Seven Loves

I always read Margaret Evans Porter's blog when I get the chance. If I knew how to put in links off the top of my head, I'd give you a link to Margaret's blog. And I will try to accomplish that when I finish my thoughts here.
She wrote today about her SEVEN LOVES and invited anyone who reads to consider themselves tagged to write about their seven loves so here goes:

1. PEOPLE: My children, grandchildren, daughters-in-law and all my brothers and sisters. I have two sons, 5 step-grandsons and a brand new granddaughter. So with two sons, I have two daughters-in-law as well. Both are good to their men (my sons) and good to me also.
I have six sisters and two brothers to love too! There are a few folks who can say they have that many siblings and I'm sure they feel as blessed as I do having that many siblings!
I haven't a lot of friends but the ones I do have are quite special for various reasons. Some of those friends I have never actually laid eyes on. I know them only through this blog and from other sites I frequent online.

2. ANIMALS: If the world were devoid of animals what a lonely, lonely place the world would be. People are essential to living, but my companion animals are just as important as the people in my life.
The wild critters who traipse through my space on a daily basis bring only joy. Even those little rodents who tear stuff up out in the storage shed are here for a reason and the world would not be the same without them.
I share my space with three cats and a dog. I used to keep pet rats too. My life would be quite empty without my critters to entertain me, love me unconditionally and keep me company. The dog never complains when I forget to feed him cause the cats raise enough ruckus to make up for his silence!

3. CREATIVITY: My own and others'. Without the creativity of others inspiring my own creativity, I'd not be making art. There was a time in my life when I didn't think I would ever be able to pick up a pencil again let alone make a semblence of something coherent.I fought with my body to make the arms work good enough to control a writing instrument.
How dull life would be without colors, textures, beauty in many different forms....
I really don't have any favorite artists, writers, ect. I will read just about anything I can get my hands on and I like many different genres of artwork.
There's joy in taking a blank sheet of paper and putting your own mark on it. Whether that mark ends up being a group of words or a picture, there is a lot of joy derived those activities.
There are so many people in the world who can not read the words I've typed onto this computer screen and I know I am blessed because I can read these words and the words of others.
Visual art is a joy any of us can hold in our hands, make with our hands, dream in our minds! I do not take that for granted these days!

4. MUSIC: If I were to lose one of my senses, I'd much rather live in a world of silence than darkness. Though that is a very hard choice to make. I do love music. And like books and artwork, I enjoy many different genres of it! I will listen to anything at least once. The good thing about music is that there is so much to choose from, no one should be at a to find something that brings them good feelings. That is what music should do: stimulate the senses. It should make you feel good, make you reconsider some points of view, make you be glad to be alive!
One thing I do wish I could do is make music. I am tone deaf, can't hold a tune and have little desire to commit to the discipline like one must commit to make music. I tried to teach myself to play the guitar a few years back. Reading music is like reading Swahili! Can't read either one! Musicians amaze me that they can pick up an inanimate object (their instrument....whatever that instrument is) and bring that object to life with sound! That is AMAZING! Some of us are meant to make the music and others of us are meant to simply enjoy it! I'm an enjoyer of music.

5. FOOD AND DRINK: As humans we all need food and drink to simply survive. The better the food and drink the happier we humans are with it! I am not really fond of cooking these days only because cooking for one is not near as fun as cooking for a crowd.
I do like to eat though so I am forced to cook on occasion. I do not like 'convience food'. I found that out for certain last night when I bought some roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy that you just stick in the microwave and heat it up. That wasn't real food! It didn't look like real food. It didn't taste like real food. Mashed potatoes should taste like potatoes, not the package they came in!
Roast beef with vegetables, potatoes and gravy is my very favorite meal. To all you vegetarians out there, I understand where my food comes from and I do understand that animals die because I think they are tasty morsels. If I could change the way food is produced in the world these days, I would. I don't think that my giving up beef (and chicken and pork and turkey and and) is going to change the atrosities that happen daily in the world. Humans don't really need meat in their diets but that is how I was raised and I've been eating meat for damn near 50 years! I don't see that changing anytime soon, sorry!
I am a big veggie eater. I like almost every kind of veggie there is. With the exception of collard greens (which taste like freshly mown lawn to me). I'm not fond of black-eyed peas (which taste like dirt) and garbonzo beans (chickpeas...which just taste terrible to me). I am not a picky eater. I'll eat anything once just to give it a try. Squid and octopus didn't do anything for me either. Truth be known I just couldn't eat the baby octopi I was introduced to at the Japanese Buffet Resturant out in L.A. Haven't seen any octopi since then thankfully.
I like a variety of liquids too. Lemonade is my drink of choice when I go out to eat at a cafe. That or coffee. Can't live without my coffee in the winter. Don't drink much of it in the summer. Water is always a good choice too.

6. SLEEP: I know that sounds like a strange love but I do love to sleep. I sleep way too much sometimes and not enough at other times. My sleep patterns are all skewed but without sleep my life would be wicked! Again, as humans we all need to sleep and I'm happy to say I can and do sleep well when I sleep. All in all, though I complain about my sleep patterns, or lack thereof, I am blessed that sleep is not something I have a terrible time with. Some folks do have a terrible time sleeping and pay for it day after day. I don't.

7. FREEDOM: I am essentially free to do whatever the hell I feel like doing on any given day. Within reason anyway. I'm basically a pretty good person so there are not things of the evil variety that I partake in freely. I don't have another person to answer to in my daily life. I am free to do what pleases me and I am very thankful for that. Sometimes I wish for a partner to share all this freedom with but a partner would only limit my freedoms...not set me free.

Now it's your turn....make your own list of your seven loves.

Go get your hugs for the day!
Peace
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