Thursday, November 22, 2012

HAPPY THANKSGIVING MESSAGE

storm tossed boardwalk - long beach new york

brady max - a new face 

that little sense of everything in the in-between 


Thanksgiving - In what now feels like another life-time ago - I lived in the Virgin Islands - the little children there called Thanksgiving "turkeyday" with a particular lilting, eye sparkling joy.  For many people of all ages and venues Thanksgiving is as much and as little as "Turkey Day."   I am one of those acutely gratitude aware individuals - which is both blessing and incredibly boring - most notably around times evoking sentiment.  Which for me, could very well be the incredible ability for someone to  blink a particularly fluttering eyelash.

Let us just say that Thanksgiving is perhaps my favorite among holidays because I am released from the chastisements of over being overly sentimental - I am, in a sense, unleashed.  This year I feel myself straining at the collar that usually holds me back and before me are the green fields of endless space in which I can, must and relish running barefoot calling to all and everything that this year and in fact this past month has illuminated.

Ready?  I hear the unmistakable, click and here I go - nothing about my neck to hold me back - I write to each and all of you and to the Universe at large.  There are always the simple, but profound gratitudes, for the ability to exercise senses, still with agility -to see, to hear, to taste, to touch, to smell. Ah, I inhale the fragrance of life.

This is no song of "myself" this is a song of connectedness of all of us each to the other.
October 2012 will stand as a glowing testament to the power of the Universe, Mother Nature, some may even say G-d - the spectrum spanning the creation of a new life, pulled into this twirling, whirling cerulean marble we all share - to the tossing of the sea I so love to show a strength that too many have chosen to ignore and even to disrespect.  

And so, I am grateful, .... in the midst of watching people's posessions piled outside their homes - seeing homes that are gutted and some that are simply vanished.  I am grateful.

I am grateful for the tiny finger that grasped mine as I fed a bottle to a new face that looked with wide wondrous eyes straight into mine and found a forever place in my heart.  For little girls who are living in a new home and their parents who are finding their footing, for other little girls who lost everything material in the rush of water through the walls of their home, but who are together with those whose love is not subject to the vicissitudes of weather.  I am grateful for a unicorn girl who became a mother virtually before my very eyes in a magic that is difficult to supercede, for an infant boy who has grown into a man of greateness, morality and responsiblility.  For a life-partner who somehow has been with me on this time-travel of incomprehensible length and continuing happiness.  Ah, yes so many personal moments of gratitude which will be shared with each and all in the privacy that they deserve.

But, wait, as the game show hosts might intone "there is more!"  This year, I am grateful that the my deepest beliefs in the innate selflessness of human beings has been validated.  I have watched, people dig deep beyond the darkness that that may threaten to eclipse their sense of self and find light, and the ability to smile, for themselves and to connect with one another.  

Finally, in terms of those with whom I share a love of writing on a more or less daily basis - I am grateful for a sense of community that spans the world and melts any sense of difference or distance. between us.  I am grateful for the pain and love shared by one who lost the love of her life and yet continues on, available to give and receive love and beauty.  I am filled with gratitude for those who sit in, look out from or look back to their own dark rooms and grin.  You all know who you are.  You know, and I feel your embrace and reach out to you, with joyous thanks.

 For those no longer physically here - well as  George Burns and my grandfather used to say "it's a good day anytime I wake up, stretch my arms and don't hit wood."  I am grateful for those who have become one with a greater energy that thrums all about and through me - who are no longer touchable in the physical sense but whose presence is felt in every rustle of leaves in the trees, in the falling snowflakes, in the rise of a cardinal's flight, or in the most unexpected and inexplicable ways and places.  

I am grateful for the bounty that is my life - that no matter how compromised it may ever come to be, that I am able to realize that I am fortunate by the throw of Universal dice that I landed where I did, and that my greatest deprivation will more than likely be far richer than a typical day for most in most of the world.  

And finally, yes, really finally now -  I am grateful for those who hear my voice in the void and respond with a "like" or a word, or a personal message.  I am forever grateful for words, once called by one "squiggles on the page" that mystically morph into life and help us celebrate, grieve and love together as one - connected in gratitude on this spinning cerulean marble we all share.   

HAPPY THANKSGIVING



3 comments:

  1. Pearl, on a beautiful sunny day that followed an intense foggy morn, I read this wonderful post that touched on so many bases that I cannot begin to choose one; instead, I join in the thanks that is celebrated this day in the U.S., weeks ago here in Canada.
    For giving thanks today and every day, I send warm wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. A special first Thanksgiving to Brady Max, of course--such a great name!:)

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  2. Pearl, you've pretty much said everything that has to be said here! Lovely and hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving!!

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