the benefits of being grateful.

On this, the day before Thanksgiving, I wanted to post something that is fitting for the upcoming holiday season.  It doesn't have a lot to do with art.  OK, so this has nothing to do with art.  But it has everything to do with being grateful.  Without trying to sound pompous, I'm one of the most grateful people that you'll ever meet... that sounded pompous, but I promise it wasn't meant to be.  I thank my lucky stars everyday for the big things (family, friends, life, love, job, health insurance), for the little things (sounds, textures, moments) and everything in between (bunnies, cats, no traffic, remembering my lunch). To me, being grateful is honorable, wonderful and self fulfilling.  It's not something I ever had to think about in recent memory, because my parents instilled this moral on me at a very early age.  And for that, I'm grateful.

Like many things in life, there is a flip-side to the positive. If you Google "antonyms for grateful" two of the big ones that come up are unappreciative and thankless.  These two words sadden me.  To me, being ungrateful would be like living in a world where the glass is constantly half empty.  And I hate to sound like a curmudgeon, but the ungrateful attitude I see from adults and children alike sickens me.  The selfishness.  The negativity.  The complaining.  Why are people like this?  The answer is simple.  It is easier for them to be ungrateful.  In most cases, they never learned how to be grateful in the first place.  Parents lead by example, and children soak that shit up like a sponge.

I read an interesting article today in The Washington Post about teaching children to be grateful.  In all honestly, I didn't exactly exclaim "THIS IS GROUNDBREAKING!".  It did, however, confirm my feelings and attitude about raising grateful children in our ever growing society.  I'd like to share a quote from clinical psychologist Eleanor Mackey of Children’s National Medical Center. “Generally speaking, it’s like anything else: It takes time and energy to raise grateful kids, but if you make it a priority, it is doable, and the payoff can be enormous”.  Well said, Eleanor.  What's the payoff like, Mr. Jeffrey Froh, an assistant professor of psychology at Hofstra University? "[Grateful children] report better relationships with friends and family, higher GPAs, less materialism, less envy and less depression, along with a desire to connect to their community and to want to give back."

WOW.  So... hang on with me here... being grateful has lasting personal benefits, and is also helpful for the community (being friend, family, etc) that surrounds said person.  Damn, that's awesome!  Here's a question I leave you to interpret as you see fit:  What are the personal lasting benefits of being ungrateful?

So, you may ask, what's the big point you're trying to make here Jill?  My point is this: To make Thanksgiving a state of mind that we can share everyday, not just the one day out of the year that for some, is just a prelude to the Christmas season.  Give it a shot.  Be thankful for the things that you have, from the air you breathe to the company you hold.  Maybe try extending a 'thank you' to the stranger who holds the door open for you, or maybe hold the door open for that stranger.  You'll never know how powerful those words or gestures might be to someone, especially one who doesn't know of gratitude. And honestly, it's not completely their fault that they are ungrateful.  After all, they had to learn their behavior from somewhere.

if at first you don't succeed, take a nap. then try again.

First off, I'd like to explain my cryptic brain rant that I said I would update 'tomorrow'. Unfortunately, tomorrow is now 6 days from tomorrow.  Wait... 6 days from then.  From the last post.  This post isn't clearing anything up so far. Let's try again.

FAIL

Last Wednesday night I decided to start tiling the back splash in our kitchen.  My goal was just to do the tiling behind our now non-existent stove. It took me about 3 hours to do it, but I did get it done.  Not as successfully as I'd like to, though.  All in all, about 43 tiles fell off the wall due to, A: bad tiling advice and B: bad mortar application.  After feeling sorry for myself and developing a migraine, I struck back.  I used my Dremmel tool to grind out the dried mortar and I hand applied the missing tiles to the wall.  Lou and I got an additional 8 square feet done tonight. I can't wait to get our project done, and to cook something on our new stove!

SUCCESS

I also got ALL ALL of the squares done for the quilt!  That's right.  I finished all 224 squares... THEY'RE ALL DONE.  I finished sewing the last of the squares on Friday night, and I just trimmed them all up last night.  I'm really excited that I accomplished this much so far.  Now, I'm ready to start sewing the rows and columns.  Pretty soon, it will start looking like a real quilt!  It's going to be such a fun winter project!

4 new wine bags, 224 squares!

A friend of mine (and also my former landlord) ((and also the nicest landlord I've ever had)) asked me if I could make her some wine bags for the holiday season coming up!  I'm really proud that I started cutting them out and sewing them together on Friday night.  I'm hoping that I can complete them tomorrow, and maybe bring them to her sometime this weekend.  

The reason why I was trying to get all of these things done before the weekend, was because I traveled down Washington DC!  It was a lot of fun.  We had great weather, we saw a ton of things around town (both by foot and by bike!) and ate amazing food.  I wish I had more time to browse around the museums and national monuments. I feel like I just was beginning to scratch the surface of the city, then all of the sudden it's time to leave and board the train going back home! I picked up a new book as well, and I'm hoping that I can incorporate some of it's philosophy into future blog posts!  

Well, that's an awfully long post, so I'll end it at this. You can do anything you put your mind to.  Especially when you have coffee.

durp?

Tiles. Mortar. Tonight? Yes! SKUUURED. (dontmessup) Quilt? Squares. Only. 14. Left. Must. Get. Done. Tonight?! No. Tomorrow? Maybe. Fabric! New! Wine Bags?  MUSTMAKE. When? Weekend? NO. Travel!  DC! Hotel! YAY!

(I'll translate tomorrow.)

the greatest gift of all.

Today I was going to write a quick update aptly titled 200 down, 24 to go! with an picture of me holding a giant stack of sewed fabric.  But, my story quickly changed last night when Lou yelled up to me “Hey, you got a package in the mail from Jenny!”  First of all, I was doubled over in excitement that I actually got a package in the mail.  I think I did a little happy dance, but I can’t be sure of that.  Secondly, my thoughts instantly went to… did I forget anything at her house that she had to send back to me?

I retrieved the box and carefully opened it. And I literally, literally could feel tears of joy welling up in my eyes.  She had sent me memories: Fabrics, pictures and wonderful things, all from Audi’s house.  I immediately pulled out a small coffee creamer, and a note that read “One of gram’s coffee creamers (DO NOT put a carton on the table anymore!!!).  I laughed out loud as tears streamed down my face.  I dug deeper into the box and pulled out pictures: The ones that I used to stare at aimlessly in the hallway in between the bedrooms.  Deeper still, I found stacks of fabrics from around her house: The curtains from the guest bedroom, pillowcases from sleepovers and fabric from the armchair.

For about 20 or 30 minutes, I went through everything… reading and rereading notes that Jenny wrote to me, looking at pictures, feeling the fabric.  I’m pretty sure I was fantasizing about asking people over for coffee, seeing that I now possessed a prized creamer.   I felt like I was back in her house.  And that felt so nice.

 

Tonight I’ll hang up all the family pictures that Jenny sent to me in my art/sewing room, but only after I pour myself a cup of coffee, with half n’ half from my new creamer.  Twenty four squares will be made out of the fabric that she sent to me.  Call it a coincidence, but that’s one square for every one year that I got to spend with Audi.  Honestly, I don’t think it’s a coincidence at all.  I think there are other forces about.  I think it’s love. 

Let this be a lesson for everyone.  A simple thought or gesture, no matter how big or small, can lift a person’s spirits and (re)fill their heart with love, enthusiasm and faith.  What an incredible gift she gave to me, as I was struggling with anxiety and gradually loosing my faith in humanity.  Boy was I wrong about it all.

badasssssssssssss.

My legs are literally covered in gross looking bruises.  Not the cool kinds where someone is like "Hey look at that hardcore chick and her awesome leg bruises.  She must be super awesome.".  It's more like "Ew, she should cover up those legs, yo." My pale skin is no match for purple, yellow and red markings.  Especially the ones with the scratches imbedded in them.  What was I doing, you ask?  Boyfriend and I rode at Nox on Friday.  I did great for awhile (minus my triumphant falls off the bike), launching myself down hills and pedaling my tush off on the uphills... but I'm pretty sure I was crying around 2.5 miles. Thank goodness for hot showers and bottles of wine. They're like security blankets for adults.

Saturday we all (and by we, I mean 10 adults and 5 chillins) went on a death march 10 mile bike ride through Lehigh Gorge State Park. I was super surprised when I realized where we were: The same exact place we went whitewater rafting earlier in the summer!  (Dang, I sound pretty bad ass in this post. Did I mention I got two nosebleeds this weekend too?  BADASSSSSS.)  It was pretty chilly in the shade that day, a far cry from the sweltering temperature there in the summer.  Here in Philadelphia the leaves are just starting to fall to the ground.  The colors radiant and bold.  Up in the Poconos, most of the leaves were gone: Already dead on the ground.  The only colors left were in the rhododendron forests and coniferous trees.

Sunday we went on two death marches hikes, which probably all totaled about 8 miles.Yes, I am physically whooped from the weekend. So why this long post that has nothing to do with art?  I don't know.  I felt like writing, and this is all I got for now.  Here's a picture of some leaves from a plant on my desk.  Tonight I'll be working on more quilting so I'll have more to post tomorrow about art and life and ... art. My mind is still like mush from so much physical exertion.  Let's never speak of this again.

Plus, a small animation coming called Brownies or Death.