Thanks… giving 11.28.13

Of course, I’ve Tiffanyzed the turkey out of it.

mondaymorningmemo.com/page/beaglethanksgiving2013

Here’s your assignment, if you’re willing:

Write down at least 5 things for which you are thankful. And you cannot list “Family,” “Friends” or “Health,” because frankly, these go without saying. To be thankful for broad categories like these is lazy, bordering on the unspeakably cliché. So be specific in your thanks. And don’t just name the thing, explain it.

Here are five things for which I am thankful:
1.  I have a relationship with God that has been tested (by others & myself).

I know that some people don’t like Christians as a rule, and for a while I was one of those people, but then I learned to forgive (including myself), and it has made loving God, others and myself (Jesus’ ONLY TWO RULES) much simpler. I am not perfect. But I am on a journey and I will run that race to win.

I don’t know how I would’ve gotten through any part of my life (good, bad, ugly, pretty) had I not been able to sing, publicly or privately. I’ve been told my voice is beautiful and keep singing, and I’ve been told I’m distracting and asked to stop. But even if I do it for no one but me, I love singing. The 2nd to last time I sang in public, I got such an adrenaline rush that I cured my own sinus congestion.

It has affected my understanding of people, and place as a construct. It has opened my mind to people (and strangely, made me close-minded in some ways I own – happily). It has also made me want to explore areas of the world that I’ve never seen, and that Tiffanyzed wanderlust has netted me some awesome covenant friends that I’m far enough away from to extravagantly love, and be extravagantly loved by in return.

4. I’ve learned to give my flowers now.
I have some people who were very close to me in high school, college, the band, other areas in my life, and now are no longer a “part of my world”. I’ve also lost friends to death. I’d like to think that I’ve learned how to make sure that when someone is in my life, for however long, they are aware of how much I love them, and that no matter how our relationship ends (hey, it happens), they have memories of me which included expressions of love – even when it didn’t “serve” me.

5. A Word with You Press via the Anti-Social Writers and Creative Misfits writing group

I graduated with my Masters in February of 2013, but I admit, I was still not that good at writing academically. My hybrid arts-based thesis project was able to give me a platform to write creatively, but after all the thesis submissions and edits and re-edits and re-submissions, I was burnt. As a self-dare, I joined the Anti-Social Writers and Creative Misfits writing group (held at the now closed Oceanside AWwYP location), and not only did I get awesome critiques about how to improve my writing, I very quickly found myself inspired to just write! AWwYP’s Wingnuts contest introduced me to Peggy Dobbs only months before she left this earthly plane. Had it not been for Peggy, Thorn, Billy, Ed, Ronnie, Russ, Kyle, The Tall Poet Guy and others (you know who you are), I would have not made it through the transition of graduating from Graduate School and putting my feet back on my own artistic ground.

I consider myself most blessed. Thank you for your part in it.

With words, song & prayer,