Ten Things of Thankful #83

It’s been one HECK of a week, the biggest surprise of all being the enormous, astonishing, INCREDIBLE rapidity with which the #1000Speak movement has taken off. Currently we are over 700 strong. Since MONDAY, y’all!

That has to be my first, and to be perfectly honest, I could stop there, because my world (thanks to Yvonne) has been FILLED with hundreds and hundreds of people ALL WANTING TO BUILD THE VILLAGE! Kinda. I’m taking it as that, anyway.

I don’t know if the time was just right for it, what with all the awfulness which is in the headlines and in dark corners of the unreported world, but there seem to be a large number of people for whom the time has come when they’ve had ENOUGH. And so they’re going to do something about it: on February 20th, they (we) are going to join our voices together, 1000+ strong, and FLOOD the Blogosphere with compassion.

I know that in comparison to the whole, 1000 voices is really pretty small, but it WILL be significant, and it WILL have impact.

And I’m part of it – a slightly bemused, flummoxed part of it, but very willing, mostly able, and hugely excited part of it – and you can be, too. In fact, I would LOVE you to be part of it. Join our Facebook group for updates, like our page there, and join us on Twitter by using the hashtag #1000Speak.

If I DO stop there, the 7 GuardVirgins won’t even require a dance before giving up the BoSR (or SBoR) because THEY signed up to be part of #1000Speak, too! I mean, secretly I wonder if it’s some kind of ploy to get out of their duties for a while, and have fun online, like they see US all doing every week, but to be honest I wouldn’t blame them. I heard that instead of writing, they’re going to form a small choir and sing love songs all day, to put everyone in a warm, fuzzy mood.

The week was tough, though, in spite of that astonishing influx of goodness. It’s been rainy and blustery and I spent quite an awful evening RIGHT out of sorts (it seems to happen on a Thursday…not sure why – only just noticed that pattern) and once again, my village (well, Sunset) came to my rescue and talked me through. I napped because I was so low, and thank goodness for Husby, who left me to it; bless his boots – he tried SO hard to find ways of cheering me up or making my life easier. He even went down, and out in the rain to put my bike away from where I’d left it in the hall ready to go to boxing (which I then discovered I just couldn’t face).

I was utterly, utterly wrung out. Partly because of a stressfuldrainingverysad encounter with a wheelchair-bound lady at work, whose transport back home in an ambulance got messed up (by them, not her) and she was left in a corridor, cold, alone, hungry, and with no-one to help her. It pisses me off SO MUCH when this happens. So of course, a few staff members rallied around and we got her something to nibble and wrapped her in coats (cos a hospital didn’t have such a thing to hand as a blanket…not at the end of the day when everyone was gone) and my colleague and I stayed and chatted with her in a cold, draughty corridor in the pick-up place, waiting for her transport to show their sorry faces.

Because we couldn’t leave her, even though she wasn’t our responsibility and our work day had ended long ago.

Because we cared.

But I was angry and sad and upset by it, too. I just hope that next time she brings a friend or relative with her to help and support her. She said she had declined a lift from a neighbour, so I’m pleased to know it’s not just that she doesn’t HAVE anyone…but still.

By the time I got home, I was snappish and a complete bear of a person to be around, and somehow it all turned inwards and I put myself through ten rounds of self-loathing for no apparent reason, other than I didn’t have the strength of character to choose not to listen to those voices. Things have been better since then, thank goodness.

What else has been good? I feel like a little ramble, seeing as I’m not going to be even ATTEMPTING a numbering system this week. Last week’s was expertly cracked, but my creativity’s feeling low with regard to systems and frankly I’d rather just TALK (kinda) as though we’d gone out for the afternoon to somewhere with a big window where we could watch the world go by, and comfy sofas to snuggle back into, and lots and lots of cups of hot whatever-you-prefer. We could watch the sky and the birds flying past, and keep an eye out for interesting characters walking along the street, as we shared about our weeks and talked about all the things under the sun.

Talking of sun, I saw THEE MOST GORGEOUS sunset this evening. That was really nice, because it happened as I was cycling home, and until today they’ve all been too early, so this means that the days are getting longer, and the light is coming back, and my heart will fill up and up as summer returns. The other thing I now love about sunsets is that they remind me of my friend, and each time I see one, I think of her, and that makes them very special to me.

OH, I know. I wrote. That was pretty cool. I’ve been working on some behind-the-scenes pieces, and they’ve been beautifully received. I haven’t decided whether I’ll compile them into one big thing at some point, and share them, or just keep them secret and between myself and the recipients. BUT they’ve been gorgeous to write, and lovely to have feedback on. They’re a little bit magical, and I do like that about writing – that you can make someone’s day so much better with just a few words.

I’m LOVING apples at the moment, and I’m very lucky to live in a place where I can get them all year around. I used to think they were rather a chore to eat, but I’ve discovered that if I chop them up, I absolutely adore them. That’s a nice thing.

And…uh…I think I mentioned last week that I got invited to train to be a boxing instructor. If not, consider it mentioned. I *could* go back and look, but that would involve effort, and frankly I’m already late sharing this and there are probably at least three TToT posts in the linkie ahead of mine at this point.

OH and the book cover for Memoirs of a Dilettante TWO, was revealed on Wednesday, and in spite of my blog being briefly suspended (having been incorrectly ‘scooped’ by some kind of algorithm) I managed to get in on the action, and BELIEVE ME, I am SO excited about this book coming out.

Then Dana wrote her second-most-beautiful-ever-post, and it nearly made me cry because it’s so wonderful. And Mandi just wrote (this time about dancing, lies, and her outrageous younger days), which always makes me happy.

So…coming up…exciting guest post person, HERE, not sure when, but watch this space, but it’s fine, you’ll love her as much as I do. I’m going to be sharing a SPOKEN WORD (yikes!) piece over at HastyWords soon, which is terrifying but also awesome. And I’ve got something in the works which is a Big Deal To Me…and which I shall be fascinated to share and hear your feedback on.

MEANWHILE…I have an IRL birthday party to go to tomorrow, for my Dad; Husby, Sis and I are going on a ferry with Niece and Neff to get there, which will be great fun. Hopefully it will all go smoothly, and otherwise I think I’m going to be run off my feet trying to keep up with the whirlwind until 20th February. I do hope you all come along for the ride and the wonder of it all.

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