Uplifting Spirits

I feel like I'm hitting a bit of writers block tonight. 

I'm tired.

I'm aching to fall asleep, but I made a commitment to myself to write every night, so, that's what I'm going to do. 

I'm sitting here in bed, my laptop perched comfortably on my legs, and Doc is sleeping next to me. 

I have some beautiful soft, quiet piano music playing gently in the background. 

It's cold outside.  Which makes me once again grateful for the blessing of a sturdy roof over my head to protect from the wind and the snow that is supposed to start falling again soon.

I think of Florence.

She was homeless once.

It's humbling to imagine her and her family huddling under a tent while the wind and rain whipped around them. 

I'm sure she was cold.

I'm sure she was scared.

I'm sure she missed her strong and sturdy home she had left behind.

I'm sure she felt the rain leaking through the warn tarp.

But in the midst of this, I can easily imagine her looking around her at the others in the tent, who were also cold, tired, homesick, and a little scared.  I can see her taking a child under her arm and whispering a joke into her ear.

I can see them both laughing.  The present situation temporarily forgotten. 

I feel in my heart that I'm right.  I feel that I'm learning more and more of her. 

I think that she felt an urge inside of her to lift up anyone she saw that was down... even if she was feeling a little down herself. 

The easiest way to lift your own spirit is to focus on someone else's.


I'm grateful for the occasional storm that comes that reminds me how very blessed I am to have a home.  I'm grateful that I have a driveway to shovel and a car to dig out one in a while.

I'm grateful to Florence, though I've never met her... she still manages to lift my spirits.