Wednesday, November 21 ~ Albuquerque, New Mexico.jpg)
I'm sitting at my kitchen table on this day before Thanksgiving, the wind outside my window blowing the last of the warm weather away, contemplating the cornucopia of blessings in my life for which I'm grateful.
Despite all the upheaval in my life and in the world around me, the blessings are still limitless.
The first on my mind, for I leave in a few minutes for the two-and-a-half-hour drive to pick her up, is my daughter, who will join me here in Albuquerque for Thanksgiving this weekend.
This is our first Thanksgiving together as just the two of us and the first time since her mother and I separated that I have a home of my own to welcome her into. I'm profoundly grateful for her presence in my life and for the home I'm now able to share with her.
This time last year, still on the road and about to spend my second consecutive Thanksgiving with my friends Bob and Diana Mitchell in Michigan, I could not have begun to imagine all the unexpected gifts this year would bring, among them:
• a home of my own after 30 months of full-time travel...and the arrival here in Albuquerque, a month after mine, of one of my closest friends -- who now lives a five-minute walk away.
• a home in the foothills of (and with a view of) the Sandia Mountains, which have inspired and uplifted me from the moment I first saw them nearly three years ago. (In fact, my very first place drawing was of the Sandias.)
• the long-awaited publication of my novel, The MoonQuest, not to mention the two awards it has already garnered and the glimmerings of interest in my screenplay adaptation of the book.
• the imminent publication of a second book, The Voice of the Muse: Answering the Call to Write and the production of its companion CD. (I'll have more to say about these in a newsletter in the next week or so, when I'll unveil its amazing cover...though you can get a small-size sneak preview on MySpace.)
• all the wondrous and miraculous ways I have been taken care of, even as I've let go most of the touring, teleconferences and private sessions that were my financial mainstay on the road.
There is so much more...too much to enumerate. But I can't complete my incomplete list without mentioning you. Through all the radical shifts and transformations in my life and, no doubt, in yours over the past year, I'm enduringly grateful that you are still in my life, part of my creative and spiritual family.
Whether or not you celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow, I wish you an abundance of all that would bring joy and gladness to your heart -- today, tomorrow and every day.
Photo by Mark David Gerson: Sunrise over the Sandias
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
In Gratitude
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5 comments:
Mark,
I've wanted to comment for sometime now but have been busy with doing what I'm suppose to be doing.
I wanted to tell you "Thank You" for coming into our lives. It has been a great pleasure and you inspire many people. The courage you have taken has shown all of us that anythiing, especially your heart's desire can be attainable.
You should be proud of what you have accomplished. And not to mention you look well and alive. Your new pictures are beautiful. I wish I was there!
Well, I'm off to do what I need to do. Many things are happening for many people. This year is ending quite differently for many people. And it's life changing for a lot.
Take care and God Bless,
Rhoda
Thanks, Rhoda.
Your support means a lot.
Blessings,
Mark David
Your work is moving. Sometimes a picture can capture what a soul is feeling and help it to connect with it's self. We seem to be so disconnected and finding our selves again brings us home again. And interestingly, that might be all any soul needs. Above and beyond that, you demonstrate how gratitude brings more of life... into your life. Nor for the purpose of gaining more material (although that is just as divine) but for the purpose of experiencing all the joy life can bring, if we are open to receiving. And that is where gratitude comes in, it is the open door that is usually closed, bolted and chained preventing us from connecting with all that we deserve.
Your art may be what others look at but your life may be your true message.
Reverend Cherise Thorne
www.knowingspirit.org
Cherise,
Your comment has moved me so deeply that, uncharacteristically, I find myself without words.
Thank you.
Mark David
Ah, Mark David: As you can see, I'm "exploring" your site. I was about to leave my comment about "holidays" - namely, that I have discovered that I can be alone and yet I am not alone with all the people here - but then I saw Cherise's comment. And was reminded about gratitude. Even for the friends and family who always seem to get amnesia around the holidays and my birthday, that I am "unattached". However, they call, tell me about all their dizzying, joyous plans, and then hang up to live their lives...without me.
The reality is: I'm not really a part of their lives. And that's okay. I have even chosen not to be. I wish to find my "true" family. And the Universe, per usual, is taking me at my word. As I wrote in my latest blog - and the one before it, talking about my music and music-making which is like breathing mountain air to me (because I also sing and dance with the faeries there) - I meet people EVERYWHERE! I am never alone...and I'm not even talking about the spirits, angels, elementals, and goddesses and gods. And I get to share and even give counsel to people, as if I were a 52-year old woman in my "clan". So that's the gratitude part: fun, adventure, and familial intimacy (per the suggestions/advice) are all around always.
Then there is the surrendering part. You may think "Oh, the above is brave", but the surrendering/free-falling into the life I have TO-DAY is the more courageous. Rather like bungie jumping...which also fits in with your rubberband commentary. And the non-caring if I look like a fool (yes, I saw your MySpace) - or crazy bitch, as one poor little Sagittarius decided to call me - is so much more important to THIS life.
Such is the life of a Aquarian. If the thinking be true, I have one more sign to live: Pisces. So I'd better do an awesome job on this life to be worthy of the next...
Love the mountains and the waters, hug a tree, and receive the brightest blessings,
Suze (of MySpace Suzerock)
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