What does your joy look like today?

So Marc and Angel Hack Life had a blog post recently that asked 365 "thought-provoking questions".  I've picked some of the ones that stood out to me and hope to occasionally use them as writing prompts.

What does your joy look like today?

I thought about waiting to answer this one until I had some amazingly wonderful & significant thing to share.  But really, my life is already significantly wonderful & amazing and I have opportunities for joy every single day.  Today I find joy in looking at baby pictures of my daughter, in the beautiful Colorado day, in friends who wish me well.  I find joy in looking in the mirror and thinking I might be sort of cute today and in looking at others and seeing their beauty.  I find joy in possibility and potentiality.  I find joy in peanut M & M's and grilled mushrooms.  I find joy in being treated to a scrap-booking weekend by my friend Leisl and in warm showers followed by a comfortable bed to sleep in.  I find joy in good memories and in good memories to come.

I find joy today.

Happy Thanksgiving 2010

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I'm not even sure how to start this blog post.  I'm in a really, really low place in my life.  I feel alone, I feel aching sadness, I feel deep grief, and I feel raging anger.  I feel abandoned and unwanted, I can't imagine how to make this new life work and I'm scared to death of the future.

At the same time, I feel so supported, so cared for, so lucky, and so blessed.  I can't begin to make a complete list of the people and things I'm thankful for.  People who have known me for years, new friends, and a few I've not even met, from very close by, from across the country, and in a few other countries, are the only reason I'm still keeping my head above water.  I know I keep saying that but it just really is the essence of my life right now.  I'm so sad and I'm so scared, but if I try just a little I remember that there are some people out there who love me and think I have some redeeming qualities.

I know I'm gonna need to figure out how to make it and I know there is a lot for me learn.  I know there are going to be some more amazingly hard things thrown at me.  But sometimes I think that maybe some good things will come as well -- it's just harder to imagine what those things are. As I said a few months ago, I'm pretty sure that the tears of the recent past have brought me a few more lines on my face, but I'm trying to have faith that the world has more laugh lines in store for me as well.  I'm thankful for hope.

I'm thankful for running water and the cat who is currently between me and the back of my chair.
I'm thankful for friends who open their hearts & homes to me.
I'm thankful for my daughter who is healthy, kind, and strong.
I'm thankful for phone calls, e-mails, letters, and care packages.
I'm thankful for those who give me the benefit of the doubt.
I'm thankful that life is both so short and so long and I hope I can remember both of those aspects.
I'm just so thankful, so gol-durned thankful for love.

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I'm thankful for people who believe there is goodness out there for me and tell me so -- and for those who believe there is goodness in me and tell me so.
I'm thankful for people who get that I know it could all be so much worse -- and yet get that it still all sort of sucks at this moment in time.
I'm thankful for really cozy blankets and deep bathtubs.
I 'm thankful for hand-me-down jeans that feel good on my body and for crafty projects to work on and for the crafty friends who help me learn new skills.
I'm thankful for pretty peaceful snow falling from the sky.
I'm thankful for sleep and for chapstick.
I'm thankful for lotion and safe neighborhoods.
I'm thankful for bills that are slowly being paid off and customer service people who are kind to me on the phone.
I'm thankful for people who are kind to my daughter and who are walking alongside her in this time of change.
I'm thankful for clean mirrors and fun socks.
I'm thankful for you if you are reading this and feeling compassionate.
I'm thankful for ridiculous songs I can sing along to and I'm thankful for new possibilities, even if I can't envision them right now.
I'm thankful for my grandparents and the presence they were in my life. 
I'm thankful that I'm here today, able to live and love and try and fail and try again and be thankful.

What matters to you most in life?

I just barely started reading Becoming a Life Change Artist: Seven Creative Skills to Reinvent Yourself at Any Stage of Life by Fred Mandell, Ph.D. & Kathleen Jordan, Ph.D.

The foreword is written by Richard J. Leider, the founder and chairman of the Inventure Group.  He speaks of asking people "What matters most to you in life?" and how often they don't really have a ready answer/haven't thought about it in a long time.

His question made me stop and think.  I'm not sure I have anything momentous or unique to say or even fully formed ideas.  But I just wrote down some of my first thoughts in my journal and will share them here.

• being kind and supportive to others
• a belief that, above all else, relationships are what we leave behind on this planet & that making a difference can happen in big or small ways
• being a good listener
• modeling good lifestyle choices to/for my daughter
• being interdependent (rather than dependent or independent)
• taking the time to both work and play
• learning to be more gentle
• laughter
• tears
• joy
• hope
• being welcoming
• living in community and contributing to that community
• creating traditions and making memories
• learning and growing and loving