The Humility of Gratitude

I belong to the WNBA and last night I attended our chapter meeting. Now before you go shaking your head, wondering how in the world a Big Girl could play professional basketball (she couldn't, because practice would interfere with snack time), please understand the WNBA is also the Women's National Book Association.

Our program was very insightful, and we were shamed into participating in a Writer's Exercise. Normally, I don't do Writer's Exercises, or Writer's Groups, or Book Clubs, or anything resembling a group of people sitting around talking about writing. I prefer to actually WRITE. Or at least say I'm going to write, and then spend all day playing on the internet and watching movies.

So our challenge last night was to write a poem about a decision we have recently made, preferably a decision of some significance. POEM? I am a comedy writer! The closest I have ever come to writing poetry was my satirical spin on Alexander Pope in high school! And these days nobody even cares who Alexander Pope was!!

But I was in a room of my peers, the pressure to perform was on, so I dutifully wrote my poem. And in the process, I was exhilarated, enervated, and calmed. It's no work of great poetic artistry, however it is sincere and reflects a major decision I made this year in an effort to be more positive and enjoy life more.

When it came time to read our poems aloud, I passed. This is so NOT ME! I'm always the first to volunteer to be in the spotlight. But I savored this little poem, it's very private, and I didn't feel up to sharing. Twelve hours later, however, it's no big deal, so here is what I wrote:

Gratitude Journal

WHOA! You're 8!
PTO and library committee and soccer
and swim team and church and

LIFE IS SO FAST
I'M ANGRY ALL THE TIME!

How do I express to my friend
that writing a gratitude journal --
her suggestion in passing when she
sees my harried face at Starbucks --
how do I express to her that she has
saved my life?

This little book full of blank pages
is a challenge - I'm a list-maker,
so I make lists - I excel at that.

But instead of to-do lists, it's a
list of how I'm thankful for coffee,
sunsets, my son's smile, and the end of a bad day.

Now I'm writing and noticing and laughing
and living the life that has been gifted to me.

WHOA! I have so much to be thankful for, and
now I'm in touch with this world.

----

Thank you, Danielle, for your friendship. I have a new outlook on life (don't worry, the sarastic streak is genetic and can't disappear)and I'm empowered to find the good, the joyful, the FUN, and really mean it.

So all you folks out there in Bunkie-dom, go buy yourself a journal, find a quiet corner, and write something down. Write a poem to yourself, to your significant other, your child, your mom, or your hero. Write a sentence about what makes you happiest in this world. I promise you, the simple act of naming what you enjoy is a very humbling experience, and it puts a sparkle in your life you never realized was there!