4.9.14

Thanks.

My gorgeous friend Kyla is one of those people whose warmth and joy permeates a room (and embraces you in a curly-headed hug). In her life and art practice she explores mindfulness and the beauty of nature with a lightness and playfulness that feel like a deep breath of fresh air. (You can see some of her peaceful images and thoughts here.)

Recently she took up the challenge of sharing things that she is grateful for, and asked me to do the same. I have been wanting to something like this for a while, I know that actively practising gratitude and actually making a habit of it is one of the simplest ways to recognise the good things already there, rather than falling into the sticky trap of always wanting more..because as the quote goes "Gratitude turns what we have into enough." (Not sure who said it, but it's a good one.)

But I have been lazy lately..and the act of writing down and recognising a few things that I am grateful for every day has fallen by the wayside.

So, today I start again.

Here are some things I am thankful for:

1. The luxury of working from home and being able to ease slowly into the day, with a morning walk and hot bowl of banana + coconut porridge.

2. A relaxing painting session in my backyard yesterday with a lovely friend. We ate portuguese tarts and talked about creative ruts (we are both in one..pfft). She made me feel excited about getting chickens. And let me borrow a book that I already love. Win.

3. Living near the sea. Always grateful for this. I can be caught up in my head then walk a few steps out the door and be dwarfed by the ocean and my worries no longer seem so pressing. The smell is amazing too.

4. Hot water. Simple, yes. But soooo good when it's freezing (at least by NSW standards) and definitely the first thing I miss when I'm travelling.

5. Clear winter night skies. Last night's sky was a deep, inky indigo blue. Breathtakingly beautiful.

Do you have a habit of noticing what you are grateful for? What are you grateful for? 

1 comment:

Amy @ Eat Pray Workout said...

I try to journal or if I note my thoughts get negative I use gratitude via prayers of thanks for all the good things God has given me to put things back in perspective and ground me again. Life is pretty darn good when you're grateful! Love reading what you are thankful for Kiara!