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30 Days of Gratitude, day 6

OK Melissa Ferrick fans, doesn't my employer Denise Attwood look a *little* bit like her in this picture (modeling a hand block jacket that SHE designed using the material from a women's co-op in Nepal)? Today (OK yesterday) I was totally grateful for Denise. I have been working on a big project at work and she came in and set a deadline for me based on "Mercury going Retrograde". LOVE it. It's cleary superstitious, and we both know this, and yet there's a little part of us that is willing to take this important information into account! I am grateful for Denise for her ability to start with where a person is at (producer in Nepal, her employees, her son) and encourage, them, with enthusiasm and creativity, to reach their potential. I love and appreciate her commitment to "being naughty" and refusing to use the paradigms handed to us through culture and society, and helping those around her to embrace the possibilities we must uncover ourselves. I was grateful to have a conversation about the meaning of gratitude, and grateful that from that converation she sent me off with a beautiful quote from Rilke and an inspiring book by the Quaker and activist Paul Farmer for me to read on the plane to Portland. I am grateful for her to be able to work together, in collaboration to design and create! I am grateful for her ability to bridge our work with the producers in Nepal whom she has worked with for 24 years and make their lives more real for us so that we can carry that into the spirit we bring to our work day.

30 Days of Gratitude, Day 4

Eileen would only let me take this picture of....so this will have to do! Today (well technically, I have to be honest that this was now a few days ago, but who is counting other than my good friend Margaret) I was grateful for my co-worker Eileen who arrived at my door at an ungodly hour in the morning, iced Mocha in hand for me, offering to take me to work and whisk me off to a dance class at our gym after work. I probably spend more time with Eileen than anyone else in my life....it's a small office of only a few of us, and we manage to co-exist in each other's headspace every day. It's not always easy (how could it be?), but I am grateful to be able to work with someone who I can have frank talks about our feelings, conflict and deeper topics that exceed the workplace. I am also grateful for our ability to cut loose in the middle of a stressful day and dance to "Super Freak" by Rick James. I am grateful for her patience with my weaknesses with certain details :). I am grateful to Eileen for our friendship. I am grateful to her for a shared commitment to our work. I can go on....but I am now 3 posts behind here!

30 Days of Gratitude, Day 5

I had no idea that Oprah has been doing this "gratitude practice" (and the millions of women that have been following her advice) forever. My co-work informed me of this today. Well, in my book, Oprah is the most influential woman on the planet, so I guess I am in good company!

Today I feel grateful that I get to work in the Fair Trade business. These zafu's were made by exiled monks from Tibet living in a Tibetan Monastery in Nepal. I feel grateful that my work forms partnerships with people in Nepal, Mexico, and SE Asia and that together, we can work to help each other make a simple living with out exploitation. I am also thankful that I can express my creativity through design & marketing, and this is beneficial for everyone involved.

I am grateful, that I get to come to work each day, and know that my work benefits women and men who would not otherwise have a means to make a living or send their daughters to school!

30 Days of Gratitude, Day 3

Nothing better than Parmesan Cheez-Its. Well, only when it's accompanied by my friend Kristina and sometimes, if I am lucky, her husband Sicco.

Today I am grateful for Kristina and our wine and cheez-it habbit. Kristina and Sicco live right down the street on the way home from work, and they often welcome me into their home as my second home for a spontaneous dinner and more often than not, Cheez-its and 2buck Chuck. Tonight was one of those nights. I came by under the premise of picking up something for them and maybe a glass of wine and a cheez-it (or like 32 of 'em). But Kristina had made a yummy vege. casserole for me and the three of us shared dinner together. How lucky am I??

So lucky and grateful. I met Kristina over World Fair Trade Day festivities and we both immediately connected. I am grateful for Kristina because she accepts and loves me for being the ultimate sensitive cancer that I am. I am grateful for her unconditional love. I am grateful for her incredibly ironic sense of humor. I am grateful for her honesty. I am grateful for our ability to cut loose and eat cheez its and laugh. I am grateful for our deep talks about spirituality. I am grateful for her loyalty. I am grateful for Sicco her partner who I have been able to also talk about buddhist philosophy. I love his love for Kristina. I love the fact that he put together my bike with a motor 2x and then in the end, took it off without complaint, when I realized I couldn't handle the dusty, grimy, grueling commute.



And for some reason, I can't download my pic of them that I took today right now as my second pic....hmmmm.

30 Days of Gratitude, Day 2

I realize that discipline does not come easy for me. Especially anything that requires a regime, or a calculated act on an regular, ongoing basis. So now, on day 2, that the "whim" of committing to an ongoing 30 day practice like this is just starting to loose it's original zest, I step back and appreciate the public accountability of doing a blog :) .

Don't get me wrong. It's not about me not being grateful today. I was. Today one of my best friends in the whole world came to visit me at my work which is located in "The Stix", just outside of Spokane. I took her on an incredible hike in a wetland refuge walkable from my "office" and was able to share with her my sanctuary that I can retreat to for my lunchtime walks. Here I find beauty that I would only expect to find after a day long hike in the wild, but this is just a 15 minute jaunt away from the daily grind. Rich wetlands filled with wildlife and a quiet that penetrates my busy work mind. I have developed a practice/ritual here and I feel guilty about it, partly because of my Calvin (WASP) Roots (I am prone to guilt much too easily, but, I have to cut myself some slack, considering my last name "Calvin" and the fact that my dad is actually named "John"). Anyway, this is my ritual: I give it all to the trees. Yep, some *might* call me a LITTERBUG. I send away my grief, my anxiety, my irritation of the day...and the trees catch them, branches reaching out, strong and vibrant, ready to take each complaint, without expectation. Thank you TREES! I am so grateful to you.

I am also grateful to my friend Margaret. She is my friend who knows my soul by who I have read, where I have traveled, and the work that I choose. She let's me be who I am without judging me....though if she has a bone to pick, she will tell me. She has made living in Spokane so much better! She has loved a good friend who I love (and set her up with ) with integrity. She has taught me how to become more pragmatic. She has challenges me to dream. She is honest with who she is and will engage in a fight with me, but also engage in resolution. I love you Madje!

But back to my hesitancy to the regime, the routine, to any sacred practice that can be reduced to a calendar. Today, I think I will do my Daily Grateful Post by making each one an altar of passionate gratefulness!

30 Days of Gratitude, Day 1

Today I realized I needed a little more gratitude in my life. I have been engaged in a little too much election coverage and feel myself becoming more and more sarcastic and cynical. And, truth be told, I have been feeling a little sorry for myself too. Boo Hoo! Money is tight, Sarah is choosing celibacy, summer is fading.....

So on my bike ride today, I found myself thinking about how grateful I was to be able to bike on a beautiful off road trail lined with pine trees & cool rock formations a few blocks from my house, and realized that often, my sense of what is "real" and my inability to remain in the present moment is hindered by not fully embracing the things in life that I can be wholehearted grateful for.

So, I decided to carry my camera around, and each day, post a picture of something that that has moved me to feel grateful that day. I am doing this for myself, however, I thought to myself, why not share it with anyone else who would like to see it, and hopefully inspired them to think about what they are grateful for that day. Hell, I figure it beats trying to come up with clever Facebook headings that articulate my disgust for Palin!

I have to be honest here tell you that I also have some resistance to this whole "Gratitude Practice" and feel the need to purge this, if you don't mind....

For me, Gratitude is not:

Forcing a smile
Being Good
Becoming complacent "because of everything we Should be thankful for"
Shoulds
Embracing gratitude to acquire a BMW
Bragging about how awesome I am
Stuffing my complaints
Stepford Wifely Robotics
Forgetting about others
Believing "Gratitude is merely the secret hope of further favors."

So today, I am grateful for my bike with excellent shocks to take me on a beautiful trail just blocks from my house. I am also thankful for Shenpa, who stepped into the picture, who will step into many of my future posts, I suspect!