Gratitude & Taking Up Space, SOL#1
My yoga teacher said many things this morning. Three have whirled around in my head for the last four hours.
Show Up
Take Up Space
Cultivate Gratitude
What I love most about the Slice of Life Challenge is that it forces me to show up in my writer brain. My challenge to myself this month is to live in that brain and to relish in the creativity of it all... also, to try some fun writing strategies. I made a list (big surprise). Today, a gratitude entry seems logical following my morning mantra.
So, here is a list of all of the places I have or will show up to take up space today. *Gratitude to follow
- in a motivational note to my husband
- on my yoga mat
- on the treadmill
- in my friends' text messages
- in my desk chair, in so many people's inboxes, and even in a Zoom (where I was ghosted)
- on the park walking path with three rowdy, furry friends
- in my kitchen, with plans to win people over through banana muffins
- on this blog post!!!!!!
- in my friend's car, cultivating a meaningful relationship that I didn't always realize continues to happen as you grow older
- in a chair at Rosalita's celebrating the birth of a grandma more than the birth of a baby
- again, in a desk chair
- and then in a student chair
The showing up is easy for me. For that, I am grateful. Showing up is something I shrug off, and today, I'm recognizing and showing gratitude that I shouldn't shrug this off. Showing up isn't easy for everyone. Showing up for my husband on a day when he needs to cheered on, being there for friends furry and non-furry alike, providing resources in a professional capacity, and to be learning new and challenging things... these all bring me genuine happiness. I am grateful for my capacity to show up physically and metaphorically.
Taking up space, now that's much harder. But for today's post, only gratitude. Be Well, fellow Slicers!
Excellent advice from your yoga teacher! We could all benefit from doing the same!
ReplyDelete"Take up space" is a great message and one that I haven't heard before. What an excellent message for our students...to remind them that they matter and that their presence is valued.
ReplyDeleteI love the phrasing "taking up space" and I love looking at it in a positive light. I find myself as an introvert trying to take up the least amount of space possible. I love the idea of taking up space intentionally and positively. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI think I'll follow your lead and endeavor not to "shrug off my showing up". You're right, it is a big deal. I get so focused on the accomplishment that I forget the importance of showing up, sort of like when people get to focused on the end-product's grade instead of the learning that takes place in the process. Celebrate the process!
ReplyDeleteTracy--Only you would have such a cool, whimsical whisk. You show up and take up space and bring joy all the time. Remember that.
ReplyDeleteLove it. Ditto what everyone above said. I have always felt as if I were taking up space, but not necessarily in a good way.
ReplyDeleteWhen I'm down in the basement writing, I am taking up space with boxes of books and journals that I planned to burn but can't. I am taking up space with my cat who comes down to sit in front of the space heater and look up at me as if to say, "So, what's cha got today?" I am taking up space with the air molecules that are being used as conduits to music that fills up the room -- a sassy jazz selection, or old stuff like Joni Mitchell who seemed to have always been blue. I am taking up space in my own head as I think back about my childhood and
how blessed I was to have such a neat family. I am taking up space everywhere I go, and I needed to be reminded that it's all good.