© BryPix.com
It’s been one of those weeks.
Small Man has a bad bout of the flu, I’m teetering on the edge of getting it and I’m exhausted from getting up at night and fretting over him.
It’s at times like these that I need to take stock and remember how blessed my life really is. So as an exercise, I tried to find five things – mundane, ordinary everyday things – to give thanks for. Here’s what I came up with…
1. I’m giving thanks for hot water. And water pressure, so I can have a hot shower. I have a brother-in-law who had never had a hot shower before moving to Australia and he used to lived in a place where it snowed. In a world where so many people struggle to have water to drink, how blessed are we to have enough water to indulge in a ten minute hot shower?
2. I’m giving thanks for being able to drink milk. I’m Asian, so who knows how long it will be before I’m lactose-intolerant, but for now, dairy is freely available to me and I’m incredibly grateful for that.
3. I’m giving thanks for living in the 21st century. I constantly feel like I’m in the world of the Jetsons, or Star Trek, where doors open by themselves, machines are operated with touchscreens and a robot vacuums my floor. I have a tiny phone that I carry in my handbag and a camera that’s not much bigger. I once taught my friend Dan to bake bread over skype – for free – watching her knead the dough in her kitchen in California from my living room in Sydney. The speed at which technology is changing astounds me, and I feel privileged to be living at this time in human history.
4. I’m giving thanks for my herb garden. It’s located just outside my kitchen door, and I go out most evenings to harvest herbs for our evening meal. The ritual is as comforting as the actual eating.
5. I’m giving thanks for socks. Oh, how I love socks. I get desperately cold feet. Socks, particularly the ones I make from polarfleece, keep me from going crazy in winter. It’s not cold yet, but I’m getting my socks ready, in anticipation!
Can you find five things to give thanks for today? Not the biggies, like health and family, but the little ones you might never have considered before? If so, I hope you’ll share them with us!
PS. One non-mundane and non-ordinary thing that I’m giving thanks for today is discovering Peter Bryenton’s photo blogs. His exquisite photo above is just one of many taken with a conventional camera, or more recently with his iPhone. If you’re interested, the best place to start perusing is here.
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
And I’m giving thanks to you for your positive comments about my photographs :)
Wishing you a speedy recovery, Celia.
Peter.
Thanks Peter – I love your photos! :)
I love Peter Bryenton’s work. So fine!
1. I am thankful for friends, both near and far, face to face and in the ether and the technology that keeps us connected.
2. I am thankful for my kitchen sink. It’s a farm sink and you can soak a whole cookie sheet in it flat.
3. I’m also thankful for lots of interesting work to do. I love drawing and making things and to be able to do just that every day is a gift.
4. I am thankful for coffee. I’m not a morning person so that warm cup in the morning gets me going!
5. I am thankful that my studio has a window. After years of working in windowless cubes with florescent lighting that buzzed, I am so happy to have a window that opens and fresh air.
And I completely agree about living in the 21st century. I am continually grateful for electricity, running water and indoor plumbing.
Marilyn
Marilyn, you’re a kindred spirit! You understood exactly what I was talking about – appreciating the little things we normally take for granted.
Wow, a kitchen sink you can soak a whole tray in! I’d be thankful for that too!
I am thankful for:
1. Little plastic buckets and my dymo label maker so that I can organise stuff and my cupboards are a source of pleasure.
2. My dog, who follows me everywhere and keeps me company.
3. Silicon cup cake holders and pans – so brilliant.
4. Sunshine – after living in a cold climate for many years, seeing blue skies each day just makes me happy.
And I agree with Marilyn,
5. Coffee!
You made me laugh out loud, A! I can just see how happy a dymo labeller and a neatly stacked cupboard would make you.. :D
And sunshine, yes! I’m going to go sit in the sun right now, to try and clear this foggy head and sore throat!
This morning I’m giving thanks for the skylight in my otherwise windowless kitchen, which bathes the room with a comforting natural light to cook in, and provides the perfect lighting for my food photos!
Mmmm its always good to sit back and appreciate the good things in life. Hope your son gets well soon.
Thanks Mark! He’s cheerful enough this morning.. :)
You’re so right Celia. There’s so much to be thankful for in this world. We should feel like the luckiest people alive :D
So true, Lorraine! Especially to be in gorgeous Sydney today, with the weather so perfect! :)
Thank you for Skype!
Thank you for zip loc bags!
Thank you for poodles!
Thank you for being able to get out of bed at all!
Thank you for German chocolate marzipan….!
That was a bit random, but I’m with you on the thanks….
The Buddha said:
This existence of ours is as transient as autumn clouds
To watch the birth and death of beings is like looking at the movements of a dance.
A lifetime is like a flash of lightning in the sky,
Rushing by, like a torrent down a steep mountain.
THE ONLY THING WE REALLY HAVE IS NOWNESS, IS NOW.
Perfect, Jo!
“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
Gandalf – JRR Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
I am thankful for
1: the fact that our house has windows to the north and we get the sun shining into the house in the winter.
2; that we are privileged to have a family of blue wrens in our backyard…I hear them morning and evening, they forage in our herb garden and the chaos of our garden.
3: that my husband,Paul, enjoys doing cryptic crosswords as much as I do!
4: that I found a pair of thongs with arch support.
5: my steam oven.
Love to you Celia and thanks for reminding me to take stock!!
Wonderful things, Julie! And where oh where did you find the thongs? Our love to you, Paul and the kids xx
I am also intrigued as to where you got those thongs, Julie! My silly feet need some of those too.
-Katherine.
I got the thongs at Athletes Foot …brand name Orthaheel. I have also seen one design of these in some chemists, they are the straight thongs whereas the thongs I prefer have an extra strap across the top of the foot and thus don’t flip around so much .I’m not sure how easy it will be to find them coming into winter stock tho!
Lovely post Celia – do hope family health improves. I have bouts of keeping a luck journal just so I can remind myself of all the good things that I am grateful for – it’s so easy to forget. Haven’t done this for a few months now, so maybe time to start again.
At the moment I’m grateful for:
1) the lovely warm blue skied day we had today
2) I have a mother who makes wonderful marmalade and Christmas puddings and is willing to share them with her daughter (just had the Christmas Pud she gave us today).
3) For our new eco-heater that means we have a drier house with less mould in it.
4) For the internet and all the lovely and interesting blogs out there.
5) That I’m about to go to bed so can read the next chapter of my book.
Choclette, isn’t it lovely when you find a book that makes you happy like that? The last one I read was Last Chance To See by Mark Carwardine and Stephen Fry. Each chapter was a separate story, and I used to so look forward to going to bed each night. I didn’t want it to finish! :)
Ah, giving thanks for the small things as well – what a good idea. Today’s list is:
– the clean floor and clean kitchen countertops that I encounter when I go downstairs this morning (Andrew stayed up late and cleaned up!)
– a dog who is training herself to be a good walking/running companion for me – and who begs to be taken in the morning with little doggy moans and other funny sounds which I choose to interpret as promises that she will be good
– the sound of the violin as Sam does his practice without any nagging required from me – I can just enjoy the lovely music
– the flexibility my job offers me so I can go and do reading at the school before work and see Tara’s proud face splitting grin to have me there
– kids who are still young enough to give me a kiss when I drop them off at school (the days are numbered I know!)
SG, Big Boy still gives me a kiss when I drop him off, so they’re not really numbered! Hahaha…must add that to my list of things to give thanks for!
*The internet- The world is sooo accessible.
*My stove top coffee pot- there is a lot of love there.
*Being able to kiss my boys goodnight and watch them sleep.
*Professional health care choices- bit odd, but really I am so thankful that I live in a city where I can get acupuncture, ayurvedic consults, chiropractic care, specialised public health appointments. I’m thankful for those options.
*Marzipan Chocoate- I am so with Zeb on this one. It brings a happy whimper to my lips.
Lovely topic to post about.
CHFGirl, you’re so right on the healthcare! I’m giving thanks today for my GPs who are always there and always on the ball. I know the health system here has had a pounding in the press lately, but really, it’s as you say, we’re so fortunate to have choices and options.
However…marzipan chocolate – you and Jo are on your own with that one.. :)
> for literature, and being able to read it
> for the way my daughter says ‘i love you tutu’, after i’ve replied ‘i love you, too’
> for kindle and technology in general
> for puddles and my daughter’s delighted squeals as she jumps in them
> for my memory foam mattress topper, i just love that thing!
our feet must be related, celia. my husband is perpetually shocked to find them frozen under fluffy socks. hope your son feels better soon!
Dana, I have this funny little exchange with my dad…sometimes he talks to the boys on the phone, tells them he loves them, and then says to me, “I love you too”, to which I always reply, “I love you three..” :)
And you’ve reminded me how much I love my latex pillow – every night when I lay my head down, I think, “Oh thank you Lord, that I have a latex pillow to sleep on..”. It’s just soooo comfortable.
Cold feet + polarfleece = warm feet! :)