Finding Gratitude in the Ordinary

I'm trying to make a pen from a twig. It is play for me, and the fact that my pens are only partially working doesn't really  make a huge difference in my life.  Easy enough to go to the store and get a cheap pen. It is just a game for me.

But there was a time when twig pens weren't a game, they were the way you wrote. And you had to make your own pen, ink and possibly paper. None probably had the nice finish that we have on all now.

And as I'm playing I realized how grateful I am that I can play like this, that the need to make my own pen is a pleasurable task that I can end at any point that I wish. 

And as I try to sharpen my pen and play at dipping I wonder: what would my life have been like 100 years ago? As a 61 year old woman would I have even been alive?

How much do we have now that we would not have had 100 years ago?

What would our lives have been like 100 years ago?

In your own mind go back 100 years, and ask yourself what your life would have been like, and then focus on today.  Wander about your home, and see the world as if you had been that person 100 years ago, and ask yourself what would you be grateful for today?

And write it down as if you were that person. Wonder at the miracles we are living now. What are you most grateful for? 

As I listen to the washing machine tumble my clothes about, I think I know at least one item that I'm glad for!