Megan's Guest Post

Today's post is brought to you by the winner of my 700th post giveaway, Megan Bickel. We already heard from Megan on Thursday & got to know some random things about her, and today she shares another piece of herself with us. Megan is a picture book author and blogs at The Write-At-Home-Mom, which you should certainly go check out after you finish reading her post here.

My brain is like a blog.  I have some nice pictures stored there, a vast and rambling “about me” section, a running list of my “followers” with little headshots so I can remember what they look like, and everyday some main topic that I’m mulling over or venting about.  But, like Su’s blog, I would also like to have a sidebar of gratefulness.

I want thankful thoughts to be with me all the time.  When I’m cleaning up spilled juice from my kitchen floor for the third time that day and it is only 8:30 a.m., I want to remember to be thankful for my boys.  When I’m grumbling about the government of such-and-such a state rejecting the filing I just spent three months on at work, I want to be thankful for the flexibility of my job.  When I drop a plate that shatters all over the dairy-free cake I just spent two hours making for my grandmother, I want to be thankful she is able to visit me still.

I want those thoughts.  I do.  Do I have them?  Not always. And almost never in a moment of chaos or frustration.  I mean, really, who does?  It takes a well-trained mind and controlled emotions to remain calm enough in the face of a challenge to be grateful for the challenge. And my mind is not well trained.  It is usually just tired.  And my emotions are not controlled. They are free flowing and on my sleeve. 

The beauty of writing, though, is that I give myself time to reflect, time to examine, time to ponder.  When I slow my life down enough to put my fingers on the keyboard or a pen in my hand, the gratefulness pours out.  So does the frustration, the longing, the joy, the needs, the wants, the silly and the sacred.  Writing gives my brain blog some form.  I just hope I remember to add to that sidebar of gratefulness every day.