GRATITUDE

I'm diving in, not stopping to feel the waters as there are so many swimmers out there already. It must be warm. (It better be warm because I am not a cold water girl.)


My first blog...

I always start my journal with gratitude, so shall I start this.






Life is conspiring in my favor. For this I am truly grateful. Have we made some choices others might call crazy - yes! But we are following our dreams, no matter the obstacles. And so far - three beautiful boys, two loving dogs, and life by the sea for the school year and by a northern lake, where are roots are nourished, for the summer. Not bad.










"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away." - Anonymous (although there is argument it was a writer for a Canadian card company)

I am grateful for the nudge to start blogging, given by the bloggers of the Writer's Voice competition. Check out Brenda Drake, Cupid, Monica B.W., Krista Van Dolzer and Kimberly P. Chase. I have more than a few times thought of starting (lots of kindling lay around) but they have given me the fire - you can't enter their competition without a blog of your very own.

I am also thankful for the inspiration, quiet whisperings, loud thoughts, and time (precious time) to finish my middle grade contemporary fantasy, Enteleky, so that I can write something else without feeling off task. There is a freedom in having it complete - I can actually fall asleep without hearing character's telling me where they should go or what they should be doing. And yet, back in the corners of my mind, soft knockings tell of more to come. So, before they grow loud and break through, let this begin.

Gratitude overflows as I think of the freedom I have to follow my dream. Three boys off to school and the former teacher does not go. I loved teaching and one of the best things about it was watching the light spark in kids when they got something. I can do that with writing. A great book can inspire them while entertaining them. It can give them freedom to visit other worlds and other's lives. It can help them discover who they truly are and what they can become. It can be a light in their lives, something they love.

H. D. Thoreau said, "The world is but a canvas to the imagination."

                          I want children to know this truth.

I sit in our home and glance up from the computer screen to the palm trees outside my window.

 

Gratitude!