After a
particularly horrific national event on October 1 of this year I began posting
a “days of love” on Facebook. Pretty much without fanfare or announcement, I wanted
only to post reasons for us to love, to feel love, to give love, to just
love. I have posted pictures on my
timeline of kids, dogs, nature, my kitchen, coffee cups, crab cakes. Everything, from minor to major, of
love.
A few years ago
there was this big push, I think because of something Oprah, or one of her
guests, said, to keep a gratitude journal.
Before long, there were journals, books, devotional readings all
centered around gratitude. I wonder how many of us are still keeping
those journals? Those lists? Are we sufficiently grateful now, ten years or so down
the road? I occasionally see reflections
of gratitude posted on social media, mostly around Thanksgiving, but are we no
longer thinking of gratitude daily? Or did we train our minds to center on
gratitude so well that now we don’t have to be purposeful? Those that went
through that exercise and made those lists are caught up, so to speak?
I have a
confession. I didn’t do a gratitude
journal or list, or a page a day calendar.
It’s not that I wasn’t grateful at the time, or that I’m not grateful
now…it’s more like procrastination on my part or even (I am reluctant here, but
transparent) disorganization, apathy, laziness…a possibility of any one or a
number of those traits.
I have never
been much of a joiner, or a trend/fad follower.
I have been isolated and independent, a loner, an observer. May be because of the childhood traveling thing,
but, I am not the first to volunteer, or contribute…I
am a hand sitter. So while many were
expressing their gratitude and seemingly taking pleasure and satisfaction from
doing so, I sat on my hands.
When the attitude
of gratitude campaign was underway, we were not on Facebook. There was no daily sharing of our item of
gratitude that day, so it was very much a personal list. Maybe we spoke it to each other in conversations;
we were also encouraged to express our gratitude of a person to him or her, so
we shared it to some extent with each other.
I started
posting my “days of love” on my Facebook timeline in response to some awful
stuff. I post a picture or comment daily
on Facebook because I’ve set myself out there as a writer, as someone who shares.
For this non-joiner, non-fad follower to share a post of love, to expose my
heart and raise my hand …it is a bit of a big deal. I appreciate, very much, those of you who
have sent me messages of support, of encouragement, and even of gratitude. Thank you.
