There is only one way I know to completely quiet myself down before the holiday season and that is through gratitude. It’s the only thing that has ever really worked for me. And believe me, I’ve tried a lot of things!
I guess it is because there is nothing in the act of feeling grateful that can turn into its own opposite. It’s a pure emotion, you know?
Lately I’ve noticed that I want one thing more than anything else on earth: peace at heart. Even good health—which is a big one, no doubt—is not as big as peace at heart. Because even good health gives way to various “stuff” as we age. With peace in my heart, I accept it all.
Here in Portland, Oregon, Halloween came and went with our neighborhood kidlets not having to wear long underwear under their costumes. The big storm rolled in the next day. I was happy for the kids. There was time to get in all the fall bulbs and play some guitar with arthritis in my hands. I was grateful for that. We had enough to share. What could be better?
But most of all I feel gratitude for sharing life with Patrick, the silliest, gentlest soul I know, and Fly, the Grace Kelly of Border Collies. Oh, I’m not saying it’s easy. Nowhere in the books did anybody promise easy. (You wouldn’t believe me if I tried to fake that now would you?) That’s why I’m grateful for you too…Friends.
So, as we launch ourselves into the silly season with many of us doing far more than we ought to be doing if we are to stay sane, I wish you luck.
And in the meantime, I dedicate this Thanksgiving post to my Paddy who has given me such a wonderful life and whose gentle strength is a touchstone.
I wrote a poem for Patrick and asked him if I could share it. It’s called Old Ladies.
Old Ladies
My husband helps old ladies across the street.
He blocks streams of symphony-goers with a stocky strong body
So old ladies can unfold out of chairs,
And gather their wits and walkers.
He says nice things about their awful hats.
One time in a restaurant he paid an elderly and solitary woman’s bill
Then left a note: an admirer.
This is not pity, far from it. You see, my husband sees old ladies.
You never know what almost dying will make of a man.
~S. Troccolo
Happy Thanksgiving everyone. If you manage to stay peaceful between now and the end of the year, please write and tell me how you did it. Just a hunch, but I think a few more of us might like to know.
