26 Things I'm Greatful For! Day 2 of the 21 Day Gratitude Challenge!

Originally posted: Tue, Nov 9, 2010 at 12:14 AM A. Apples. I love the way apples smell. They have their own fragrance that reminds me of warm summer days, climbing in my Grandma's apple tree & hot apple pie with a dollup of whipped cream on top! Yum! B. Beeper balls! I used to be able to play ball with them, because just as it sounds, they had beepers in them, so I could run toward the sound of the beeping & catch the ball. I loved running, so it was liberating to be able to do it myself & always find the ball! C. Chocolate!! Honestly, do I have to explain??? The word CHOCOLATE should be enough to say it all! In case it's not though, imagine submerging your lover in a pool of chocolate, then licking it all off, very, very, very slowly. . . I don't mean dark chocolate either ladies! I'm talkin' warm, almost hot, but not hot, melted smooth, creamy sensuous milk chocolate! Take a deep breath of it, inhale it through your nostrils, into your lungs & down into your toes!! Then picture licking it off your lover! See where I'm going with this??? Best part? As if that weren't enough, in my fantasy, there's no weight gain, so you can partake any day!! Now tell me CHOCOLATE isn't wonderful! Go on, tell me! D. Dolores. I've loved that name ever since I found out it was the Cranberries lead singer's first name. She's a striking Irish beauty, but her name was way more then that. It also has its orgins in Spanish and means sorrow. What I've always liked about it though was its innerworkings. Is Dolores beautiful, with a lilting Irish accent, skin soft as the ocean at its gentlest and absolute perfection? Or is it as the Spanish language would suggest, sorrow in motion? Exquisite pain that you can taste on your tongue, almost like the siren call. E. Elias. Sorry girls, but you knew this was coming!!! Conjures up tall men with coffee & cream skin, thick accents, large soft hands, loooong black hair done up in dreadlocks& beautiful bodies that make me want to crawl back into bed & take up permanent residence there while said hair whispers across my body! Ahem. . . Onto the letter F, shall we? F. Fire! I'm not sure what it is about waking up in the morning freezing to death, rushing to the livingroom & finding a toasty fire waiting there for me. Whatever it is, it's a beauty to behold! I even like campfires & what's more, I kind of like the smoke. Too much of it is bad, but just the right amount & I don't mind. I like the smell of it. Reminds me of warm nights right before Christmas when everyone's wrapping Christmas presents & staying up late to get that last minute shopping & card writing finished up. Hot cups of coco & watching the Garfield Christmas special whilst sitting next to the decorated & wonderfully smelling Christmas tree! Alternately, it reminds me of cool summer nights when we'd freeze without a campfire to sit around & roast S'mores over! I'm not a huge marshmellow fan, but put in the S'mores & I was so concerned about the Hershey's & the Graham Cracker I'd forget it even existed! Lol. G. Garfield! Honestly I'm greatful for cats in general, but chocolate somehow ended up in their place before I could stop myself! At any rate, Garfield made me want to get up on a Saturday morning! As he said himself, the only show worth getting up for this early in the morning! Lol. It's hard to explain what Saturday morning cartoons meant to me. I see the stuff kids are watching nowadays & feel bad for them! We had mischievous cats & crime fighting ducks who flapped in the night! Turtles who basically did the same thing, only in the sewers & good ol' Pooh who was always getting into trouble with his honey! These guys have got spongebob. What exactly does he do that's so nobble? But I digress. Anyway, now that I'm older & have gotten my hands on the Garfield & Friends DVD's, I'm actually discovering how educational the show was. They talk about Doctor Jeckle & Mister Hyde, about Doctor Javago *which I didn't even know was a real movie*, they explore Shakespear's the Taming of the Shrew & the great Jack in the Bean Stalk, not to mention the boy who cried wolf, only it's reversed to the wolf who cried boy, but the message you take away from it is the same. It's important to tell the truth so people will believe you. Keep making up lies & when it does finally suit you to tell the truth, it may not suit other people to listen to you! Those are just some of the references, but they also talk about elections & accepting people with differences, allbeit in a kid way. *There's an episode where Orson explains how Sheldon got his name, why he decided that he didn't want to be born & how the other chicks picked on him, only to have him show his true colors by rescuing them from the clutches of the evil fox*!! So I ask you, what's not to love? Everyone needs Garfield & Friends in their lives! H. Hair! It's the human equivalent of fur, & I love fur to! Are you sensing a theme yet? Lol. I'm honestly not sure what it is about hair itself that draws me in, but I love hair! My favorite kind of hair is soft. So not the short military cuts or the like, but long, soft silky hair. Hair I could picture being wrapped in, like a blanket. I love the texture, the length & whether it's curly or straight doesn't matter. It's all about length & softness & how good it smells. Hair I can bury my face in is purrfect! I. "Indifference" a song by Pearl Jam. In the chorus Eddy Vedder asks: 'How much difference does it make?' Might sound like a hopeless question, but the verses are the opposite. 'I'll swallow poison until I grow immune! I will scream my lungs out 'til it fills this room! I'll keep takin' punches until their will grows tired I won't change direction and I won't change my mind.' While those could be considered extreme things to do/say/act on to get a point across, what it means to me is to never give up. Some of us are living on the extreme, extreme poverty, extreme drug use, extreme abuse, & we have to take extreme measures to survive those extreme things & come out alive on the other side. That's what "Indifference" means to me, overcoming extremes & coming out the other side a better person. J. Joy. I don't know how to experience it often, but when I do, I really do! It's like having wings! K. Kisses!! Haven't had many of them, but the ones I've gotten from my flirting partner are GLORIOUS!!!!!! Whoa!!!!! Can anyone else say SEXY SEXY SEXXXXXXXY!!!!!! L. Lilacs. It's what I imagine Heaven smells like. Fresh & clean, minus that 'other smell' you get with laundry detergent! Lol. You know, you get fresh & clean, but there's also that strong odor beneath, almost bitter or poisonous, or something along those lines! Like there's some bad chemical in it that you can't name. Lilacs give me fresh & clean without that other weird smell that I can't name, describe or explain! Not to mention the smell follows me all through the yard! M. Micleft www.micleft.org The Michigan Cleft Network with tons of resources for parents & families affected by Craniofacial differences. A great resource & a wonderful place to meet up & chat!! Love Teresa, without her Micleft wouldn't exist! N. Nerve endings! When their working, it's a mighty fine, mighty pleasureable experience!!! *feels the heat rising, considers opening a window* O. Orgasms! Wow, that was a difficult answer! Lol. Quite the beauty when we're able to have them, aren't they???? P. Porcelain dolls. I'm actually not much of a collector, dolls don't really do it for me, but I found this one doll, a loooong time ago & my mother decided to buy her for me. She's got boes in her hair, which is all done up in tight curls. Her bangs are even perfectly curled & out of her eyes! She's wearing this beautiful dress with a flower at the neck & lace around her arms & legs, satin underneath. She's sitting in a chair that's also done up in lace & ruffles, almost like a princess's chair I'd imagine. & now I know why she bought it & I liked it!! Lol. I picked her up to examine her so I could describe her & underneath the chair, sticking out of the bottom of it is a handle! It's a music box to!! I always loved windup toys when I was a kid! I really did set her on a shelf & not pay a whole lot of mind to her! Didn't want to break her I suppose, so I haven't heard that music in years, I just played it now. It sounds kind of tingy & loud now, I can tell I haven't played it in a while. Lovely doll though!! Q. Quiet time!! Yep, every mother whose reading this has just taken a deep breath & sighed! Lol. I have 3 younger sisters, 19, 11, & 8, plus a gigantic dog whose part hound *so you can imagine what his howl is like*, my baby CockerSpaniel Sadie & my cat KittyKitty who yowls angrily & runs like a bat out of hell when Duke chases her! So quiet time is a luxury! R. Roses! Love anyone??? When I was 13-14 I was walking around my Grandmother's backyard with my aunt Gloria. We were talking about love & relationships & she told me I was like a little flower waiting to bloom. She didn't say roses, but that was what I thought of. Yesterday when I started working on this gratitude list, I thought of roses again, but not in the same context. The outer petals of a rose are open. Once they've bloomed, they've bloomed! There's no stopping them, their just open & out there! if you will. The inner petals are always tightly coiled together, knotted up & stay sheltered by the outer petals until the rose wilts. It made me think of a woman's Clitoris. I'm honestly not sure where that thought came from, I swear I didn't have sex on the brain! Lol. But it's like the outer lips of the Vagina are the protectors, the inner lips leave me feeling open, but the Clitoris leaves me completely exposed and vulnerable. There's no hiding. I may have a clitoral hood, but to me, the exposure is still full & complete. S. Sealions! No reason really, other then that I love that 'Ar ar ar ar!' sound they make! Lol. Anyone remember the see & say?? Have to buy one of those for myself again! Wore out the one I had as a kid! Lol. I could pull the string for hours on end & not get bored! T. Teddy Ruxpin!!!! Coolest talking bear of all time!!!! I'm still looking for one with tapes to go along with it! I loved that bear, he to would occupy me for hours! I really need to look harder to find one. Any suggestions?? U. Unicorns. Admittedly a mythical creature, but my sister said they looked kind of like flying horses & that got me hooked. I love horses so a flying horse was even better! Every time I ride a horse it's like magic! Everything disappears, melts away & disipates. There's no stress, no fear & I have the illusion that I can go anywhere & do anything with my horse. Forget needing a bloody car that I can't drive, I'll just ride my horse! Smile. V. Vagina, Vagina, Vagina!!! I love my Vagina!!!! The portal to Pleasure, Birth, Creativity, the Inner Goddess, my most inner sanctum, & only I hold the key! Only I can grant access & only I control what goes in/on there! My most sacred space of all! W. Wax paper. Not sure why, other then the fact that I like the texture of it. X. Xylophones!!! Remember how much noise you could make & drive your parents craaaazy???? Aahhhh. . . Wonderful memories!! It was the little kid's equivalent of having your parents bang on your bedroom door & shout: 'Turn that blasted noise down!! Your making our ears bleed!' Y. Yo-yos. Gotta give it up for the yo-yo! Lol. I can't tell you how many times I'd send that thing whirling into space only to have it come back & smack me in the hand when I got going with it to fast & wasn't paying attention! A big ouch as my hands were usually tender from blasted I.V sticks, but very entertaining nonetheless! Not to mention a great punishment for a misbehaving little sister & I had a great excuse. 'It's not my fault, I can't see her! She should be more careful not to walk in front of me while I'm playing with it!' Lol. Z. Zebras! Again, not sure why, so just because!

Why Take the Gratitude Challenge?

Originally posted: Sat, Nov 6, 2010 at 2:09 PM I'm taking the Gratitude Challenge because I need more gratitude in my life. Genuine, true gratitude, not the kind I just gloss over in 2 seconds! Though working with a Life Coach & now a Body-Centric coach is all about being gentle with myself, I must confess, I'm still not there most of the time. I seem to lapse in and out of it rather quickly. My goal here is to lapse into it/into gratitude, more fully and more of the time. When this challenge is over, I want to come away from it more aware, more awakened and feeling proud of myself. I want to prove to myself that I can follow through with something, not by using guilt trips or negative representations of times I didn't follow through in the past, but by gentle daily reminders, small tasks that don't put me down or cause me to carry more guilt. Ready, set, lift off!!! -- "It'll only take a few minutes. When does anything that's supposed to take a few minutes only take a few minutes?"--Garfield - "The Garfield Show" & he's right!

The Gratitude Challenge Pledge!

Originally posted: Sat, Nov 6, 2010 at 1:58 PM Thank you for this Kimberly!! For the next 21 days, I will be participating in the Gratitude Challenge. This is my Pledge & I am posting it to PP so that the world can see what I'm doing! This is how I shall hold myself gently accountable, for completing my 21 day Challenge! THE GRATITUDE PLEDGE With a hopeful outlook, I, ______________________, promise to fulfill the terms of The Gratitude Challenge. Over the next 21 days, I pledge to complete the activities on my gratitude calendar, including writing journal entries, taking photos and connecting with friends. I promise to take note of life’s little blessings and to give thanks for the relationships, experiences and opportunities that make my life unique. From this day forward, I commit to living on the brighter side of life. Signature: Michelle Medina Date: 11/06/2010 -- "It'll only take a few minutes. When does anything that's supposed to take a few minutes only take a few minutes?"--Garfield - "The Garfield Show" & he's right! "Find me, feel me, fill me, then cut me up!!"--Shaun Morgan - Seether "Burrito" "It's so cold out here tonight, I met a bear walking down the street & even he was wearing pants!"--Elias Soriano Febuary 2009, joking about Michigan's f-f-f-freezing weather!

Healing Ceremony

Originally posted: Thu, Dec 2, 2010 at 4:13 PM Thought about just up and deleting this, but have re-organized and will post on my blog instead. No sense in letting go of them dreams!! Pinkies!!, I'm wondering if anyone else would be interested in some type of healing ceremony? I'll be up front, I have no idea what it will look like, it may even just be discussing it over the phone or online, for now, but I'd like to have a ceremony to release all the pain I've been carrying around! Perhaps the title needs to be Pain Release Ceremony instead? Anyway, I'm looking on a small scale & a large scale. My ideal releasing ceremony would be one where I have a place to stay, like a retreat center for a weekend, a week, a place where I can yell & scream & cry, even have people made out of cardboard that I could rip up, or things that I could break with my music blaring in the background. However, small scale, I'm thinking maybe just talking about what a pain releasing ceremony might look like for others so that I can get more ideas. The ideas could be used in this moment for me to release some of it since thinking on a large scale is a larger project that will take more time/effort/money to put together. So co-creation, discussion of releasing pain, sharing ideas & the like. Eventually this will be much larger, even possibly a rock opera as was suggested by Amy *Mamamorphosis*. I have NO idea how to create that, but I do like the idea as rock music is so huge in my life, I pretty much live, breathe, eat & sleep it, so it's without question a great medium to work in at some point. If anything isn't clear, please let me know! As I said, this all just came up literally today, so I know there's room for changes & tweaking to take place. At this moment, the only structure is to start talking sooner rather then later. Even if there isn't interest in pain releasing itself, perhaps someone would be interested enough just to listen to me babble? Lol! Much love, Chelle