not all who wander are lost

not all who wander are lost

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Spam, my cosmic visitor


I'm writing a paper for class about what it takes to be a resilient and happy elder. I have several hypotheses, and one of them is "attitude"...specifically, having an attitude of gratitude. Spending mornings with my elder, I observe her reactions to things and hear stories of her elder friends and how they cope or thrive. I speak with my grandparents by phone, I try for every week. Last night I had a half hour conversation with my 91 year old grandfather (loved that!). They are all aging, in their last years of life, and they have different reactions to similar issues. It fascinates me. It inspires me. It makes me think about my own reaction to challenges.

The past two mornings, when I've checked my email I've had a new message from my father....who died a year and a half ago. A tiny part of my heartmind leapt for joy yesterday morning and then crashed and burned a millisecond later. It was jarring and upsetting. This morning, irritating. And now that I'm writing this, I'm deciding that if I get any more, I'm going to treat it like a little cosmic visit from my dad instead of just SPAM. Attitude of gratitude...for Spam...yep, on the resilient and happy road and planning to stick to it for the long haul. Thankful to my mentors, both those who exhibit this behavior for me to model, and those who don't....learning from both.

Reality transforms with our applied gifts of perspective, acceptance, creativity, and gratitude.

Off to walk in the sun.

Enjoy your Saturday~

2 comments:

Alexia said...

Oh man do I feel you on this one. I constantly get spam from my father who has been gone for nearly nine years now. At first I was pissed. Then I felt it was a sign or like you, a cosmic visit. Now I got used to it and just ignore it. Glad you have a positive outlook on it Sara!

della said...

Sara, we both recieved a SPAM message from David too. I reacted the same way you did when it first arrived, for atht millisecond I forgot that it wasn't possibleand was curious what it would contin. The cosmos is strange sometimes. It may be a generational/technology thing but I often dream about the farmhouse and activities there too.