Thursday, November 22, 2012

Gratitude AND Togetherness


Happy Thanksgiving!  I turned to anthropologist and gratitude master Angeles Arrien this morning as I drank my coffee and thought about all the things that I have to be thankful for this year.

Here's what she is thinking about this month:


"Every language in the world has the word “and” in its language. This simple word functions in diverse ways; such as joining, bridging, including and adding. It is a word of generosity and simplicity and opens us up to possibilities that we have not considered. For these reasons, Richard Rohr in his book The Naked Now calls it “a shining word”. After the election, and as we move towards Thanksgiving and the Holiday Season, we have the opportunity, individually and collectively, to use “and” as a way of connecting, joining and adding to each other’s experience in the following ways:

“The Shining Word ‘And’                                                                    
“And” allows us to be both-and.
“And” keeps us from either-or.
“And” is willing to wait for insight and integration.
“And” keeps us from dualistic thinking.
“And” demands that our contemplation become action.
“And” allows us to critique both sides of things.
“And” is the mystery of paradox in all things.
“And” does not trust love if it is not also justice.
“And” does not trust justice if it is not also love.
“And” allows us to be both distinct and yet united.”
 --excerpts from Richard Rohr’s book, The Naked Now, pages 180-181
I hope you have a good day wherever you are and whatever you are doing AND I thank you from my heart for coming by here to visit me again and again!

6 comments:

Grey Horse Matters said...

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your whole family and all the critters of course.

Lori Skoog said...

A beautiful post Victoria. I hope you, your family and the critters have a great Thanksgiving.

billie hinton said...

Happy Thanksgiving to you and all your family!

Anonymous said...

Thank you. And wishing you and all yours a very lovely Thanksgiving.

Strawberry Lane said...

Wonderful post. Have a beautiful Thanksgiving with your family and your beautiful horses.

Calm, Forward, Straight said...

Happy Thanksgiving to your family - two and four legged!! (((♡♡♡)))