Sometimes I have to laugh at myself. Starting the blog tonight took a little while. Right after I typed “Lessons in Gratitude Day 208” I switched browser tabs over to Amazon.com and began looking at alarm clock radios. After all, I do need a new one. I also briefly cruised the “Sounds True” website, reviewed friends’ status updates in Facebook and was about to order some nutritional supplements I ran out of two weeks ago. Then I watched the Kirk Franklin “I Smile” video to give me a little “pick me up.” I now realize that I was stalling. Sometimes blog writing time comes along and I’m not really in the mood to write. So I procrastinate and doodle around while a portion of my brain is hopefully noodling along on what I am going to write about tonight.
I am grateful once again for the beauty of nature and the critters that we share the planet with. This afternoon I took myself to the Park after dropping Jared off at work. It had been raining when we left the house so I hadn’t really planned to stop, but by the time we got to Berkeley it wasn’t raining. When I pulled into the lot at Chavez Park I noticed a great blue heron standing in a field where the kite flyers hang out on weekends. I’ve seen the great bird there before, and stood to watch it for several moment, lamenting that I had left my camera at home thinking I wouldn’t need it because I wasn’t going to stop at the park. Note to self: always have your camera with you. I took the picture below with my phone’s inferior camera–the heron is that blue-gray blob in the middle of the yellow-green field.
- Great Blue Heron at Chavez Park
As I think about how my life has unfolded and what I wanted to be when I grew up, I knew back then that whatever it was going to be it had to involve animals and being outside. As a kid I used to watch Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom and imagined myself studying animals in the wild. Somehow I didn’t quite get around to that as other influences impinged on my career choice. At a retreat a few weeks ago I was encouraged to think about my life purpose and what I’d like to be doing with my passions, talents, skills and experiences. The theme of working with and in nature came through loud and clear as something I loved as a child and still love to this day. In a practical sense, there’s not a clear path at the moment as to how I would parlay this love and interest into a career/profession; but then I don’t think that’s the point. Right now I am exploring the things I love to do and allowing space for the Universe/God/etc. to guide me toward the pathway or door that leads to what’s next for me vocationally. Until then, I am remaining as flexible and open as I can as well as calm in the face of financial pressures that could cause me to panic. I am looking forward to all good things in their right time. I am grateful for the moments of clarity and serenity that provide the counterbalance to the panic.
I agree with the horticulturist and educator Liberty Hyde Bailey when he said, “It is a marvelous planet on which we ride. It is a great privilege to live thereon, to partake in the journey, and to experience its goodness.” I am grateful to be living on this planet at this time, to be surrounded by the beauty of the natural world. I hope to never take it for granted and to do what I can to appreciate and preserve it. May we all appreciate the beauty that surrounds us and dedicate ourselves to the good of all beings. So be it!
