Celebrate! One Little Word

"I celebrate myself, and sing myself."

Walt Whitman

"Do we need any other proof of being spiritual-beings, than watching a child grow, and a personality blossom?"  
Fr. Jonathan Morris

I began this post with life affirming quotes from what would appear an odd-fellowship, American poet, humanist and author of the esteemed, Leaves of Grass, Walt Whitman, and television personality, Fr. Jonathan Morris, a Catholic priest, spiritual advisor, and author of the best selling book, The Promise: God's Purpose and Plan for When Life Hurts. 

While one hundred years, life-styles and religious philosophies separate them, the quotes of both men enthusiastically celebrate the human condition. The passages, along with the whimsical photograph of my uninhibited, three-year-old grandson, make me smile!!

All in all, not a bad way to begin :)

In my last post Dancing in the Rain, I made reference to the One Little Word concept of selecting a single word each January to reflect and meditate on throughout the year.  

I stand at the threshold of the new year, in my pink wellies (English rain-boots) and raincoat, umbrella in hand, with a new companion -a new word - CELEBRATE!

As a child of God, created in His image, I am called to walk in His light - to seek out, recognize, and celebrate the good in my earthly life.

I purposefully chose a word that I felt would enrich not only my physical-being (the human condition), but my spiritual-self (soul) as well.  I looked for, and chose a word I believed to be life-affirming.

To this end, I have put forth the following twelve, monthly-intentions beginning with January's Celebration of a New Year, and continuing on with celebrate love, celebrate my faith, celebrate myself, celebrate motherhood, celebrate the earth, celebrate my freedom, celebrate the summer, celebrate God's bounty, celebrate family tradition/ritual, celebrate God's grace, and finally, to prepare for and celebrate the birth of Christ at Christmas.  

I'll be documenting my journey through written word, and photographs in a personal photo/journal inspired by Ali Edward's, One Little Word, prompts.

Pages from the journal will be located in the filmstrip at the top-right hand corner of this blog (click on the film-strip for full-sized, easy to view, copies of the pages).

For more of my OLW story, you're invited to read the short post, Dancing In the Rain,