"Look at the sky as often as possible

and your thoughts will become light and clear."

"Be quiet a lot, speak little –

and silence will come in your heart, and your spirit will be calm and full of peace.”

—Saint Seraphim of Sarov (July 19, 1759--Jan. 2, 1833), Russian monk and mystic

Speak as few words as possible, and keep quiet.
This is so antithetical to the way I was raised. Very vocal people, LOUD people, fist-shaking people, outnumbered and out-shouted the few quiet role models in my world. For years I've known I must learn to practice The Mortification of Silence. Instead, I keep expressing myself in words. It never goes well. Escalating disasters should remind me to say nothing, to hide my thoughts, to conceal whatever I am feeling.

My spirit is not calm and full of peace.

This post was inspired by @stdd 's post Gratitude in every day! Giveaway of Gratitude #6. 5 HSBI.)

Note: I'm not looking to win Hive or even upvotes. Until Hive quits insisting my username and password do not match, I cannot even access my wallet, or I'd be giving away Hive (crypto, HSBI, whatever the currency is called).

#Gratitude! For years I've been searching for replacements, substitutes, items similar to familiar relics of childhood. Gone is gone, I've learned, and similar is the closest we ever get. Be not attached to things and all shall be well. Things touched and held and used by our parents and grandparents are just things. JUST THINGS. Let go. Move on. Look to the sky, not to the things close at hand, or hidden away in an attic awaiting rediscovery.

My life is {{actually not!}} complete: I thought I had located the castle image, but my mom confirms that the frame is right, the castle wrong. I cannot find the "right" print online, anywhere. It was more like the Disney castle but not quite (Schloss Neuschwanstein in Bavaria). The "ugly" brown and yellow harlequin blanket is explained in another post, Are you drawn to something but don't know why? Sometimes the reason surprises us. It's one of many things that cannot be replaced.

#Gratitude

Be glad for what we have, not sad for what we have lost.

Our daughter survived her drive home Wednesday night in treacherous conditions. It was so harrowing, I will not even speak of it right now.

We are surviving the snowpocalypse. "The Midwest is colder than Mars" right now, journalists proclaim. Our furnace died while it was minus 40 outside. We made it through the night. Come morning, my husband learned that one can venture outside, inspect the vents, and remove any ice that formed due to condensation from humidified air escaping the house--and voila!--the old furnace rumbled to life again, and the house warmed up to 60 degrees.

The sky is clear and bright, blindingly bright, on Christmas day. We are not going anywhere. The "cylone" winds have lessened to 25 mph, but the thermometer is still registering "Mars is warmer than you guys right now, ha ha ha." Our daughter risked life and limb and car and made it home, but we will likely not make it Grandma's and Grandpa's today. Stay home, stay safe, my mother says.

My mind is frozen, my willpower, my sense of initiative. All stone-cold and inert.

My husband took up the challenge I threw at him: paint the bobcat at the zoo for our daughter, who visits this captive feline once a week, on average. Working from a terrible photo, taken very long-range, he came up with a fantastic oil painting. I tried to paint the same cat on a wood slice. It has been demoralizing. Someday I might talk about it. Suffice to say, every attempt to make it look better will always just make it worse. Story of my life. Quick LOOK TO THE SKY, think positive thoughts!

Alive and striving, yes, but thriving, well, check back in a few more days....

Look down and you may see sky and stars frozen in mud puddles:

#gratitude #aliveandthriving #sublimesunday #pob #scholar #scribe #selfimprovement