree that tears really can be wonderful, powerful things. I am currently in NC with my daughter. The sermon we heard in Chapel Hill Sunday actually moved me to tears. The minister called the congregation to action saying that we people of faith have fallen short by not speaking out about a system that allows injustice. She used verses from the book of Amos and referred to a sermon MLK gave to fellow clergy using these passages in a time when churches said they loved the least of these, but held tightly to the Jim Crow laws. Then the longest congregational prayer I think I have heard in a Methodist church, the other minister said—Black lives matter and spoke about the special place the oppressed have in God’s heart. He said Blue lives matter and talked about the sacrifice of a calling where people serve others. He talked about all lives matter as we are all made in God’s image. He went on to say that our human problem solving and inherent prejudices make us too limited to solve the problems that have led to the current violence. So, we need to pray and listen for God’s guidance. I wish I could remember exactly how he said this, but it was basically –our thoughts and language on the topic are too limited and have left us only Black and Blue.
Every hymn, every responsive reading of this service was a call to action towards reform that changes the fundamental systems in society which allow and encourage inequality. I went in feeling very discouraged and came out feeling like I was ready to find specific ways to voice my own desire for change. I gave up pretty early in the service on dabbing at my tears and just let them flow. I think that they played a part in my feeling so much better afterwards.
May, thank you so much for sharing that experience – how beautiful and cathartic that must have felt. I love hearing that. It’s the kind of sensibility and reason that we need. I am so tired of seeing these issues reduced to and us/them mentality – if you care for one, you must be against the other and so forth. It’s maddening. No one doubts that some people, groups, cultures, etc. have different struggles and they are real. But we have to stop seeing only the problem and realize that if we all just treated all others as humans, God’s creatures, we’d be in a great position to affect great change. The words are so difficult to find about these topics – and frankly, that’s why I generally don’t post about them. I keep those words for my private journals.
I’m recommitting. Really, this time. I am going to be a better friend and quit hiding in my hole because I’m sad. Thank you for being my friend when I’m so inconsistent.
You don’t have to be a better friend – you’re a great one. Everybody gets sad. But yes, please don’t hide in your hole alone. At least let one or two of us in there, you know, for a beer or whatever. 😀
I’m glad you wrote this, Lisa. Being thankful is always important, but especially during time when it feels harder to do. I love your thoughts on the lost photos – focusing on the presence of the people in them instead.
The photos are tough – can’t lie about that. But I try to remember my Grandfather’s words: Things aren’t important; people are. Puts it in perspective. I’m glad I wrote it, too, Dana. Easy to skip in times like this, but I felt like I had to, you know?
I don’t think focusing on gratitude lists and/or items is trivial or wrong. imo it’s the opposite, the object of a grat list is, in no small part, the process of introspection, albeit one with a positive intent.
I really think it’s a way for us to see context. to appreciate something is to understand it’s lack, I have something I’m grateful for implies that the possibility of not having that thing is very real. I believe we cannot help but to better understand ourselves when we engage in the process of listing those things for which we feel gratitude.
ya know?
I agree, Clark. I think so much of the big stuff in the world comes from a focus on the small parts. Baby steps concept, you know?
And yes, we absolutely gain much from the practice of acknowledging our gratitude. I can’t tell you how much that small task each week has help me in the time I’ve been doing it. It’s a very real thing and the benefits have been immeasurable.
I read you are out living, loving, experiencing again this weekend, as I am late to my commenting from the previous TToT, again.
🙂
With more days of horror as weeks pass, this is the best I can think of to celebrate life.
Enjoy your weekend.
Thanks, Kerry – we have been! Unfortunately, I’ve ended the weekend not feeling very well and I’m sad to say I’m about to bail on this week’s TToT, something I rarely do. But I need to call it a night and get into bed. Hope you’ve enjoyed the weekend. Talk soon!