Gratitude For 2016

For this month of December, 2016, I again chose to participate in an Instagram project hosted by Anna Lovind called 24 Moments of Gratitude . In my last few days of the challenge now, were you not an Instagram or Facebook follower of mine. I thought you dear reader might like to read a few of them. And that they may spark you to realize you are also grateful for something today.

 

My gratitude today is for my miracle daughter. Fiona, My Life’s Plot Twist is my blog post today, Link in my profile to the short essay on what forgetting your blessings feels like. An excerpt: . “Forgetfulness is the enemy when it allows us to let go of the things we once deemed magic. The miracles that made us revere our luck, our existence. And then these fade and the magic disappears in the cracks of the mundanity of life. And we forget who we are and how we were made.”. . May you see your magic life today. . #24momentsofgratitude #taleswithfriends #fionamariepeach #toddlersofinstagram

A photo posted by Shalagh Hogan (@shalaghhogan) on Dec 14, 2016 at 4:47am PST

 

Day 11 : Biggest Lesson of 2016 is also my greatest gratitude. l learned that I have the power, the tools, the awareness, and the chance to change my thoughts. . And in doing so, this is the year I kicked my anxieties to the curb. I learned that I truly had no business trying to make others think anything. And that my inner child needed me to support her in creating not just more art, but a life philosophy that supported my values. That kept her safely playing. . I learned being true to You, your happiness, however unworthy you feel you are of it, is still the only way you can authentically navigate your life. And I have given myself my hope back by owning my thoughts. . Immensely grateful to me for this work. Because it feels easier and more fun to be me. . PS We got our tree yesterday. But Fiona refused to pose with the tree guy and the tree. So he took this picture for me. Hysterical! . #decemberreflections2016 #24momentsofgratitude #fionamariepeach #christmastree #tistheseason #falalalala #soul_selfie #selfdiscovery #blogger

A photo posted by Shalagh Hogan (@shalaghhogan) on Dec 11, 2016 at 4:19am PST

 

I am grateful for the lush laughter filled life I’ve been living. Searching for a favorite moment from 2016… I realized there couldn’t be one. . The year was slow and steady and happy. I feel sorta sad that I can’t maintain that perspective of joy. But I’m human, amending my ungrateful ways for now at least. . These beautiful roses, a Valentine’s bouquet from my husband. A representation of the love I have in my heart for the life I’ve had the privilege to lead. Truly free from any strife save the self-created kind. I am humble. The pictures prove my forgotten boon. . #taleswithfriends #24momentsofgratitude #decemberreflections2016 #roses

A photo posted by Shalagh Hogan (@shalaghhogan) on Dec 9, 2016 at 4:49am PST

 

I am grateful everyday for this man who holds me up, believes in me, and helped me become a mother to my children. He works hard to pay for our world, loves on his children with such tenderness, and makes laugh a lot. Thank you Mark. I love you. #24momentsofgratitude #taleswithfriends #FionaMariePeach

A photo posted by Shalagh Hogan (@shalaghhogan) on Dec 8, 2016 at 2:14pm PST

 

A grateful day is everyday and any day that I can sit and think and write. First the permission to sit and do nothing else. Then the space to clear my head. To see what is in front of me. What is important to me. What needs care. What needs dropping. . The best book of this year is the book my life is writing. The book this year I finally claimed I would write. I didn’t want to want to write it. But I will have to. My journal, my blog, and Instagram catch pieces of this book to be. On my heart, it is half written. And I kinda can’t wait to find out what I discover when I write it. . (Ooh and click on my blog link in my profile. I have a juicy post there on trusting my inner adult.) #24daysofgratitude #decemberreflections2016 #taleswithfriends #FionaMariePeach #liveauthentically #writelife #ontheblog

A photo posted by Shalagh Hogan (@shalaghhogan) on Dec 5, 2016 at 11:36am PST

 

Oh how reading this post from May brought me back to a changing place I was a year ago. Grateful twofold . For the pain that grows and moves us onward. And for the community that holds us and witnesses us while we endure and process these lessons. . A year ago, as my post below recounts, I had something really hard happen to me. It threatened to crush me but it grew me instead. I became stronger, valued myself and my talents more than before. And my friends all encircled me and supported me. #24momentsofgratitude . My daughter is often the subject of my candid portraiture and this is soooo one of my favorite pictures from 2016. And finding it reminded me of my gratitude so Win win ! #decemberreflections2016 ??ORIGINAL POST BELOW?? (Soul Selfie Challenge Day) SEVEN — Like a car crash I hadn’t seen coming , Christmas 2015 delivered one final lesson. I did the shoulda woulda couldas for days, mulling over and tossing about that which couldn’t be changed. I craved Ease at the start of this year. In January, I picked the word #Release to deliver me there. The thoughts were a skipping stylus on a record as my brain tried to go back, change it, and then I yelled, “Release”. Again. And again. And then I released it. Knowing that however much it had sucked, this was meant to happen to me so that I may move me forward. Embrace the discomfort and you will be free. Thanks to my word of the year Release, I could create the soul selfie challenge releasing some of my penned up thoughts and fears, offering others a chance to accompany me on my soul searching journey. I thank you again and again for joining in to the challenge and adding your unique thoughts to this soup pot. I’m brimming with gratitude and joy. I am not alone and neither are you. Thank You ❕?❕?❕?❕ #soul_selfie #release #challenge #grateful #taleswithfriends #FionaMariePeach

A photo posted by Shalagh Hogan (@shalaghhogan) on Dec 3, 2016 at 4:03am PST

Merry Christmas to all of you out there who have stopped by for a looksee who are devoted readers. I have such immense gratitude for you all and would not be who I am and about to go where I’m going if it weren’t for you enthusiastic support and sincere compliments. Big things are coming for all of us surely but definitely for me and Shalavee!

And If you enjoyed what you read, subscribe, via the subscription box in the sidebar, to my thrice weekly posts via your emailbox. And visit me on Instagram to see my daily pictures, friend me or like my page on Facebook. Or come find me on Twitter orPinterest too. I am always practicing Intentional Intouchness so chat at me please. I live for conversations.

And, as always, Thanks to you for your visit.

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