I had no plans to write another blog post this evening. I made up my mind that I was too tired - exhausted really. The 5:30 am alarm, leaving the house by 6:00 am, driving to Toronto to endure an entire morning of pre-admission tests for my impending fourth cardiac surgery of the year, next Tuesday, wiped me out. I decided to spend the evening in front of the television watching a movie that we intended to watch last night (but worked on a grant proposal until 11:00 pm instead!). While waiting for my husband to wake up from his pre-bedtime nap (he's putting our son to bed), I thought I'd catch up on some blogs I enjoy. So much for the movie......
Ann Voskamp writes a blog called A Holy Experience. Reading her writing is like drinking in peace, entering sacred space and feeling at home, like you never want to leave. Admittedly, I don't follow her blog often enough, or I'd have written about her book before now. One Thousand Gifts: Dare to live fully right where you are, is a book that chronicles her writing of a list of one thousand gifts. Not gifts she wants, but gifts she already has. Everyday gratitude. She calls them daily graces. I like that. Here is her blogpost about the beginning of her journey to recognize all the gifts God has placed in her life, her heart and soul. Some gifts from her list: “… the smell of the florist’s… the sound of kernels of corn streaming, tinkling…. leaves floating in puddles…”
In the same post I found this wonderful quote from John Milton, “Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.”
I realized, reading her post, and Milton's quote, that dakbands are those epiphanies. Moments of kindness (transcendent awe), that change forever how we live in the world. I want people to experience those moments, that new way of being in the world. I want people to create those moments, not wait to stumble upon them. At the end of Ann's post she invites the reader to begin their own list. I am accepting her challenge and will share my list here, and on our facebook page. Choosing to recognize the simplest moments, as gifts, will inspire even more kindness in the world - join me.
#1 filling my house with the exotic smell of indian spices as I try to produce equally exotic tastes
#2 drinking homemade ginger/cinnamon tea
#3 my husband putting the four year old to bed, while I write
#4 curling up in front of the fire to watch that movie.....
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