30 DAY GRATITUDE CHALLENGE – DAY 16 – LAUGHTER

Day 16 of the 30 Day Gratitude Challenge – Something that makes me laugh. To shorten it, we’ll simply say – laughter.

Laughter is the sound that we make when we find something funny or amusing. Ironic, then, that most laughter actually does not occur when we find things funny. In fact, according to some studies, laughter was originally a form of communication, pre-dating human speech.

But for the sake of argument, we’ll simply discuss the reaction to humor.

So what is something that makes me laugh?

The sound of children laughing is a good one, for it’s hard to stay down or not respond when I hear children laughing and enjoying themselves. It’s simply not possible to stay in a bad mood or not join in such merriment.

I love a good joke. Or 10. Everything from the corniest knock-knock joke to cats doing crazy things on YouTube videos can make me laugh. Even ridiculously inane commercials (think unicorns producing rainbow colored sherbert commercials? If you’ve not seen the ads for the Squatty Potty, they’re pretty funny. I’m not a huge toilet humor fan and even I laugh at them.)

I have a very good friend who cracks me up with his humor and wit. It’s really hard to stay upset after talking to him because by the time we’re done I’ve got a goofy grin on my face and I’m likely wiping my eyes for the 6th time because he’s told another joke, or made an astute but hilarious commentary on something in modern culture.

Whatever it is that has made me laugh, I know one thing for sure. I feel better for it afterwards. And that’s always something to be grateful about.

30 DAY GRATITUDE CHALLENGE – DAY 15 – MUSIC

Music is an amazing form of expression. Utilizing a variety of instruments, including the human voice, it creates miniature stories, transporting people away from their thoughts and worries for a brief period of time. At least, that’s what it does for me.

Music can energize, or bring peace. It can make me happy or wistful or even sad. It pulls at my heart and, whether or not it has words, it speaks to my heart in ways that few other things do.

I listen to a wide variety of music, with no strong preferences for one particular style or another – it simply depends on how I’m feeling at the time and what I need. I could list some of my favorite songs, but that would take all day and then some.

Here are a couple of my favorite artists, though –

• Priscilla Hernandez
• Phildel
• Secrets in Stereo
• Frederic Chopin
• Daft Punk
• Shania Twain
• The Black Keys
• David Bowie
• Tame Impala
• Iron Maiden
• Sixpence None the Richer
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Chance Thomas

Enjoy.

30 DAY GRATITUDE CHALLENGE – DAY 14 – COLOR

I don’t see as well as I used to, which is a sad fact of life. Without my bifocals, my world is a blur of shapelessness. But one of the things that comes through, no matter whether I’m wearing my glasses or not, is colors. And I do love colors.

The green of trees and grass in spring, the red of ladybugs, the yellow of the sun hanging in the sky, the white and yellow of daisies dancing in the breeze.

Colors make the world feel alive and vibrant, full of energy and magic. If someone were to tell me to close my eyes and imagine a beach scene, I could envision the deep blue of the water competing with the lighter blue of the sky and the pale yellow, almost white of the sands. I can look down and see a seashell half buried, pick it up and wash the sand away to reveal the delicate shades of pinks and creams it wears. And if I look down the beach, I can see a bright orange beach towel, shaded by a striped red and white umbrella.

But even a black & white photo has its own mystique, bringing out shape and shadow in the scene. After all, those are colors as well – or specifically a mixture of all color and an absence of all color.  And, without looking it up, I believe that when it comes to paint, black is the mixture and white is the absence while, when it comes to light, it’s the exact opposite.

I think.

Back on topic – colors are wonderful things and I could sit here and name all of the colors that I love – but that would take a lot of time and space. So I’ll simply say instead – the world is so much wonderful with color in it.

And I’m very grateful I have enough eyesight, and a pair of glasses, to be able to see them.

30 DAY GRATITUDE CHALLENGE – DAY 13 – SMELLS

Roses. That was one of the first things that came to mind when I thought of smells. Roses and lilacs, which are two of my favorite floral scents.

I have a very long list of things that I’m grateful to be able to smell –

• Flowers – especially Roses, Lilacs, Honeysuckles, Sunflowers, Magnolias.
• Fruits – Anything citrus, Apples, Pineapples, Plums, Bananas, Kiwi – pretty much anything fruity.
• Foods – Chocolate, Coffee, Fresh baked bread, Thanksgiving dinner
• Incense – There’s more incense names that I can even remember, but again, my favorites tend to be of the citrus variety.
• Rain – I love the smell of rain in the air.
• Grass – As strange as that is, I love the smell of fresh cut grass.
• Herbs & Spices – Parsley, Chives, Cinnamon (which I like the smell of much more than I like the taste of), Cilantro … this list could get pretty long.
• Talcum powder – Also known as baby powder. I love the clean, calming scent of it.

That’s just a few of the things I can think of and some of my favorite scents. I could go into the not so pleasing aromas that we encounter in day to day living, but this is a gratitude post after all.

We’ll leave those other smells for another time.

30 DAY GRATITUDE CHALLENGE – DAY 12 – TEXTURE

The 30 Day Gratitude Challenge certainly comes up with some interesting, if not always easy, prompts to consider. Yesterday’s prompt about noise was one such post.

Today’s on texture is another.

I have to admit, I had to pause and consider this one for some time before I started this post. Texture – what is it? According to the definition, which I pulled from Google search –

• tex·ture
  ˈteksCHər
• noun
  1.
  the feel, appearance, or consistency of a surface or a substance.
  “skin texture and tone”
  synonyms: feel, touch
• verb
  1.
  give (a surface, especially of a fabric or wall covering) a rough or raised texture.
  “wallcoverings which create a textured finish”

So texture, according to the noun, means more than the way something feels. It’s the way it looks and the physical aspects of that something as well.

Let’s focus on feel and sight, though.

A few textures that come to mind –

• A cat’s fur – the texture of a cat’s fur can vary from cat to cat, but generally, it feels silky, smooth and warm to the touch, and visually it is often silky and semi-shiny in appearance. Again, this depends on the cat. My cat Gizmo, who was a long haired tuxedo cat, had very fine, soft fur which was extremely shiny when brushed. My cat Maylily is a brown tabby and her fur is incredibly thick and dense, given to being dull even with regular brushing, and somewhat on the dry side.
• Fabric – there are so many fabrics with so many different textures that it’s almost impossible to describe them all without having a sample of each for reference. I remember silk feels smooth and cool to the touch. Cotton is soft and neither cool nor warm, but can be both depending on the type of weave and the thickness of the cloth. Polyester tends to have an almost slick feeling to it, not one of my favorite fabrics though I own several dresses made of polyester blends. Felt is warm and a bit fuzzy.
• Wood – Again, there are so many types of wood, with different textures that I’d have to have a forest on hand to describe them all. And, depending on what you do with that wood, the texture of each becomes different.
• Hair – Unlike most mammals, humans have hair and not fur. And yet, the texture of hair is much like the texture of fur – it varies from human to human. Some can be thick and dense, or fine and silken. It can be oily or dry. Curly or straight. My own is long, fine, straight and tends to get a little dry at times.

I could continue with a myriad of other materials – water, stone, dirt, leaves, air, plastic, metal. They all have unique textures, from each other and amongst themselves.

It could almost be fun to spend the day wandering through a forested area, or at the beach, simply to see how many different textures I could discover.

30 DAY GRATITUDE CHALLENGE – DAY 11 – NOISE

I think I missed a day somewhere in the challenge. I don’t know how, but I’m not going to sit here and fret about it either. I’ve done pretty good keeping up, considering how busy I’ve been with the holidays.

Now, as to this topic. I’m struggling to find something to be grateful for about noise. I’m not a fan of noise. I much prefer a peaceful, calm, quiet atmosphere. Especially after a long day at the library where I work.

It can get very noisy there. But it’s usually a good noise – children laughing, talking, playing, learning … Children being happy and – well – children.

Okay, so that noise is good. In doses, not all at once and not all the time.

So, for the sounds of children being happy and healthy – I am grateful for noise.

30 DAY GRATITUDE CHALLENGE – DAY 10 – QUIET

In quiet, her heart spoke loudest
Singing, beating
Strong
Proud
The only word she knew echoing
Over and over
Happy
Smiling
And in quiet her heart rejoiced
At peace
Comfortable
Home at last

30 DAY GRATITUDE CHALLENGE – DAY 9 – TECHNOLOGY

Well here’s a subject I could prattle about for hours without end.

Technology – who doesn’t use it in some form nowadays? And we’re not simply speaking of computers though that’s certainly a big one. Let’s take a look at some of the technological advances we’ve made over the past few decades.

1. Telephones – We don’t even know what it’s like to be without one now. From landlines to cell phones, a great majority of people have or have access to a phone. I, personally, don’t use them a lot unless it’s at work. Surprised? Don’t be, there are a lot of other ways to communicate with people.
2. Tablets – Whether you’re a die-hard Apple fan or you look forward to the latest Android device, tablets are the handheld computers that allow you to do a lot. I personally have an Android tablet that I use to talk to people via email and Skype, use to write stories and story ideas, take and edit photos, browse Pinterest … the list of things I do with my tablet is extensive. I’d be lost without it.
3. Laptops/Desktop Computers – I’m putting these together because, no matter which you use, the end result is the same. Much like the tablet, computers allow you to do a great many things. Need to set up a budget or create a spreadsheet? Want to create abstract works of art? Need to email, text, talk to someone? Bored and want to watch a video, listen to music or play a game? Yes, you can do all of that. Research a paper for school or research the ins and outs of starting your own business. Write.
4. Transportation – I won’t go into this much as it was an earlier topic but, needless to say, this is a technology that has a wide range of uses that would be greatly missed if it didn’t exist.
5. Medical equipment/medicines – The technology we don’t like to think about but are extremely grateful for when we do need it.
6. Televisions & DVD Players – Entertainment on demand. Want to watch a documentary? A comedy? A drama? Horror perhaps? Want to workout to the latest fitness craze from the comfort of home? There are a wide variety of movies, tv shows, documentaries, and others available, and most of it can be had by a trip to the library. Or, if you have a newer television, there’s also Netflix and Hulu available for a small fee, both which provide another wealth of materials.

I could continue on for hours on the subject; I’ve not even scratched the surface of how prevalent technology has become. But I am extremely grateful for its existence, as it allows me to learn, communicate, meet new people, try new activities … the list goes on and on.

30 DAY GRATITUDE CHALLENGE – DAY 8 – FAMILY/FRIENDS

I don’t even know where to begin, which I suppose is a rare thing for me. What can I say that will express how I feel about this subject? Are there even enough words in the world to express how I feel?

I’m not sure there are and perhaps that’s a good thing.

I’d be nothing without my family and friends. Even if I don’t talk to them as often as I should; even if I do forget things like birthdays and anniversaries; even if we argue or disagree.

None of that matters.

These are the people that I hold above all others. The people I would do anything for if asked to do so.

Am I grateful for them?

Yes, I am. More than mere words could ever describe.

Especially one.

But that is another tale.

30 DAY GRATITUDE CHALLENGE – DAY 7 – WORK

Now, since I was negligent on day 6 and, to be honest, got distracted by all of those things I was talking about (squirrel!) I’m going to be good today and talk about day 7’s gratitude challenge on time. And today’s topic is – work.

Some people work just to make a paycheck, and that’s fine. In today’s world, some of the most important necessities cost money – shelter, food, water, electricity, transportation, medical. And some of the not so important necessities such as internet/communication, clothes, health and beauty items. (Though I will note that for people who work from home part of the time, especially those in some form of technical support, the internet is not a luxury and falls into the group of most important necessities.)

No matter how you look at it though, everyone needs money and the best way to get money is to work. Whether a person works for themselves, works for another individual, works for a company, or even a series of companies, work provides the ability to generate income to provide (hopefully) enough to sustain themselves.

And yes, I know it doesn’t always work that way.

I am fortunate to work in a place where I’m constantly surrounded by one of my favorite things – books.

I work at a library.

I’ve worked at the library for over a decade now. If I were to actually think back, I’d say I’ve been there 14 years? Now, I don’t make a ton of money working at a library. But I’m not unhappy about that, because I love working there.

I love a lot of things about working at the library – the books (obviously), my coworkers (who are all wonderful, sweet and helpful people. No I’m not kidding or sucking up since they probably won’t ever read this), the patrons that I get to help each day (and maybe not always, but I’ll leave that topic alone), and especially the children that come to the library each and every day for help with their homework.

My library offers a huge variety of services for the neighborhood it’s located in, beyond the usual books, dvds and music cds to check out or the internet computers so that people can do job searches, resumes, homework, or just surf the internet. We offer TASC classes (that would be the new test that replaced the GED), ESOL (English as a Second Language) classes, citizenship classes (the area has a lot of refugees from other countries, homework helpers for the children.

The library is seldom quiet and rarely do we go a day without something interesting or exciting happen.

Who could ask for a better place to work? It’s definitely in the top 10 of my favorite loves.

The top? That’s another tale.