Good morning lovely people

As I type this the wind is howling outside and, even though I have the heat cranked all the way up, I still feel like a popsicle! But….here is another opportunity to practice grateful hygge….and I find that I really am grateful! Grateful that I have a heated home to live in. Grateful for the flannel pajamas, thick socks, and the blanket that is wrapped around me. The blanket was a 25th wedding anniversary gift from my mother and is inscribed “25 years of loving, sharing and caring.” with our names and the date…..which was 14 years ago! I am grateful for all the years my husband and I have been married…the road was bumpy at times but we are still traveling together. There was a dark time in our marriage when I wondered if we would make it….but here we are.

Grateful for the candle next to me giving off the scent of sugar plums…I am not ready to let go of the holiday season! Our tree is still twinkling in our living room, and although I am slowly starting to put away some Christmas decor, my home still has that cozy feel of the Advent season.

I am grateful for the library! I have always had a love affair with libraries. I find them such magical places…all those books waiting to be read…and they are free! I have so many wonderful memories of taking my young daughters there for story times and summer book reading clubs. We visited regularly to check out armfuls of books and we were there so much that soon the librarians greeted us by name when we arrived. My daughters have both adopted my (and my husbands) love of reading and books. In fact, my older daughter is getting married this year and the “theme” of their wedding is books! I eventually served on the library board of trustees for our town and promoted the library (and reading in general) to my 7th grade students every chance I could.
When we moved here to rural farmland 2 years ago I hoped that I would find a library much the one in our previous town, where we lived for 33 years….and I am so grateful to have found a sweet little library nearby. And now, when I walk in, those librarians greet me by name! This little library is a cozy magical place..it even has a reading nook with comfy chairs and a fireplace! And a morning book discussion group that meets monthly, which of course I jumped right into!

Grateful for my own little library of spiritual books. Henri Nouwen, Thomas Merton, Fr. Richard Rohr, Thomas Moore, J. Phillip Nouwell, John O’Donohue, The Tao Te Ching, The Bhagavad Gita, the Phillips New Testament….these are just a few. I even have a little books of Psalms in Spanish (“Orar con los Salmos) that my youngest daughter bought me when she was living in Spain. I love to read them out loud.
I am grateful for all of these souls who shared so deeply from their wisdom and their passion and understanding of Divine Love in all its many and varied forms. I am learning so much from them about how to live from my heart, my authentic self.

Grateful for all of you here in this sacred community. I shall now go put on some gloves because my fingers are frozen!

~Wishing you a warm and cozy hygge day.

Good morning lovely people:

It is a cold, grey, blustery, snowy day here and I am so grateful to be warm and cozy, practicing hygge in my little farmhouse. My husband is working from home today and so we have a roaring fire in the wood burning stove. As I type this, sitting in my kitchen next to the fire, I can look out the sun room and see the wind and snow blowing and hear our chimes chiming heartily! For Christmas, my older daughter gave me a lovely candle. It’s a soy candle from the “Homesick” line….perhaps you have heard of them? There is a candle for every state and provide the aromas that remind you of “home”. My daughter got me an Arizona candle because she knows that I miss visiting there since she moved to Colorado several years ago. Having this candle flickering next to me and giving off the aromas of “desert sand, blue agave, lime, and orange citrus” is such a delight. And to complete my hygge morning, I am wearing thick wool socks and fluffy slippers! I am grateful to have been introduced to hygge sensibilities this winter…it is truly making a difference. I am so NOT a winter person but this time around I find that my heart is more open to this seasons’ gifts.

I am grateful for the fun 23rd birthday that my younger daughter had yesterday. To celebrate she spent the entire day wearing a warm and cozy “onesie”. Her adorable boyfriend brought her a breakfast sandwich from their favorite cafe and he joined her in wearing a “onesie” as well. 🙂 They played video games and made cupcakes…there was a lot of giggles and smiles happening and it made my heart so happy. My daughter is starting her graduate school studies later this month, moving into NYC and trying to secure a part time job. I’m so grateful that she had such a silly fun day to enjoy in the midst of the stresses of navigating her new “adult” life.
I am grateful for the yummy banana bread and fresh pineapple I am enjoying for breakfast…and the coffee of course! Manda…each time you share about baking your home made bread I am intrigued all over again and wonder if I can do the same. Although I do love to cook, I am not a baker….the aforementioned banana bread is from a mix! But, I imagine it being a lovely meditative process and a wonderful aromatherapy (of which I am a great believer!). Perhaps I can make it my goal in this new year to at least give it a try.

I am grateful for all the ways I am inspired by each of you here in this sacred community. Thank you all for sharing your lives…you have enriched my own immeasurably.

~Sending you all a warm and cozy hygge hug.

Good morning lovely people from our frost-bitten corner of the world!
Temperatures are still hovering in the single digits at night and I am most grateful for the things in my life that keep me warm and that I so too often take for granted. My heart hurts for the homeless. How they survive in this weather?

This is on my heart today:
When I sit down for a meal, I say a little prayer of gratitude for the food and all the sentient beings who worked so hard to bring it to me. I always end the prayer by remembering those who are hungry.
I think that this was put on my heart for a reason and I am grateful for the awareness that has come to me lately….perhaps this is my new year’s resolution….this morning I am contacting our local food bank to see how I may be of service. This is a blessing to me….that I have the time and (sometimes) the health and strength to offer myself up to serving in this way. I believe in prayer but I also believe in “faith with feet”. In other words….we do what we can and then trust that God will do the rest.

I am grateful for the guided meditation on surrender that brought me to tears this morning. I am learning to consider it a gift to feel things so deeply. My emotions are raw today especially…we moved our youngest daughter into her new apartment yesterday. She is off to her new adventure in the “big city” and I was so grateful and relieved to see that she is moving into a safe neighborhood and with some truly delightful roommates. They are friends of our older daughter, so they are 30-somethings. I could see they will provide our 22 year old daughter with a stable environment as she begins her graduate school studies. I am not claiming to have totally surrendered all of my anxieties…but they have been relieved somewhat!
I am again, choosing to be grateful for the emotions that seem to often rock my world….they invite me to consciously and continuously surrender and to live from the place inside me where peace resides. It is there…I just have to claim it.

Poetry has been popping up my life in different ways lately. I read “A Winter Blessing” by Joyce Rupp this morning and wanted to share it with all of you….with warm wishes and love.

“Blessed are you, winter,
dark season of waiting.
You affirm the dark seasons of our lives,
forecasting the weather of waiting in hope.

Blessed are you, winter,
frozen and cold on the outside,
within your silent, nurturing womb
you warmly welcome all that longs for renewal.

Blessed are you, winter
Your bleak, barren trees
preach wordless sermons
about emptiness and solitude.

Blessed are you, winter
You teach us valuable lessons
about waiting in darkness
with hope and trust.

Blessed are you, winter
Your inconsistent moods
often challenge spring’s arrival.
Yet how gracefully you step aside
when her time has come.

Good morning dear Sylvie. Our friends Pilgrim and Niels have explained hygge to you perfectly! It was serendipity that brought me to learn about hygge. I had heard a report that said that the people in Denmark are the happiest people on earth and I was intrigued by this. I have always struggled with the cold weather, both physically and emotionally and I wondered how the Danish people could be so happy when they live in such a frigid (and often dark) climate? There are many reasons, but one that really spoke to me was their tradition of practicing “hygge”.
I decided that this winter would be different for me…that I would enter into this cold season with an attitude of hygge. I introduced this word to our lovely community here and share often about my new-found gratefulness for this season.
It is good timing because we are experiencing a very long spell of frigid temperatures here in parts of the U.S. including where I live in the Northeast. It’s as if the Universe is saying to me: “Ok, Diane, let’s see how thankful you really are!”

Another interesting thing I will add is that I recently discovered that I have some Scandinavian ancestry! This was totally unexpected, as I have known only of my Italian and French (on my mother’s side) and the Irish and German (on my father’s side) heritage. How funny that I should discover this as I adopt this very Scandinavian custom of hygge in my own life!

Life is indeed full of humorous surprises sometimes! 🙂

~Sending you warm and cozy hygge wishes my friend!

Your English is very good dear Anna! I am inspired by you to keep practicing my Spanish…my daughter that is starting her graduate studies is fluent. She was a Spanish major in college and spent a year in Spain. Whenever I hear her speak I want to do better myself! I also desire so much to learn Italian….there is a place nearby where I live that offers Italian lessons for free! Perhaps I will try to do that…those 2 languages are very similar I think. I remember hearing my Nana speaking Italian to her sisters when we were growing up. She lived with us and helped to raise me but she never spoke Italian to me. But I hope that maybe I have inherited some of her abilities 🙂

I also wanted to share with you that in my study of biology….learning about the miraculous ways that our bodies work and how nature is all connected to work together so perfectly…it really is a mystery of faith!
Your son Marco will discover this in time and as he matures, I am sure.

~Blessings to you and alla tua famiglia cara Anna

Cintia…thank you for sharing. You have such a kind and caring spirit. I too have had the hungry on my heart lately and I do pray for those than hunger before each meal. I am contacting our local food bank to see if I can be of service…this is one of my goals for the new year. My health doesn’t allow me to volunteer much but I can do what I can.

I’m reminded of one of my favorite Mother Teresa quotes. She said: “We cannot all do great things, but we can all do small things with great love”.

~Sending you warm wishes dear Cintia…I hope that your husband is feeling better?

Good morning Manda. I think the membership is about 35/year. It includes a lot of silly stuff, in my opinion, like a certificate and a badge?
I am not a member but like to just visit once in awhile to see the stunning pictures provided ????

Today here in the northeast the cloud cover is thick and gifting us with falling snow. It’s blustery cold but I am sitting by the fire and looking out our sun room windows, very grateful to be cozy inside today! I wonder what is happening in Northern Arizona today? My daughter went to ASU and I remember that the college kids used to go Flagstaff in the winter to ski! The landscape in Arizona is so magical to me….from desert to ponderosa pine forest in just a 2 hour drive!

~Sending you a warm hygge hug!

Good morning Swami…and welcome. Just this morning I read this during my meditation time…it is from Fr. Richard Rohr who started the Center for Action and Contemplation.

“From God’s side, we are always known and loved subject to subject, just as the persons of the Trinity know and love one another. We will not and cannot know or even love one another if we objectify one another in any way. This is perhaps the clearest way to describe God’s unconditional acceptance and forgiveness: We are never an object to God. God cannot not love God’s image in us. This is the eternal covenant. God loves us center to center.”

~May we all have this miraculous awareness of Divine Love.

Pilgrim and Aine: Just this past Monday I said a prayer to St. Anthony when my daughter couldn’t find her wallet. And when we put our house up for sale 2 years ago…we buried a St. Joseph statue in our garden! Upside down as the tradition goes! It was such a frantic time on moving day that we forgot and left him there. I wonder if the new owners discovered him! ????
Must be my catholic upbringing but these little rituals are very meaningful to me.

~Sending hygge warmth to all.

Sunny is such a cutie Ursula. He actually reminds me of our lovable mutt Wesley. 🙂

I love the ritual of lighting candles…yours sounds so lovely and I can picture your delight in walking through the woods to visit with St. Anthony and see your candle shining brightly. I imagine it being a place of serenity and joy.
I have to say I am totally impressed by you learning The Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic! That’s quite an accomplishment my friend.

~Have a bright and beautiful day liebe Ursula

Pilgrim and Aine: Just this past Monday I said a prayer to St. Anthony when my daughter couldn’t find her wallet. And when we put our house up for sale 2 years ago…we buried a St. Joseph statue in our garden! Upside down as the tradition goes! It was such a frantic time on moving day that we forgot and left him there. I wonder if the new owners discovered him! 🙂
Must be my catholic upbringing but these little rituals are very meaningful to me.

~Sending hygge warmth to all.

We are fellow “popsicles” here in the Northeast THenry! And I too am so grateful for all of the warm and cozy gifts I have been blessed with.

I’m sorry to hear of the passing of your dog Pepper. We lost both of our cats last year….one of them named Pepper. Our lovable mutt Wesley is showing signs of his old age and we are preparing ourselves. Many of us here in this community are dog/cat lovers and we know the sorrow of losing a beloved pet.
We are glad you have found us and hope that you will continue to visit!

~Warm blessings on this cold Northeast night!

Manda….what an amazing picture. You reminded me to re-visit the website I came across a while ago called “The Cloud Appreciation Society”. I might have mentioned it to you before when we were discussing our mutual love of clouds? Your picture fits right in with those I saw on the website. (I think you would love it and encourage you to check it out) I wonder if you could submit this picture…or any other dazzling ones you have taken? Truly stunning Manda! From one cloud lover to another…thank you for sharing with us my friend!

~Sweet dreams