Sometimes simple pleasures really are the best. I’ve been realizing during this time of focusing on gratitude that many of the things I am thankful for are not all that deep. Tonight I sat on my friends’ back porch watching Fourth of July fireworks bursting against the backdrop of a young crescent moon. It was finally cool enough to sit outside and enjoy a glass of wine and the companionship of friends. The fireworks weren’t spectacular, the company was.
Tonight thinking about the simple things I thought about the lyrics to a song written by Lucinda Williams (recorded by my favorite singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpeter.) It starts with a pretty basic request:
“Is it too much to ask/I want a comfortable bed that won’t hurt my back
Food to fill me up/And warm clothes and all that stuff…”
Sounds reasonable to me. I am grateful to say that for the majority of my life I’ve had those things in relative abundance. The moments when I had little to eat have been very few and far between, and I’ve always had warm clothes, and while I’m not completely sure what’s included in “all that stuff,” I’m pretty sure I’ve probably had most of it.
The song goes on to ask: “Is it too much to demand/I want a full house and a rock and roll band
Pens that won’t run out of ink/And cool quiet and time to think…”
I’m not sure about the rock and roll band thing; I’m more a folk artist myself, but the rest of it, especially the cool quiet and time to think are two more basic, simple things I am grateful to have had at various periods in my life. I appreciate so many things in their simplicities and complexities and I know that the more I see and am grateful for the more I will see to be grateful for. It’s a beautiful thing.
The song also asks: “Shouldn’t I have this? Shouldn’t I have this? Shouldn’t I have all of this, and passionate kisses…”
Good question–shouldn’t I have this? Shouldn’t you have this? Shouldn’t we have all of this? And perhaps the passionate kisses too, though perhaps I’ll save that for another blog on another day!
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