Thank You Gratitude

I love the power of gratitude because it is two directional. Gratitude can give us perspective and help bring us back to center AND when we do the work and find center gorgeous gratitude can spontaneously appear before our very eyes heightening all the senses.

For me, motherhood is filled with many ups and downs, but as I reflect on this image I am overwhelmed by the spontaneity of gratitude. I always know when gratitude makes an unannounced visit, because I am moved to take photos of the ‘ordinary’. I am trying to capture a feeling - a state of being that notices every hair dimple and velcro shoe of my babies balancing on a rock. Skin that soaks in the sunshine through the cold air and holds chubby hands a little longer while rubbing their silky pads with my thumb. A presence that purses my lips and widens my cheeks before a broad smile appears with a chuckle. A knowing that this is all too temporary, and I had better hold on tight to 2 and 5. Ah, those tender passing moments when we slow our pace to the cadence of the heart and the gifts of the center are unveiled - some of which- love gratitude light impermanence and sometimes even joy.

I’m a student of authenticity and can admit that some days the lens is foggy. Those hairs and dimples and velcros feel far from holy; it’s raining, and I’m rushing. Even then though, when our shoes are in the mud, our lenses are dirty, and our pace is pure panic, a pause for gratitude can be powerful without being evasive. Gratitude says ‘yes there is mud, but we also have boots’ allowing space for what is while giving thanks for what also is - lifting us just enough to keep our feet in motion and our hearts permeable.

So I sit in awe of the power of gratitude - a phenomenon that moves outward and inward that can be revealed in the seat of the heart or bring us back to the space of stability that requires no work other than a pause, our attention, and authenticity. Thank you gratitude, thank you.