Recently in my family exchange of texts and photos, I woke up to find that my brother had sent a picture of himself with his granddaughter, age four. They were in a park and the little girl was on a swing. “Lucky grandpa,” he texted. This was followed by an out-of-season picture of his wife and one of their sons decorating a Christmas tree. “Fortunate husband and father.” What a sparkly thing to wake up to!
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The brief texts were a lovely cherishing of his family. Likely the Christmas tree was one of those pictures that our phones offer up now and then, or at least mine does. Also the son in the picture had moved out to take a year of training as a firefighter and paramedic. The world has shifted. It’s like a person holding a kaleidoscope up to one eye; they turn it and the red, green, blue and yellow pieces click and form different shapes. The bright pattern has changed.
Reading my brother’s warm appreciation gave me such a sense of time out of time, him standing back for a moment to gaze out at the forest and not get lost in the trees, so to speak.
Cartoonstock
Smiling at the family pictures reminded me that I’d been talking with a friend about a YouTube clip she watched recently, of a Buddhist monk who went to sleep with three gratitudes, and woke up to three new gratitudes to start the day.
I thought hmm, the universe may be telling me something. It’s possible I’m a little slow off the mark, but say something enough times and I get it. Thankfulness is everyday magic.
(Breaking news: yay, my sister’s new book arrived in the mail! )
In Search of Puffins by Canadian author Marjorie Simmins
Right, I thought, today I’ll go and buy a new journal for just this purpose at the bookstore here on Pender Island. I’ve been promising myself that for ages. The journal I’m using now has partial book chapters, notes on the novel I’m workingon, even some Magicmondays written while I have quiet time on a ferry. There are lists in there, too, of characters and their motivations.
Then I remembered it was Sunday. The bookstore on this small island was closed. Which was fair, we’re totally fortunate to have a bookstore at all in a place this size.
It came to me slowly that I actually do have a new journal. It was a gift several years ago. Somehow it seemed too nice to use. The journal is French-made, with a red leather cover and front and back endpapers featuring a fun zebra with coloured stripes.
Inside, the paper is thick and very smooth. I’ve picked up this journal half a dozen times and then put it back. Last month, I managed to get it as far as my bedside table. It’s so much nicer than anything I buy for myself. Those ones are what my sister calls “cheap and cheerful.” I keep thinking that I’ll come up with a … what? What was I saving the journal for? Immortal thoughts? Possibly a little late for that. Some grand project as yet unspecified? That didn’t sound like parameters achievable by anyone. But for sure, the journal wouldn’t have everything crammed in higgledy-piggledy like the current journal
New journal!.
Really? Who was keeping score? What did I need to do to make this a feel-good story?
In my current journal, the pages leap from one topic to another and I’ve obviously revised material, as there are sections crossed out and arrows leading to other pages. That’s right, I remember now that I’ve played around with writing things out by hand and afterward dictating them as emails to myself. The notebook is almost full.
Why was I so reluctant to start the fancy journal—did I think I’d make a mess? I’m a working writer. It’s okay for my journal to reflect ongoing projects. I’m grateful to have creative work in process.
Gardeners have a saying that the best time to plant a tree was ten years ago. Failing that, the best time to plant a tree is today. Maybe messes are okay. My gratitudes don’t have to possess their own separate notebook. If I had two journals, which would I choose to take when I’m travelling? If I ask nicely, I bet daily appreciations would be willing to share that gorgeous red leather-bound journal with other writing. I’d like to use this beautiful gift. Today I choose to turn the kaleidoscope to create a new sparkly pattern.
What is your kaleidoscope showing for the day? Sounds like a horoscope, doesn’t it? But maybe more colourful.
Monica B, thanks for the lengthy comment you made this morning on this post that mysteriously disappeared. It was fun to run into you in the parking lot at the clinic today, where you told me and we laughed about technology!
Does this mean to-do lists? Or notes on life, the universe and everything?
Monica B, thanks for the lengthy comment you made this morning on this post that mysteriously disappeared. It was fun to run into you in the parking lot at the clinic today, where you told me and we laughed about technology!