Pen and Moon

musings, life lessons & poetry from Theresa Jarosz Alberti

Tag: gratitude (Page 2 of 2)

Poetry Challenge – Day 8

April 8, 2018 / / 5 Comments

 Welcome to Day 8 of my 30-Day Poetry Challenge!

Comment on today’s poem to win a copy of my poetry book, “(After) Confession… I’m giving away a copy every day. Scroll down below the poem for more details about this Poetry Challenge.

But first, congratulations, Ann A., for winning a free copy of my poetry book! (I do a raffle from those who commented on yesterday’s post.) Ann, I know where you live, so I’ll contact you about dropping the book off. 🙂

Now onto today’s poem. Don’t forget to comment, and check back tomorrow to see if you’ve won!

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The prompt today is inspired by the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, to write a poem in which mysterious and magical things occur. Your poem could take the form of a spell, for example, or simply describe an event that can’t be understood literally.   (I took my own spin on it… I’d like to try writing about magical stuff again sometime.) Note: another “structured” poem, so will look best on a computer screen. 

Poetry Magic Continue reading

Photo by Bob Alberti

Divorce Lesson #1

October 12, 2014 / / 26 Comments

I’ve suddenly entered a new place in my life, traversing territory I never thought I would. A few weeks ago my husband told me he wants a divorce, and it was unexpected for me. This new landscape has been full of heartbreak, grief, anger, fear, anxiety, panic, denial, sleeplessness, PTSD reactions, and loss of appetite. I can’t say it’s been fun, but I’m learning a lot right now.

This post isn’t about the divorce itself– we put out a Facebook announcement about it (which you can read by clicking here, if you want) and have talked about it to people way too much. Suffice it to say, we are going to do this in as loving and nurturing way possible, and keep our friendship and closeness intact. Some people say it can’t be done. We are choosing to believe otherwise.

I wanted to write this post to start sharing some of what I’ve been learning in this process. It’s only been 3-plus weeks, and it seems more like a year has passed in how much has happened and changed, and my new insights and awareness. I’m in a place where I’m raw, I’m open and I want to make changes in my life to make me happier and more fulfilled. I can see now the many ways in which I’ve stayed stuck because of fear or old wounds that never healed. And I hope that whatever lessons I share might be helpful for others, whether you’re going through divorce or not. So here we go… Continue reading

What Gratitude and My Birthday Taught Me

October 18, 2013 / / 3 Comments

 

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I’ve been hearing a lot about gratitude lately.  I remember it casually being mentioned years ago… probably when Oprah started talking about the importance of keeping a Gratitude Journal.  I did dabble in it for a while (I love journals and pens!), but nothing made it stick.  Now, with the flow of information coming to me from Facebook, videos, internet articles, books, I keep getting little pings into my consciousness… “gratitude is important, gratitude is important…”

How important?  I mean, we can say Gratitude is Important till the cows come home, but a skeptic like me needs a little proof.  For me, that has come in the form of a quote from Dr. Brene Brown, a shame and vulnerability researcher, and author of many books, including the current bestseller, Daring Greatly.  She says that after 12 years of research and 11,000 pieces of data:

“I did not interview in all that time a person who would describe themselves as joyful, or describe their lives as joyous, who didn’t actively practice gratitude.”

She goes on to say:  “…practicing gratitude invites joy into our lives… When I say practice gratitude, I don’t mean the attitude of gratitude or feeling grateful, I mean practicing gratitude.  These folks shared in common a tangible gratitude practice.”*

Wow, this really struck me.  I have to admit, I’m not a particularly joyful person… Continue reading

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