“Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but follows religiously the new.” ― Thoreau
So why not just laugh now? – G
“If we do not feel grateful for what we already have, what makes us think we’d be happy with more?” — Unknown
Recently I posted a picture of myself in my kitchen, and I immediately started receiving generous messages from people wanting to help me “update” it. Along with their messages came pictures of how my kitchen could look, if I’d just put some effort and money into it.
I’ve always loved my kitchen, but after seeing those pictures I found myself looking at it through new, critical eyes. Maybe it was all wrong. Maybe the 80’s counters, laminate cabinets, mismatched appliances and clutter really were mistakes I should try to fix. I stood and stared and suddenly my kitchen looked shabby and lazy to me. I wondered if that meant I was shabby and lazy, too. Because our kitchens are nothing if not reflections of us, right? I decided I’d talk to Craig and make some calls about updates.
But as I lay down to sleep, I remembered this passage from Thoreau’s Walden: “I say beware of all enterprises that require new clothes and not a new wearer of the clothes.” Walden reminds me that when I feel lacking- I don’t need new things, I need new eyes with which to see the things I already have. So when I woke up this morning, I walked into my kitchen wearing fresh perspectacles. Here’s what I saw.
You guys. I have a REFRIGERATOR.
This thing MAGICALLY MAKES FOOD COLD. I’m pretty sure in the olden days, frontierswomen had to drink warm Diet Coke. Sweet Jesus. Thank you, precious kitchen.
Inside my refrigerator is FOOD. Healthy food that so many parents would give anything to be able to feed their children. Not me. When this food runs out, I’ll just jump in my car to get more. It’s ludicrous, really. It’s like my family hits the lottery every freaking morning.
THIS CRAZY THING IS A WATER FAUCET. I pull this lever and CLEAN WATER POURS OUT EVERY TIME, DAY OR NIGHT. Mamas everywhere spend their entire day walking miles to and from wells just for a single bucket of this- and I have it right here at my fingertips. I’m almost embarrassed to say that we also have one of these in each of our two bathrooms, and one in the front yard with which to WASH OUR FEET. We use clean drinking water to WASH OUR FEET. Holy bounty.
This is the magical box in which I put uncooked stuff, push some buttons, and then a minute later- pull out cooked stuff. It is like the JETSONS up in here.
This is my medicine cabinet. Since my Lyme is in remission and each of my babies is healthy- there is nothing in here but vitamins and supplements and tea. Thank you, God. This medicine cabinet is a miracle to me. Every time I open it I feel like I should kneel down and kiss the ground. I have an inbox full of letters from mothers whose medicine cabinets look very different.
Speaking of ground- this is our kitchen floor. It’s not fancy, but it’s perfect for our most important kitchen activity: DANCING. When Chase was three a librarian asked a roomful of kids, “what do we do in the kitchen?” Everyone else called out “cook” or “eat!” But Chase yelled “DANCE!”
I can’t even talk about this thing. Actually, let’s take a moment of reverent silence because this machine is the reason all my people are still alive. IT TURNS MAGICAL BEANS INTO A LIFE-SAVING NECTAR OF GODS. EVERY MORNING. ON A TIMER.
And look you guys: LOOK. This is the kitchen corner where I keep all my kids’ school stuff. My kids go to a FREE school with brilliant teachers and a loving administration and they’re SAFE there. The school sends flyers home about PROGRAMS and CLASSES and CLUBS to make my kids’ hearts bigger and softer and their brains sharper and their bodies healthier. This corner reminds me everyday that my kids have at their fingertips what so many around the world are giving their lives for: quality education. When I wear my perspectacles I can’t look at this corner without a heart explosion.
My perspectacled kitchen tour taught me two things this morning: I’m insanely lucky and I’m finally FREE.
In terms of parenting, marriage, home, clothes – I will not be a slave to the Tyranny of Trend any longer. I am almost 40 years old and no catalog is the Boss of Me anymore. I am free. I am not bound to spend my precious days on Earth trying to keep up with the Joneses- because the Joneses are really just a bunch of folks in conference rooms changing “trends” rapidly to create fake monthly emergencies for us. OH NO! NOW IT’S A SUBWAY TILE BACKSPLASH WE NEED! No, thank you. Life offers plenty of REAL emergencies to handle, thank you very much.
I’m a grown up now. I know what looks good on me, and that doesn’t change every three months. I know how I like my house. I like it cute and cozy and a little funky and I like it to feel lived in and worn and I like the things inside of it to work. That’s all. And for me – it’s fine that my house’s interior suggests that I might not spend every waking moment thinking about how it looks.
Sometimes it seems that our entire economy is based on distracting women from their blessings. Producers of STUFF NEED to find 10,000 ways to make women feel less than about our clothes, kitchens, selves so that we will keep buying more. So maybe freeing ourselves just a little from the Tyranny of Trend is a women’s issue – because we certainly aren’t going to get much world changing done if we spend all of our time and money on wardrobe and kitchen changing.
BUT. Listen. I’m nothing if not a tangled, colorful ball of contradictions. I like a good make-over as much as anybody else. So . . . HERE WE HAVE IT. HERE IS THE MELTON KITCHEN MAKEOVER FOR YA! READY FOR THE BIG REVEAL?
Before:
After:
Ba- BAM! Extreme home makeover! My kitchen IS beautiful because it is full of beauty. SO IS YOURS.
Today I shall keep my perspectacles super-glued to my face and feel insanely GRATEFUL instead of LACKING and I will look at my home and my people and my body and say: THANK YOU. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. THIS IS ALL MORE THAN GOOD ENOUGH, ALL OF IT. Now. Let us turn our focus onward and outward. There is WORK TO BE DONE and JOY TO BE HAD.
Love,
G
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2,231 Comments
Very well said!
I love this! I thank God every day for indoor plumbing, hot showers, a bed to sleep in and a roof over my head. And yes, my daughter and I did a lot of dancing in our kitchen, too. Thanks for the reminder that we have so much more than many people do and we are blessed:)
So well said, we’ve been trained to buy, buy, buy and on the whole it’s stuff we don’t need yet the majority of the world doesn’t have the basics in life they need.
Both pictures ~ Just simply beautiful!!
Your kitchen is beautiful! Its nicer than mine! I shudder to think what people would say if they saw my kitchen. But, I dont care. Its a kitchen, not a showroom. I use it to feed my family and keep them happy. I aint out to please the world…
I thought your kitchen was very nice and am confused as to why people would think you need to update. I especially like your outlook. Trying to keep up with the trends and “Jones” gets you no where but in debt. By the way you have a lovely family.
Marlene Cromwell
Perfect, beautiful and so well written and presented. Thank so much – I am now putting on my perspectacles! By0the-way, your kitchen corner looks just like mine.
Nothing is prettier in a kitchen than faces smiling and laughter sounding and Love being baked or cooked in a warm kitchen.
I so needed to read this on this patricular day… and have made a copy to post inside my old veneer kitchen cabinets over my yellow formica counters, and having to open the oven door to get the “knife” drawer open. I was having one of those pity parties about my kitchen and it’s lack of modern and matching appliances, and this came at the right time. Yes, we probably should have updated years ago…but spent the money making memories…that are on magnets on the old refridgerator, hiding rust spots. But seeing the “height” marks of my kids and thier friends on the door jam always makes me smile. It’s a kitchen filled with love and memories. thanx for reminding me.
This message couldn’t have come at a better time for me. Seriously.
Thanks.
My kitchen was built in 1937. I.e., almost no cabinets. Never going to be trendy. Just falling apart. Needs major work.
Yet having the perfect kitchen would not solve my life’s problems – unless you count “too much savings” as a problem!
Amen! Agree 100%. About 10 years ago I stopped giving my 5 grandchildren Christmas gifts. I began giving to Meals on Wheels/Share Our Strength instead. It makes me feel marvelous, and I don’t have to fuzz that I wasn’t getting thank you cards in the mail. Win-Win.
I have spent much of my adult life realizing it’s ridiculous to try to keep up with everyone else but having that feeling inside of me anyway. I have tried everything to get rid of that feeling (counseling, count my blessings, etc) but it just kept gnawing at me!!! Horrible feeling. THIS story was written for me!! Since I read it I have more peace in my heart about how I have exactly what I need. I have been putting on my perspectacles every day and they look great on me! Thank you.
It hard to have your perspective when 2 cabinets are filled with a child’s medicines, appliances that don’t work and the family has fallen apart. I don’t mean to be negative, I get what you are saying but it’s so hard without the happy, smiling family & when a child is not healthy. I’m not & have never been a trend follower, but I would like a loving family and a functional kitchen again.
Jeepers, people were offering to remodel your kitchen? Even without your lovely thoughtful post, the kitchen is lovely.
I have spent most of my day today- sad and slightly depressed because my house is a mess. I sat down and was finally able to watch your segment on Today and I cried. It was just want I needed. I will wake up tomorrow and be thankful for what I have. Thank you G!!
I had the pleasure of reading your post today. This is timeless and it is a joy to read about such love and appreciation, Thank you for your article. May you always have enough.
This has to be the best “home improvement” article I have ever read!!!!!!!
My Aunt Margaret always has pearls of wisdom. One of my favorites is from when she and my Uncle Joseph were first married: he was in med school, she was a nurse and they lived across the street from the hospital. She came in to work one morning and someone commented on her night gown. Turned out you could look RIGHT IN from across the street! She cried and told uncle Joseph that she would be happy ‘if she only had curtains’. Believe it or not, they got some curtains and then she “needed” something else. Moral of the story? Be happy with what you have, because otherwise you’ll spend your life seeking. 🙂
I always think that way when I’m tempted toward plastic surgery.
I have that same beautiful blue ribbon magnet on my fridge.
Good for you!! Too many people write too much on line that they wouldn’t say in person!! Your kitchen, your attitude, and your family is perfect!!
If I could turn this into a song I would sing it every day.
YOU ARE SUCH A GOOD WRITER and an even better thinker!!! I’m sitting here in Sydney, Australia, kind of panicking about inviting our neighbours over for dinner next week because my child wanted to invite their Year 8 daughter along to Youth Group. These neighbours are lovely, and rich-rich, and their house is beautiful (like the size of Mt Everest and perfect) and I really do like them a lot. But I kept thinking…my house is so well-loved and worn-down. It’s 25 years old and has never been remodelled. You can trip on our uneven timber kitchen floor. The kitchen cabinets aren’t even real wood. And we’ll sit and eat in the kitchen (our dining room is a music room for our boys, which makes more sense for us). And then I read your post and thought, I am such an idiot!! This girl will LOVE being invited to Youth Group. This rich-rich mom will be BLESSED by not having to be the one to make dinner. My house is warm, and happy, and small and well-loved. Thanks for the reminder. You really helped change my heart today!
wabi sabi.
well put, and thank you so much for “Tyranny of Trend,” and “When I wear my perspectacles I can’t look at this corner without a heart explosion.”
have been told on a few occasions things like, “oh – I finally get your design-sense… it’s kitsch.” well, maybe to the outward eye for some, but for me… I like to fill my home with things that make me think, laugh. only things with absolute purpose or in some cases absurd. that and nostalgia.
your note to others on this is sweet and beautiful. thank you.
Wow, what a beautiful article and a great reminder to be thankful for all that I am blessed with. Thank you!
WOW, I see where you get your per spectacles! You have chronic lyme disease and are one of the lucky ones to be in remission! yeah! My family and I struggle with this on a daily basis. All chronic illness is a life altering experience, lyme disease is special because the medical community is not supportive in properly educating the health care community on understanding, diagnosing or treating this horrific disease. Staying positive and recognizing that I am actually a very blessed individual that has been given a life challenge keeps me moving. And I plan to beat it into submission! I was led to this article for a reason and am very inspired by your words!
Thank you!
And
BTW your family is beautiful, that is what I noticed in the picture!
G,
You did it again! Perfectly imperfect and just what I needed. I’m fresh off a mission trip to rural Africa (Yep that’s a thing and yep I saw shoeless children walking miles with yellow jugs to get water for their families…that is real). It’s been easier and more temping than I’d have thought to fall back into my normal life filled to the brim with STUFF. Thank you for reminding me to look at my life, home, family (and dare I say myself?) with perspectacles. I’m looking around right now with renewed appreciation for the blessings I have. We miss a lot when we just focus on what we are missing.
Thank you! You are the jam!
S
I love the monkeys – on the fridge and in the kitchen. That is what it is all about!
amen! love, love, love this. this was powerful – made me realize how blessed and lucky I am.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU ! ! ! !!!
I cried. I literally teared up. I love me a good home reno, but I love my children more—all 7 of them. And two of them *sniffle* flew the coop last week for college. I am so happy for all they are going to experience and become, but my kitchen and I miss them. You hit the nail right. On. The. Head.
This is amazing! Thanks for sharing. I blame Pinterest for filling my face with photos of gorgeous kitchens. I want to re-do mine, but you’re so right. We are so dang lucky.
GDP will not be happy with you. But I couldn’t agree more….be thankful for what you have and not focused on what you don’t have. Life ain’t complicated.
Thank you. So. Much. I love this. You are totally speaking my language. As I look around at our sports memorabilia and early Looney Tunes decor thinking it’s insufficient, you remind me that there are more important things to focus on. So, thank you. Always!!
My friend just alerted me to this page. I’ve never read your blog before. When I got to the coffeemaker, I laughed so hard coffee came out of my nose. It’s been a long, long time since that’s happened, and pretty ironic, don’t you think? With perspectacles firmly in place, I was able to catch at bit, and keep on drinking.
Great truths here. And, I’ve heard it before, “Do not covet your…”
absolutely love every single bit of it, bravo!
Thank you so much! This is exactly what I needed to read this morning. I AM so very blessed.
You pay dearly for your children’s school and educators’ salaries with your taxes. It is not free 🙂
…that’s your take away?
Yes, but even the poorest of the poor of our children are entitled to an education…for free.
Wow. Just the fact that people (plural) would have the nerve to openly suggest that you should update your kitchen leaves me with my jaw dropped. Everyone has different tastes I guess. I personally think you kitchen is beautiful. Especially the “after” pic with all the smiling faces. Your article is beautifully written, and your message is something more young families should be taking to heart.
All too true! It’s your frame of mind that’s discipline enough to see the difference. A little to late for us….we’re taking the debt plunge. So we pay to fall into the ” look at my new kitchen ” world. Wish us luck !
I’ve lived in the middle of Africa for 4 years, away from taking all of that for granted, and I still need to read this. You nailed it Glennon. By articulating it so well you’ve strengthened a tool I can use to keep perspective here and especially on trips back home.
You know what else? In the West people feel sorry for people in Africa because many Africans don’t have running water or reliable access to healthy food. That certainly is very tough, and we should want to help change that. But many people lacking those things are rich in extremely important ways Westerners are often lacking. Rich in spirit, rich in community, rich in faith. It isn’t just basic ‘stuff’ that makes people happy. As you’ve pointed out, many Westerners try to fill an empty void with more or better stuff. If we’re open to it, while sharing what we have materially to help with one kind of poverty, we can receive help from Africans and other people in the world with our deep suffering from other kinds of poverty. Our friends in these places can open our eyes and hearts, and make us far richer in ways we didn’t know possible.
I love this. When you have less, you end up with more. More time to focus on what’s really important in our world. Each other.
Yes! I just did my first mission trip to Africa and really really really loved it. The people I met were certainly poor by Western standards but many of them were so joyful! Faith and hope and love just spilled out of them like they were so full they couldn’t contain it all. Their need is great in terms of running water, education, healthcare, etc. We may have all that but our need is great too and we have much to learn from helping eachother. Thanks
EXACTLY! I think your kitchen is just fine the way it is anyway. Mine looks VERY similar. I am even more grateful on the days when the counters are all clean and shiny!
Thank you. I needed to read this. Thank you.
I went to Pottery Barn today and instantly wanted all kinds of stuff I couldn’t afford and didn’t know I wanted until I saw it. So… Pottery Barn may be a trigger…;)
Thanks for writing my thoughts so brilliantly.
Are you in my BRAIN??? I was JUST THINKING THIS about the washing machine. Cuz I hate doing laundry. I was standing in the middle of the laundry room deep sighing about having to switch the load AGAIN (ok, re wash it cuz I left it too long AGAIN) and I suddenly thought, “for the love of Pete, I have a MACHINE in my home that WASHES THE CLOTHES FOR ME. Pretty sure it’s magic, I really have no idea how it works, and I’m complaining about having to PUT THE CLOTHES IN IT.”
Ahh Glennon, you are someone I read because you say those thoughts that dance just outside of my understanding but ring as an absolute truth when I finally hear them.
I also think it is perfectly imperfect that you never even mention your stove or oven. Yep, that’s the other reason I love you Glennon! XOXOXO
Dear Glennon,
I am NOT a commentor on blogs or anything else in the internet world but your post made a difference in my life today. I happened to see this story on the Today Show this morning and I feel as if it were specifically meant for me. Not because I am a “keep up with the Joneses” type person but because my family has hit a little bump in the road due to a job loss so I’m feeling somewhat discombobulated. When I came to your site to read the entire post, I was in tears by the end. I feel this exact way about my house and my dated kitchen. I love my house but of course there are things I’d love to change if the money were hanging off a tree in my backyard but instead we’ve chosen to invest in our family (such as college for example). I have perfectionist tendencies and sometimes become wrapped up in trying to make my dated house look less dated but usually I am able to right myself and put my “perspectacles” on and am grateful for all the things you described. It was timely to see this post to remind myself that maybe my family has hit a bump in the road but I don’t have to schlep miles for clean water and I too have a fridge full of healthy food even though that fridge isn’t stainless steel and my kids are happy and healthy. I don’t know if you’ll ever see my comment but I had to say thanks anyway. Your “perspectables” were much appreciated.
Thank you for sharing this. It’s a great perspective you don’t need a completely updated kitchen to cook and provide for your family. We recently updated our kitchen but to make it functional for our family. It’s not a $15,000 renovation either. We did alot of the work and have something that is us and provides for us.
Keep it up!
Thank you for saying it all!!!!!! Tremendous and creative description of contentment and thankfulness!!!!! THank you Thank you and THank you again!!!!!
Terrific! We should all be grateful for the abundance we have and put a perspective on wants or these so-called “should haves” ( I will never be up with the Joneses – nor want to be) I applaud all who have the Perspective. Life is a gift and what we do with it is our gift to the world. Wishing you and all many blessings.
“The fingerprints get higher and higher until they disappear.” Grateful for my healthy children and our home which is blessed with love, if not great beauty.
Well….that just made me cry. :*)
I loved this blog post… and I NEEDED it. Thank you.
Brilliant!! Here in my state we are in a terrible 3 year drought. My neighbors put drinking water ON THEIR LAWNS.
I’d also like to point out that my dogs live better than most humans in the world. They eat good food on a schedule, see a doctor for both acute and preventative care, play, get bathed, live in AC in the summer and heat in the winter and sleep on soft beds. Holy hell we’re blessed.
I’m a humanitarian who works in rural Tanzania. I would so love to have your kitchen there. You forgot to mention the switch on the wall that bathes everything in light so you can see what you are doing. Or the fact that you can cook inside, instead of over a wood fire like many millions of women in the world.
We have a children’s home for 28 abandoned boys, with 10 staff. Do you know how hard it is to cook for 38 people, three meals a day, over a wood fire? We are raising money for a “proper” kitchen: one with a propane stove, and a bread oven made of clay. While electricity was just brought to our village of Kahunda, Tanzania last year, we don’t have it at Kwetu Faraja Children’s Home. When the sun goes down, we are in total darkness. Bless you for reminding your readers of their good fortunes!
How can we donate to you/the home?
Martha, I’d also like to donate/help. Please let us know.
Absolutely! The first time my kids had friends over I thought “OH NO!” I have a house built in the 70’s with yellow bath fixtures in one bathroom and blue in another. My kitchen is outdated and I still had old flowered wallpaper on the wall in a room that I hadn’t “updated” yet. But guess what, they all wanted to come back! I’m thinking what? Really? But then it hit me. They can come in my house and they aren’t afraid of messing anything up, breaking anything, spilling something and ruining an expensive carpet or sofa. They are at home! They can come in and relax and be themselves and that is totally worth having a lived in house. Because lived in houses are HOMES. Thank you so much for this post.
I love your story. It’s nice to know that there are other moms out there who keep it real. I have nothing to prove to anyone. I keep our condo nice, clean and it even smells good thanks to Glade Wax Melts! Isn’t it great to be happy and content in our own little corner of the world. I’ll take my house full of love over a house full of empty any day. Thanks again for sharing!
I.LOVE.THIS.
Beautiful post! My kitchen is the same way!! My house is the same way. I live in and even though some things could use a make over, I am extremely grateful for the shelter over my head and a place I can feel comfy in! Good job!
Bloody brilliant! That’s the most inspiring, REAL, heartfelt piece of literature I have read for quite a while. Thank you for sharing, for reminding of gratitude, for passing on a little piece of wisdom which could amount to a huge piece of happiness for many.
This is one of my all time favorites! Ba BAM!
You are the best! I know you know it! 🙂
I love this post. You are absolutely correct.
Thank you. Your words are calming and inspiring all at the same time.
G, THANK YOU! I love my cluttered house full of toddler and outdoor toys every where. I had the perfectly neat house for 12 years before my boys were born and I felt so lonely and empty. Now when I get frustrate with the messy house and get that little bit of jealousy, I smile and know my heart is full with a 3 and 8 year olds. Just this week a neighbor came by unexpectedly and she commented on the toddler pair of Spider-Man under pants hanging on the end post o the staircase. I alighted and said we are potty training and we got tired of trying to find a clean pair. It was the best heart warming laugh. I am sooo grateful as it was a long journey to create our family.
Thank you very much! I am a stay at home mom and caregiver to my aging parents, we bought our home 2 years ago and it still has its original 1989 kitchen in it :s I have been embarrassed by my outdated kitchen for the last year or so, but I still lack the funds to update it. This was very much needed and it was beautifully written! I know my family feels loved everyday no matter what kind of cabinets I have, that is the true gift! Thanks again!
Thanks so much. Wonderful points and so funny! I laughed out loud several times, especially in joyful agreement about our coffee pots! 🙂
I love you so much. I don’t know you in real life, but you make me smile and lift my spirits regularly. )Thanks for your investment in me!
I got it: my kitchen is beautiful, my bathroom is beautiful, my son is perfect and beautiful, my life – even though I’ve been through a nightmare – is beautiful. I am beautiful. Thank you.
Awesome post! Thanks for making me see the beauty in my crazy, busy, kitchen!
This is one of the greatest things I have ever read. Thank you for sharing your perspectacles with me! xoxo
Thank you times a million. It’s so encouraging to see this articulated with so many resounding YES’s from your readers in the comments. thank you for sharing. The world is not so hopeless after all…. We can fight the trends and let love in.
Awesome, I’m right up there with my trendy kitchen too! I should also add that we have windows in our kitchen that look out onto green grass and trees with birds flitting about in them. We can’t even see our neighbours out our kitchen windows, let alone have to share our cooking facilities with them or have them living in a tin shack right alongside our home. I am very grateful to have space for my family.
Love it!
You write well. Thanks.
Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you! I have been a sucker in the past to the marketing that tells me I need more, newer, and better stuff, but no more. I will definitely be wearing my “perspectacles” while I transition from being a well-paid full-timer to a stay-at-home mum.
LOVE YOUR POST! You mentioned being in remission from Chronic Lyme? Can you tell me how you were treated? I have been sick and getting sicker for almost 10 years. Know you are busy, but if you get a minute, I would be so thankful!
Your kitchen needs updating? You should see mine. I’ll trade you. Thanks for putting things in perspective so beautifully.
That sound you hear? It’s the point of this entire article going right over your head.
Thank you. I am so guilty of wanting “more” and feeling bad about “not keeping up”. We are in a job loss/major cut back situation right now. Where I used to want more, more, more, I now want to save what we have. A lot of people I know “have more”, but so many have so much less, and I needed this reminder. I am new to your site (read a different story shared by someone on facebook) but this post won me over. I love you kitchen upgrade photo 😉
You said it well. I am in the same boat.
Awesome! Made my day!
WOW! Love your post and I love your ” perspectacles.”! My kitchen is still the original design, it was on trend when the house was built in the mid “70’s”…..I would love it to be more open and to have a window but I am like you,,, I am thankful to have it. It is the heart of my family gatherings, it is the place where food is cooked with Love and Laughter.
My babies are grown, we get together 2 times a year & my old kitchen is where we gather. It is decorated with grandchildren art on the fridge and freezer, worn cabinets that have been touched with love, pain, joy and happiness.
So even though I’d love to have a sleek bright modern kitchen…I am content with the Love Stained kitchen that I have.
AWW I just loved this comment!
LOVE.
awesome!
I have experienced 2 devastating house fires (electrical and gas leak – 5 years apart – we lived through both), experienced 19 months homelessness. We are not bitter we are better. Be Thankful Always! Beautiful article – THANK YOU!
On grey days when I am feeling a little ‘down’ I have looked at the miracle of my kitchen tap and thought to myself just how overjoyed I would be if I had never had one!!! Loved this. Bless you. SOOO much to be thankful for.
Thank-you so much. I have tagged my son in this and hopefully he will read it. You are so right the kids of today think they need to have everything that everyone else has and if we don’t we are “povo” as he calls it. Many a time I have looked at magazines and thought gee wouldn’t that be nice but after reading your article I really am grateful for what we have and a home really is what you make it. xx
Super love this.
That essay was a masterpiece! Here we are in hottest SE Texas, and we are living in a construction site. A pair of old English fogies, we yearned for a deep bath tub, long enough to lie in with total immersion, and have enjoyed it for several months now; the bathroom, however, still has no floor, bare sheet rock walls, and exposed wiring. The project had to be abandoned when the air conditioning system died. It has taken my husband almost 9 months to get the pieces together and install them – we put in two little window units, so we haven’t suffered – but the house is a mess. Every room has had to expand to receive stuff that had been in the way of the Great Project. Normal life has been suspended, and I have been wandering around in circles, feeling pretty sorry for myself. But then someone forwarded your piece to me, and gratitude illuminated the scene, and Life is good.
THANK YOU
Yes yes and YES!
Fecking love it, Gayle!
Decking love it, Gayle!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I can’t even begin to tell you how much I needed to hear/read this today! Not because I thought my kitchen needed a remodel but because I desperately needed to put some things into perspective and this helped so very much. Feeling better already…
Thank you so much,my kitchenette makes yours look like a showpiece. I too will remember to wear my perspectacles and know how blessed I am.Clean drinking water also flows fro my taps and my fridge is full of healthy food. Thank you,thank you,thank you.
Perspectacles is my new favorite word. I think everyone should have a prescription for them.
You’re a freaking GENIUS.
That was so beautiful, it made me cry!
So sad to think that so many of us never reach this point in our lives. It is amazing how liberating gratitude can be.
Beautifully stated. I tell my wife often to say her gratitudes when she starts talking about what we don’t have. It takes reading your blog for her to really understand it. Thanks.
Absolutely awesome post! What a great reminder of the many, many things we so often take for granted. And you have a beautiful family – the best gift of all!
This made my day! Now I’m going to put on my perspectacles and fill my heart with gratitude.
Beautifully written. This is what we try to teach our kids too day in and day out. Sharing for sure. Thank you!
di-VINE! Brilliantly written.
Wow! I love this! I have been feeling kind of the same way about my bathroom, which is very un-updated from 1986 when the house was built. I painted it a pretty color and put up a nice shower curtain and it works just fine. I think the luxury that is hot running water and indoor plumbing is lost sometimes in the race to throw money at a “problem” that really isn’t
For those of you with kitchens/bathrooms from the 70’s or 80’s, just hold on a few more decades. Mine are from the early 50’s (!) and they are starting to look trendy again! Ha ha…anyway everything still works fine. The fridge is from the 70’s, so the house came with one updated item, so to speak.