1. Morning walks. There weren’t many this week. We had three or four days when the temperatures were below zero and didn’t get much higher than 10 degrees, and this morning Ringo overdid it and is limping, so next week may be restricted as well — and that’s totally okay.
2. The right book at the right time. I was writing and thinking about something in particular this morning and went to look for a book that I thought I had to read more about it and turns out I only have that book on my Kindle, but in the process of searching for it on my shelves, I found another book that so clearly is the one I need to read right now.
3. Family. My uncle Joe died this week, my mom’s younger brother. He wasn’t alone, his son was with him (which makes me happy for Joe but heartbroken for my cousin who did everything he could to help him only to lose him), and now that he’s gone, the rest of the family is gathering to love on his wife and kids and each other. Joe was a hard worker, loved his family, and was a big goofball. We will all miss him, but it’s also a reminder how much we love each other, how lucky we are, and how short and precious life is.
4. Good food. This week we had a “dump dinner” night because I realized we had potatoes, brussel sprouts, and broccoli that were days away from going in the compost pile, so I fried the potatoes, roasted and glazed the sprouts with balsamic vinegar and honey, and made broccoli and parmesan cheese fritters. The whole “making something from nothing” is a particular kind of magic, medicine.
5. My tiny family, tiny home, tiny life. The world is on fire and sometimes the chaos and grief of that gets me down, but all I have to do is pet Ringo or hug Eric and I decide for the millionth time to not give up.
Bonus joy: playing with Ringo, swimming laps, raspberries, stickers, the hydromassage chair, making art with Janice, sitting in the sauna with Eric, how fast I have access to lab results, clean laundry, clean sheets, taking all my social media apps off my phone for the weekend, pain medication, vaccinations, listening to podcasts, writing, meditating, stretching, aqua aerobics, small group training with Shelby, snow tires, snow, ice scrapers, snow shovels, down and wool, watching Guy’s Grocery Games and laughing with Eric, texting with Chloe’ and Mom and Chris, naps, a warm cup of coffee with hot cocoa and tiny marshmallows, gummy supplements, kitchen hugs, kitchen counter love notes, all my various spaces to practice and work and rest, a warm shower, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.
Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray) 