Inspired by (a) the fact that it’s American Thanksgiving today, (b) Havi Brooks’ brilliant take on The Lentil Game, and (c) my heart’s desire to acknowledge the happy amongst the hard right now, I present a list of 50 people, things, ideas, happenings, etc. for which I’m grateful in big and small ways.
This list is neither exhaustive nor ordered. Exclusion does not indicate a lack of gratitude, but merely acknowledges that I’m working with a self-imposed limit of 50 items.
50 Grateful-Fors, 2009 Edition
- My folks & bros, my support system and biggest fans: Mums
- … and Daddio
- … and Alex
- … and Chaz
- my smart, funny, passionate, independent sister-in-law Jilayne, and her family that meshes with ours in such a perfect, how-did-we-not-know-each-other-sooner? kind of way
- Jennifer Hofmann…
- … and Charlie Gilkey: You are each equal parts inspiration, mentor, teacher, perspective-giver, super hero… and friend.
- My clients.
- Havi, my first client whose idea that I should work with her (and be her Pirate Ship’s First Mate) quite literally changed my life and opened the door to what became Can-Do-Ology.
- Grandma.
- Rosco: My dog and esteemed Vice-President of Creative Napping
- Ernie: My dog and esteemed Vice-President of Customer Relations
- iPods
- peanut butter
- Sharpie pens
- my iMac
- road trips to Bloomington and to northern Virginia
- the incredibly low cost of living in Ossian, where I can own a beautiful house for a lower monthly payment than many folks have to pay in rent
- Rock Band/Guitar Hero (and a brother willing to share his xbox with his sister despite her obsession with a song he can no longer stand)
- Music! I love music.
- The colors pink and chocolate brown. They make me happy.
- my trampoline
- Taos, New Mexico, and Jen Louden’s Writer’s Retreat
- Lisa Updike, a friend from my lawyer days who’s never made me feel foolish for my career choices & has already spoken for the position of Can-Do-Ology’s counsel when I “hit it big”
- spiced apple rings
- Daddio’s sugar corn
- working from home…
- …and never using an alarm clock
- Twitter
- Goddess Leonie: She can brighten a room from half a world away.
- Ossian’s police chief Dave Rigney: he’s a great police chief as well as a great family friend.
- Allie Towers Rice, who took my website from “meh” to “marvelous”
- Facebook
- frozen meals that are actually really tasty and not chock full of chemicals and crap
- TiVo
- Let It Be: a favorite song & a beautiful mantra
- Women Who Rock (& Inspire The Hell Outta Me): Gwen Bell
- … and Colleen Wainwright
- … and Naomi Dunford
- … and Danielle LaPorte
- … and Pam Slim
- Mums’ embroidery business
- office supply stores (new notebooks and pens are instant motivators and inspiration-inducers)
- Gala Darling’s “Things I Love Thursday” series
- Abundia and the women who make it such an incredible group
- Emusic
- morning coffee
- online shopping
- the Roo Blue Subaroo & its impeccable and no-repairs-needed performance (knock on wood!!)
- only needing to fill up the car every six to eight weeks because my morning commute is a 12-second walk from bed to desk
I wanted to have my theme words set for ‘09 prior to ‘09 actually arriving, but that didn’t happen. But I did get ‘em solidified by Day 2 of ‘09, so that’s still doing just fine, I think.
Theme Words for 2009…(drumroll, please!)
They are Abundance + Heart.
I want to focus on seeing, finding, and sharing abundance in all facets of my world. And I am going to very consciously tune in to my Heart Center, and allow myself the time and space to speak from it, relate from it, own what I find within it, and respond to people and situations with it as my compass.
I’ve seen magic occurring since I’ve started doing that. Not always magic that immediately comes in the form of comfort or “easiness,” but magic all the same. And I want to make more of that magic. Seek it, create it, and share it like crazy. (And we’re back to abundance!!)
The Runners-Up
I’d played around with Growth, Expansion, and similar words, but I realized that my urge to use words like that came from a place of scarcity–I must grow my business or else I won’t have enough money / find enough clients / etc. So I decided to choose Abundance, and explore the ways in which trusting in the plentifulness and leading with the heart center would offer up the business goals I seek when I think of “Growth” but without tying it to my longer-held notions of growth vs. lacking.
I’m flippin’ the script, as the youngin’s say.
Mini resolutions / intentions for me in ‘09
- Continue using my semi-made up words freely, as people seem to enjoy them, “get” them, and don’t at all judge me for them the way I used to imagine they would. Plus, semi-made-up words bring me disproportionate amounts of joy, and embodies a lot of the “Be Marissa” and “Playfulness” traits I’m intending to honor as well. Examples: epiphanettes, googly-eyed-fangurlism, technogremlins, Can-Do-Ology.
- Allow the TV to take a conscious place in my life, and allow myself conscious enjoyment of it.
I’m moving it (today, actually) from my main living room into the room currently labeled “Den.” And one of my favorite old desks from “Den” will come out to take the TV’s place, along with my iTower so I can fill my living space with music, rather than constant television. Constant tv actually overstimulates me. Makes it hard for me to go to sleep at bedtime. Makes me feel restless. Makes me actually feel more isolated, in an odd way. I will allow myself to watch the shows I truly loooove and look forward to (Psych! CSI! NCIS! House!), but I’ll have to intentionally go to the other room to do so, and I won’t be tempted to be computering / dishwashering / etc. at the same time. This leads to…
- Focused multi-tasking. I’m not going to fool myself into believing that I’ll be unitasking anytime soon. (Blasphemy! See also: Nigh impossible!) But I’m going to be aware of the multi’s that I task, rather than using them by default. E.g., the TV is here, so I’ll have it on while I work, even though it makes me restless, overstimulated, and I actually miss a lot of the great programs I want to see. Instead, I’ll have music on while I work, or the blinds open to the common area out back while I work, or enjoy a steaming hot cup of cocoa while I watch the newest NCIS, or comb Rosco’s perpetually shedding but super soft coat while I catch up on Frasier reruns.
- Grok the clocks. I resonate strongly with the idea of natural time, or slow time, or internal time, etc. And I fight that, because I’m “supposed to” have a schedule. I’m “supposed to” do things at certain times. Ah, the “supposed to” nonsense. The reality is that I internally have ebbs and flows and peaks and valleys and huger times and wakeful times and totally unproductive times, and they don’t really give a whip about what the numbers on a clock have to say about it. So instead of trying so hard to force Me into conforming with The Clocks, I’m allowing myself space to let The Clocks be a part of Me. With reminders in place for appointments and meetings and such, of course, because I want to be accepting and natural, not late and disrespectful. LOL
(Relate to this? Check out School of the Seasons by the amazingly insightful Waverly Fitzgerald, and consider buying her book Slow Time–which is awesome.)
- Grazie Mornings. Begin each day by sitting up and immediately saying the first 5 things that come to my mind for which I’m thankful for… before even setting foot on the floor or removing the covers. Make gratitude the absolute first conscious act of my day, every day, for a year. Doesn’t that sound like magic in the making all by itself?
What are your intentions, hopes, goals, wishes, or thoughts for 2009?
The Buddhist Channel has a wonderfully rich interview with the Dalai Lama in which the spiritual leader of Tibet discusses his views on terrorism and violence, the role of logic in his belief system, and why monks don’t particularly miss sex.
Speaking from the Heart
One of the traits I admire about the Dalai Lama is his openness. He speaks from the heart. I had the opportunity to experience his teachings live, along with a public lecture, when he visited Indiana University Bloomington in 2007. He spoke with the same familiar openness and humor there as he does in the interview above. It was as if a good friend had decided to converse with you–and invited a few thousand other folks along too.
When he doesn’t want to answer a question… he says so
I don’t like to listen to political speeches much, because the “spin” is always front and center, and it bugs the heck out of me. I appreciate how the Dalai Lama will politely (and often humorously) refrain from answering questions rather than giving a “spin” answer. And he will very bluntly answer questions with responses that aren’t meant to be the popular response–they’re just his viewpoint. (See his warm reference to George W. Bush, or his quick response on the station of the Dalai Lama for examples.)
Laughter
The other trait I adore about the Dalai Lama is his laugh–he laughs frequently, and freely. He sees the humor in everyday life, and he values it. He shares it. He doesn’t take things too seriously to laugh at them when they’re funny. And he’s not taking pot-shots or offering up tongue-in-cheek satire at any other person’s expense… he’s just reflecting on the simple parts of life that strike his funny bone. That kind of genuine, frank, and warm humor is a rarity among public figures–it’s a bit verboten among political folk. I love the Dalai Lama’s laugh. It’s so… human.
Logic and Belief, Science and Religion
The last point I wanted to emphasize was the Dalai Lama’s discussion of the role of logic and investigation in his belief system. What stood out for me about his comments was that he doesn’t connect someone’s urge to question and investigate with a threat to the idea system they’re questioning. He sees logic and belief, a scientific approach and religion, as going hand-in-hand. One does not threaten the other. A commitment to one is no exclusion of the other–and in fact, may well be a support of the other. Awesome. Beautiful. And he says it soooooo much better than me.
What can we take away?
What would our own lives be like if we took a cue from the Dalai Lama, and really endeavored to respond to others from our heart–and if we didn’t want to answer, we said that, instead of talking around the question? And when something was funny, we said so, and we laughed about it, even if it involved us or our ideas? What would corporate America be like if our corporate leaders responded this way?
Tiny Clip from the Interview
With violence, the reaction comes immediately. But with the environment, the reaction is invisible. So, we take things for granted. My own contribution to keeping the environment is that in my own house, I don’t use the bath, only shower, to conserve water. It’s my small contribution to save water (long laugh).
I’m Marissa, can-do-ologist, perpetual Curious George, and daily adventurer. 
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