Thursday, November 26, 2009

Appreciation

Today is Thanksgiving 2009 and I sit at my computer to share my thoughts about the day. East Tennessee is experiencing the most glorious weather today with blue skies, light breezes and fluffy clouds scudding across the sky. I often gaze about me, regardless of any specific holiday, and marvel at the beauty that surrounds me. We are nestled at the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the terrain is gentle, rolling hills, dramatic ridges, many lakes and rivers, mist wreathed mountains in the distance and the verdant glory of the Tennessee Valley. I have lived several other places in my life, but I always find myself returning here....to my home. Southern hospitality and friendliness, soft cadence of liquid vowels in our speech, savory southern cuisine, rich history and old-fashioned manners still exist in a manner unique to this region. Family is here, friends are as well, and memories abound to create what I consider to be an ideal place to live.

This past year has been a challenging one, for me on a personal basis, as well as for our country and for the world at large. Yet, despite personal challenges, this year has also been one of deep and intimate discovery and growth. It was this year that I began the next level of my writing career and embraced some new genres, with one of them being blogging. I count the blogging process as one of the most unexpected, delightful changes in my life. I am growing as a writer and a creative spirit in areas that I hadn't anticipated and that makes the experience all the richer. I am finding that my writing is reaching out to people around the world and sparking conversation, laughter, growth and a desire to delve deeper into areas that inspire.

I have made conscious shifts and adjustments on a personal level that have opened up my life, once again, in ways that I could never have predicted. Friendships both old and new are flourishing and family connections continue to be that golden, happy energy in my life. I am blessed beyond measure, I find, on this lovely November afternoon. Yes, there is sadness in the world, tragedies exist and injustices happen. Today, however, I choose to focus on the blindingly sharp clarity that surrounds me and write my appreciation in the most glowing words possible.

I feel a profound sense of happiness today and I am aware that that is, in part, a result of the people with whom I surround myself. It is also a culmination of hopes, dreams and desires that I have chosen to hone and tweak until I have created a wide open path for myself to walk. Life is, indeed, good and I am fortunate to be here, this day, this hour, with these people and experiences.

2 comments:

  1. As an American, who has lived in New Zealand and Australia for the past eight years, the concept of Thanksgiving as a holiday is an aged memory. I moved from Jacksonville, Florida to Auckland, New Zealand on November 18th, 2000.

    For the first time in my life, I had to work on Thanksgiving day.
    The training manager, who was Australian, took pity on me and made me a pumpkin pie. How she found the ingredients I’ll never know, as canned pumpkin was not easy to find in NZ at the time, but the pie was fabulous!

    And despite my focus on the negative fact that I had to work on Turkey day, someone I had only met a week prior, went out of their way to make me feel at home!

    There are many reasons to be thankful, and most of them we haven’t even experienced yet...;)

    Write On!

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  2. Curtis, what a lovely expression of friendship from that person! I haven't lived out of the country, but I have lived far from home during the holiday season. That can be a very lonely thing, when there's no one to celebrate the days that matter the most to you, so I'm gladdened by the knowledge that someone took time to mark Thanksgiving with you. They earned their angel points that day, I think!

    Thank you for taking time to read my stuff, Curtis!

    Dawn

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