1. Morning walks. After a week of relatively normal temperatures and dry ground, another storm is coming, bringing with it snow and much cooler temperatures. I’m happy to have it, even though it will mean some late starts to our walks next week. I swear this week I heard a few types of birds that usually announce the arrival of spring, and sure that’s coming, but not for at least another month or so, and we won’t be past the chance of snow until mid-May.
2. Practice. Yoga at Red Sage, my Friday morning writing sangha, meditating in my practice room at home, and sitting in front of my HappyLight with a mug of warm green tea writing in my notebook.
3. Taking care of my physical and energetic body. I haven’t been doing a very good job of this lately. It’s understandable — when I was writing this morning, I made a timeline of the past two years: the end of a long and complicated friendship, all the trips to Oregon, the hospital stays and doctor visits (both mine and my mom’s), the surgeries, the grief and caretaking and stress and loss. Add to that what’s happening in “the world” and it’s been rough. And, it’s time to do better for myself. I saw my primary care physician this week to talk through things and I made an appointment with a nutritionist who specializes in working with people with eating disorder histories. I’m shuffling around the ways I move my body a bit and searching for a new therapist. I’m also recommitting to doing what I already know to do in order to regulate my nervous system, (my left eye has been twitching for the past seven days).
4. Books. Writing and reading have always been and continue to be some of the best things, my favorite ways to spend my time, the place I look for answers and solace.
5. My tiny family, small house, little life. It’s good to have Eric home after being away last week. I am so lucky to have him, that he indulges my need for a dog or two and all that brings, and that he loves those dogs as much as I do.
Bonus joy: 11:11, taco salad, poets and poetry, libraries and librarians, the way Eric talks to Ringo when he thinks no one is listening (there was just a whole conversation about the vacuum cleaner that was hilarious), how Ringo tries so hard to figure out what we are talking about even though he only recognizes a few of the words, finally getting to the end of the two weeks of laundry I had been ignoring, training with Shelby, my Shakti mat, sharing videos with Shellie and Kari and Carrie, sitting in the sun in the backyard with Ringo, sunshine, blue sky, sunrise, having a long term relationship with a doctor who actually cares about my experience and really listens and wants what’s best for me, texting with Chloe’ and Chris, other people’s kids and dogs, watching TV and movies, listening to podcasts, a warm shower, a big glass of cold clean water, a Mount Everest Café lunch date with Eric, naps, down blankets and pillows and coats, wool shirts and hats, reading in bed at night while Ringo and Eric sleep.
Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray) 