Lisa for Real

102. The business of gratitude

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We have holidays for everything.

You’ve got your standard Independence Day and Labor Day.

But then you’ve got the more interesting ones…

National Bird Day

Something on a Stick Day

California Poppy Day

Take Your Houseplants for a Walk Day

Looking at the calendar, I realized what these holidays ultimately are.

Days of gratitude.

And everyday, more and more holidays are being added to the calendar. And everyone gets excited because they get to celebrate all the things they love. I’m not so sure commercialized holidays are what will make us happier or more grateful.

Instead, maybe we can start to be grateful everyday for what we have.

101. Own it, Share it

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What are you really good at?

What comes so easily to you that you don’t even think about it? That you completely disregard its worth.

But why is something only worthy if it is hard to come by?

What may be a commodity to you is not necessarily a commodity to others. In fact, it may be the gold that they want and need.

If you had infinite amounts of gold, would you not want to share it with everyone?

100. The mother of the strings

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The viola is a beautiful, deep, rich sounding string instrument, though many do not actually know of its existence.

It lives in different sections on stage sometimes between the two sections of violins and sometimes as the bridge between the unmistakable cellos and the melodic violins.

It is hard for the layperson to say what the viola offers to the orchestra but its presence would surely be missed.

It is the support in the background, the one that helps tie up loose ends and adds nuance. Its role is not lauded because it does not take up center stage and does not demand attention.

It is the mother of the orchestra, keeping the wheels oiled and spinning.

And it is time that violas and mothers get the credit they deserve.

099. A simple nod is what is needed

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As a child, we look to our parents for reassurance. A simple nod or indication that we are on the right path.

If we are lucky, they will say that we did well and they are proud of us.

However, “experts” say if raised “correctly” by instilling internal drive, children won’t need a carrot to work towards their goals. That a healthy child-parent relationship means that the child does not need the parent’s approval.

Perhaps as adults, we don’t need approval but the reassurance from our parents is never unwelcome. We are all children seeking our way home. A simple nod or indication that we are on the right path would be that little something extra that ushers us along our path.

And absent of that, a community of like-minded people can offer similar reassurance, energetically holding space and giving that simple nod as needed.

098. Swinging in the inbetween

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It is weird to be living the day to day when I am reminded that death is all around.

When a week passes with news each day that someone in my circle is sick or is at the hospital, I start questioning what it’s all for. If I’m doing enough. If I what I’ve done is enough.

Half of me wants to find a soft spot, preferably a bed, and burrow. Death can’t announce itself when I’m hiding right? Snuggling with my babes is a perfect way to pass time.

The other half examines the grandiosity that is life itself and each decision seems to have more weight to it.

Both reactions are a way for the body to process the overwhelm of emotion, pendulating from one to the other as I eventually return to regulation. But this time, with a greater sense of urgency.