gifts, garden, gratitude, goal
Goal: a task that we set for ourselves, or is set by others, to be accomplished.
A goal that I’ve been working towards for awhile is to make every article of clothing that I am wearing, including shoes. This year I’ve found a shoe making class to take.
I'll share more about this later!
Gift: something given to a person by someone else.
The idea that creativity is a gift makes sense to me. Not in the sense of muse so much but rather that by being present in the moment, by noticing what is in our environment and what is happening around us; we are given the gift of an idea.
Garden: a place where plants, trees, shrubs are cultivated.
Gardening is probably in my genes. It’s one of the way that I hold on to my heritage. When I am in my garden I lose all sense of time and am in the moment, focused on the task at hand.
I garden because it reminds me to be grateful and because I feel a responsibility to grow some of my own food, plants for my own care (mint for an upset tummy for example), or that can be used to craft with (dye or baskets).
Gratitude: Thankfulness for what we have.
There is more and more research on the importance of gratitude for longevity of life and mental health.
I've listened to this On Being podcast with David Steindl-Rast about gratitude more than once. He also talks about joy.