Good morning. Well, we made it. All twenty-six letters of the alphabet accounted for. It’s been an exciting month, a busy one, and if the weather wasn’t what I’d hoped for, it really wasn’t that much of a surprise. This is Canada and Climate Change is real.
I’ve so enjoyed reading your posts, following along with your personal journeys, some heartbreaking and yet filled with hope, some giving me pause and reminding me how differently was all see the world and yet how similar we can be. Because I’m only human and I have only so much time at my disposal, I didn’t get to visit all of the bloggers, but I did make some new friends and enjoyed hearing from friends I met in previous years, a few of which I follow all year long. I’m hoping that the new ones I’ve made will continue to follow me, too.
To quote Juliet, parting is such sweet sorrow, but all good things have to end. But this isn’t an ending. It’s simply a rest stop, a pause. God willing, we’ll all be back next year come April 1 to do it all over again. How will the world have changed? Unknown, but we can hope it’s better, with peace and understanding.
Today’s letter, the last one in the alphabet, is Z, pronouced zed in Canada. Z starts many words like zoo, zealot, zeal, but today, for me, it stands for Zen.
Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism (originating as Chan in China) that emphasizes direct experience of reality, meditation (zazen), and mindfulness over scripture study to achieve enlightenment. It focuses on living in the present moment, calming the mind, and finding wisdom in daily life by removing unnecessary mental embellishments. (Thank you AI Google.)
To me, having a Zen moment, means just stopping everything I’m doing and focusing on how far I’ve come in life. Did everything go my way? No, but then few people, if any, can say that. I’ve been luckier than many. I had a good childhood, devoid of social media. I played outside, I read, I went dancing, I went to university, I fell in love, I got married, I had children, I had grandchildren, I had a job I enjoyed, always enough money for food, treats, clothes, the rent–not a fortune, but enough. Today, I’m still above the grass, living my dream of being an author, even if it’s not a famous one. What more could I possibly want?
So, I’m saying goodbye by sharing a few other memes from across the alphabet. Enjoy.
Living the Dream 
Congrats for finishing, Susanne. I have enjoyed reading your posts and will come back to pick up some quotes from time to time! Thanks for visiting me this month as well.
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Your final post could have been mine except I’m not a published author but I do write. Did you mention living in a peaceful country? That is a lot to be thankful for.
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I live in Canada, the next best thing to Australia, since you don’t have the mango moron trying to take over your country.
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I knew that. Aren’t we lucky.
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Very lucky.
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Congratulations for making it, Susanne! I know how hard it is to do this.
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Thanks Jacqui. I appreciate your support.
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Congratulations for completing , despite fairly major eye surgery en route.
Next year, I must try-. Time for other responsibilities to take a back seat.
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The way I did it this year was actually a lot of fun. I got to just talk as if i were with friends and the memes set the mood. May do something similar next year.
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I only discovered your blog during the 26-Day Challenge, and have enjoyed what you came up with. I hope the end of the challenge doesn’t mean you’ll stop posting often!
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Maybe not daily, but I should manage a couple of times a week. I enjoyed reading yours but I couldn’t comment. Not sure if it was fiction or not, but there were times over the years where I fely very much like Fairweather.
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