Sometimes I’m just so grateful to be alive. Since I was a kid, I’ve had those moments where I just think I’m so glad to be here. I’m so glad I am here in this world where I might be able to make a difference. I grow so overwhelmingly thankful that I can see, and hear, and walk, and talk—all those abilities that most people take for granted.
Most people give thanks for emotional blessings—friends, family, etc. Or financial aspects—a good job, a house. And while I’m definitely grateful for those, I start with the very basic: I’m alive. I don’t know why I think like that, but I always have. Because I’m alive, I can make a difference in this world. I can support a great cause or raise awareness or help some person I happen to meet. I can listen and be a friend and offer advice.
Not only am I alive, but I can walk. From the start, I’ve had an interesting relationship with walking. (more…)
Sometimes I think if I had met Robert Frost (which would require me to have been alive during his lifetime), we would have been great friends. But given our mutual introversion, it’s more likely that we would have nodded at each other as we passed on a hike, each of us on our separate way back to our quiet homes.
But the things he wrote, the way he thought, it makes so much sense to me. Every time I read one of his poems, I think Finally! Someone who thinks like I do! Not that I’m putting myself on his level. Maybe one day I could write something with an echo of his style, but I don’t claim to be there. (more…)
For most writers, these are requests that send terror into our souls. I’m terrified at the thought of using only one sentence to represent myself or pick one word that sums me up. I’m a writer. One word to express everything I want to convey? Do you realize how much pressure that is?? (more…)