Nine

There's something about the words Gratitude List that doesn't sit well with me. Just call me awkward. It brings back memories of false expressions of gratitude uttered to keep the adults happy at times when I was a silently rebellious child. But I do see the real value of paying conscious, thoughtful attention to the good. So now and again I compile a list.

Here's mine for 2007.

1. Good health. I've had prolonged periods without it. I never forget what a gift - and a potentially fragile one - good health is.

2. My sister. She put up with her temporarily homeless elder sibling plus cat plus litter tray for twelve weeks at the beginning of the year. During this time I was never once made to feel that we were in the way, or a nuisance, or annoying, though at different times we were probably all three. I wrote her a cheque for rent which she refused to cash - it lay gathering dust on the kitchen dresser. It was a needed respite for me, a time of shared suppers, walks along the beach and good humour. She opened her home with grace and generosity and without knowing at the time for how long. I owe her.

3. Space. When you move from a cramped city flat to a 2-bedroom house on two floors, you spend a good deal of time climbing stairs and wandering from room to room. Having lived minimally for so many years there isn't enough furniture to put in all these rooms, mind you, but the guest bed was installed earlier this month.

4. Being able to walk to work. It takes about twenty-five minutes. A pleasant route, bordering the river for much of the way. After years of overcrowded Tube trains this means a lot.

5. Being able to start again. In every single minute of every day. Nothing to do with physical relocation, this one. The gift of the limitless, shining present moment.

6. Friends. Yes.

7. Sunsets and sunrises. They are spectacularly beautiful, almost psychedelic here. Look at the photo. There must be something special about the meteorological conditions - the quality of the light during the day can stop you in your tracks.

8. This blog. In 2007 I finally grasped that I write what I write here for me. The blog is a unique creative outlet, and one I appreciate. I also got rid of the sitemeter - a real act of liberation.

9. Kindness. The quiet acts of kindness that I have received and witnessed this past twelve months. There have been a multitude.

Wistfulness has crept in today, but I'm out celebrating at a friend's house this evening, the first time for several years that New Year hasn't been spent at home. May it bring you happiness and fulfillment, and hope and better times to the planet. Happy New Year.