Thankful Thursday: Week 49

This week I am thankful for:

• Finding out about Bliss. Bliss is a German band I believe, and I found out about Bliss while eating at an Italian Restaurant in Tbilisi. I heard a lovely song, and so I asked our waiter if he knew who the singer was. He went to check and came back with Bliss. Later that night, I listened to the song over and over again on YouTube. I’m thankful for it now because whenever I listen to it, I feel so relaxed, and it works wonders on a cold, grey day.
• Dreams. Unlike usually, I’ve been remembering my dreams lately. They have been both weird and wonderful. The wonderful ones have been exceptionally vivid, leaving me with a rather interesting if not uneasy feeling upon waking up. Even so, they’ve been lovely, and I wish I would never stop remembering my dreams. It’s rather fascinating to know what your brain is doing while you sleep.
• My imagination and creativity.
• Finding some wonderful health related books. Once I return from my vacation, I will therefore attempt to do some natural body cleanses and I will eat a healthier meal. This I will write about at a later time.
• My inspiration wall that I completed (partially, I will keep adding to it as time goes on) a couple of days ago. I love having an inspiration wall/board because it keeps me focused. And, it never fails to give me ideas just by glancing at it.
• All of my frames arriving here in perfect condition. I love my frames, and I was worried that some of them would break. The glass breaking wouldn’t have been a big deal, but some of my frames are rather intricate, and if it would have chipped or broken, I wouldn’t have been able to replace them.
• The red old Lada car that is always parked in the same spot. I can see this car from my office and the colour combination of the red car and the green little shop right beside it, makes me rather giddy.
• Having all of my Domino magazines on my desk again.
• Candles – they’re wonderful when the power goes out and they’re actually pretty good at warming a room up, especially if you have quite a few of them lit. I especially love nice smelling candles in beautiful glass containers. I miss Chapters/Indigo because they had some of the nicer candles. Expensive, but a joyous little thing on my desk or night table.
• Little luxuries. Such as said candles, that one piece of art that seems to shine on your wall, super soft bed sheets, an excellent exacto knife, that perfect edition of your favorite book, that perfectly lined notebook (I have a thing with how small the lines in a notebook have to be).

What little luxuries do you enjoy? What are you thankful for this week?

2 Responses to “Thankful Thursday: Week 49”

1. Alastair Lancaster says:

   December 3, 2009 at 17:39

   Hi, Katrina! This is more an email than a submitted comment. It tells you that I have, with respect, “copied” you. If you want it as a post, that’s fine. My post for my own blog reads:

   LOVING THURSDAY

   y Alastair on December 3, 2009

   Thanks to Katrina of A Sudden Unexpected Twist

   It’s weird where curiosity takes you! (OK, I mean me. But, I hope you share in this.) After subscribing to Blogging Without a Blog, I noticed the above blog in its free register. It seemed girl stuff. Not for a 69.7 year-old man exactly. Besides, I dislike orange. Didn’t like the wide orange tabs for latest posts, comments, etc. Thought the print too small maybe. Yet liked the twirly bits of the design. But the independence, different attitude and roots, and go-ahead energy of the blog owner, writer, cook-and-bottle-washer (as all blog owners have to be), pleased me. So, I read on.

   And on. Each day. Till today, a few weeks later.

   Her today’s post, 3rd December 2009, had an orange-red car at the top. Matching the flaming blaze of the title. I came to discover I like orange, even when it flames! How can this be? If first impressions are so important, why do I take pleasure in what I disliked and now like?

   Today’s post was Thankful Thursday, a regular feature of appreciation for any aspect of life however large or trivial. What a good idea to self-train and exercise with others on the mental gym equipment called Thankfulness! Unashamedly, I decided to lift the idea (in Internet morality) and use it myself. Thus my title above. I mean almost the same thing. But I am so glad Thursday exists! This Thursday.

   Why? Because I found a sudden unexpected twist. At the top of K’s blog is “Life List”. I had never seen it before. Maybe it’s new. Maybe it was staring me in the face. Perhaps I was meant to see it today. It is a draft Life Plan, really. A world tour of fascinating places. What blew my mind was that it had 151 (or so) items to dream of and move towards. Her brain had clear goals and lots of daily joy to anticipate.

   Then I was thrilled to read that K. has a wall board to progress her dreams. Something I had mused on having for many years. So, now it’s me-too! There was another wonderful thing that I realized. Each of the 151 items are nodes or growing-points of a tree of new life. There is the possibility of readers adding suggestions, brainstorming with her, offering photos of dreamed-of places. Each is a potential branch for discussion and shared discovery. If K. wants it.

   We are all told to “focus”. But, we can misunderstand. Are 151 points a focus? I say, yes absolutely! And more! The focus is K’s own: her “Life List”. We move from the macro to the micro in a blink, yet focus on both.

   So, unashamedly, I’m going to keep expanding my ideas. If there are 151 growing points for me, then, I say that is a good beginning. But, why not more? The passion behind my blog is huge creativity. (I wanted to say mass-creativity, but I funked it. I put it in brackets, for the present.) I believe in the release of not one person’s innovative dreams but that of a whole community and then society.

   It just so happens that I began with the idea of transforming politics, because politicians in Europe and North America have undermined popular control. Something downright evil has occurred. Historically, this theft of wealth and power leads to major war, within a decade. I HATE conventional party politics. But, I do believe a better version of ‘democracy’ can be built fast by millions of Electors, and there is little politicians can do to really halt such change. It just requires initial lunatics to not see apparent obstacles. My idea of “democracy” is 100 times as inventive as we have now. And it includes helping each other change our lives and fortunes. Blogs being one aspect.

   We wrong-step, mistake and surprise our way to success in whatever we do. We make Lists. We stick them on the wall. We blog and talk. Swap. Make ideas come alive.

   LOVING THURSDAY is my delight in what others are doing that moves forward, pushes, invents, creates, inspires and “tries” (though I am suspicious of that word, as it can mean avoiding a real, firm decision).

   I thought Katrina could be Visiting Professor of New Ambitions, Motivation, Power and Fulfillment. That’ll be number 152.
   Alastair Lancaster´s last blog ..Loving Thursday

   Reply
   • K says:

     December 3, 2009 at 23:33

     I laughed when you said that your first impression of my blog was “girl stuff”. I suppose in a way, it might seem like it, especially to a guy. Yet, when I chose the colour, I thought more of what colour would scream “happy”. Orange, to me seemed like the perfect fit – bright enough to be noticed, but still somewhat neutral. I could have picked pink! Although I’m not a pink person, so I wouldn’t have done that anyway.

     But really, thank you for your kind words, they really quite made my day! The Life List is indeed something rather new-er. It’s been there for a bit over a week I believe, and I’m ever so glad that it inspired you, even if just a bit. And I have to say, I’m really looking forward to Loving Thursday! Thanks again Alastair!

     Reply