Gratefulness

I have to confess: I am not a positive person. My glass is not half-full. I do not easily see “the bright side of things.” Or rather, for every “good” I also see the “bad.” I see both. Everything HAS both. I don’t wish to be more “positive” if that means ignoring the negative. I hate being told, “smile, it’s not so bad,” or “look at the bright side.” To me “look at the bright side” means “ignore the dark side.” I’m here on this earth to experience *everything* – the good and the bad. Events, emotions, all of it. I consider myself a realist. I want to study the bad AND the good….and only then can I form an educated response or plan. Only that feels responsible to my “self.”

So a holiday like Thanksgiving can be challenging for me. Sure, I can come up with a list of things I’m grateful for. But as I’m making up THAT list in my mind, I’m ALSO making the list of things I’d like to change, to improve on, to better.

I know I have it better than SO many beings on this planet. I have a home, an income, I have my relative freedom, no one is going to kill and eat me. But I wish for so much more. There are things I’ve lost that I long for. And sometimes that wishing and longing, especially at a time like this, makes me feel ungrateful.

So I’m going to really make an effort to make a practice of being grateful. I might do some of it here. You guys will keep me honest if I forget, okay?

I am grateful for friends who support me, laugh with me, continue to ask me to be a part of something. I am grateful for my dog Caleb who has been a part of my heart for so many years and who keeps me company and keeps me active. I am grateful for family who, while they live far from me and I don’t often see them, I trust would help me if I really needed it. I am grateful for a job that not only helps me keep a roof over my head and food on my table, but also allows me some creativity and to work with really special people. I am grateful to be born into a country where I have freedoms and options as my birthright. I am grateful for my health. I am grateful for a strong, brave, independent, healthy daughter.

Last Saturday I was grateful for a beautiful day spent with friends…and the ability to travel to interesting places. After a trip to a museum, we stopped at Cedarmere, the charming Roslyn country home of 19th-century poet, newspaper editor and civic leader William Cullen Bryant. On this day the foliage was really outstanding and we all took pictures of the trees, bridges and buildings. I wondered if you’d enjoy seeing some pictures of locations we go to to shoot – what do you think? Yes or no?

I am most certainly grateful for the people who help me with this blog as well as the people who read and follow it and post comments. That’s my friend Linda in the photo above who has photographed several sessions for Fashion Schlub, including this one. Linda, I’m so grateful for all your help!

I would like to end by wishing friends and followers a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you all have things to be grateful for.

What I’m Wearing:

• Old Navy black&white striped swing dress, 3x (most comfortable dress on the planet!)
• Maurice’s cropped jean jacket, 3x. Sold out, similar here
• Mustard yellow rayon scarf, don’t remember the brand, from Marshall’s
• Target red faux converse sneakers