1. Our garden. With all the rain, it’s growing in really well. We’ve been getting a handful of strawberries every day, and tons of kale and lettuce. It makes me so much happier to look out the front window and see the jungle of my garden rather than a boring lawn.
2. Summer vacation. This year, it’s taken some real wrangling on my part to keep it from turning into a season of being on call at work, not really on vacation but stuck in some awful limbo, but with the help of a wise, good-hearted boss, I think I’m finally getting there, truly on vacation.
3. Eric hiking with the dogs. I appreciate the time alone, they have a great time gone, and Eric brings back lots of good pictures and two tired happy dogs.
4. A play date with Chloe’ and Pancho. The best part was when Sam came out and started to play with the puppy.
Mr. Pancho
5. Asking for what I wanted and getting it. I’m glad I asked, and glad there was a yes. It felt like a double victory.
Bonus Joy: Strawberry pie, Couch to 5K, a bit of extra pay to make up for the extra work, TV, clean sheets, some new clothes, my new running shoes, yoga, Daily Dharma Gathering, Pema Chodron, clean water, fresh fruit, a dinner date with Eric, podcasts, the way Sam pushes his head under my hand when he wants petted, the way Ringo barks to announce himself when he’s getting into trouble (it’s like he’s saying, “look at what I’m doing!”), bird song, leafcutter bees, a partner who shares the chores.
It’s time to stop waiting. It’s time to become who you want to become and do what you want to do and learn what you want to learn and rest when you want to rest and take little pieces of time and do terrific things with them that are beautiful and personal and unique and true.
And,
We all have a proverbial basket of things that are in need of mending, all of us do! We have relationships, sweaters, cabinet doors, hearts, dreams, windows………..thing after thing in need of some attention and time.
Sometimes we get paralyzed by the amount of things in that basket, so we just start walking past it, pretending that it’s not there…but still feeling something deeply gnawing at us, and preventing us from feeling total peace.
Don’t be afraid to look in your basket, beautiful friend…..just start picking up one piece of mending and work on it a little….then another tomorrow. This can be real, physical things like sewing a button back on your favorite coat, to much bigger things…like sending a nice card to someone you’ve had a falling-out with but would love to patch things up with.
Don’t let your basket of mending steal any more of your joy or peace. Take an honest look at it today and then take a deep breath and make a plan to start mending things…..a little at time, and then let it go and be o.k. with it all.
And
What would a leap of faith look like?
That thing that’s been lingering on your mind, burning in your heart…..that scary beautiful thing that you can’t get out of your whole soul because it wants to be heard and acted upon……..guess what lovely? It’s not going to go away.
It’s not going to go away because it’s your deepest wisdom and authenticity…trying to get you on exactly the right track. It is your truth.
What is it that is holding you back? Would it be so bad just to take that first step? Would it be so bad to stop and really honor yourself and at least listen to that longing?
This is where the fork in the road just might lead to the place you’ve been praying to be.
Get quiet, dear friend…….listen closely….then be brave when you know exactly what to do next.
Live THAT ONE PRECIOUS LIFE OF YOURS….really really live it.
20. SLIP | @PhillipChbeeb & Renee Kester | @ElliotMossMusic. Everything about this is so beautiful.
21. The Buddhists Who Are Speaking Out. “Buddhists in countries around the world are speaking out in an effort to rescue and protect tens of thousands of displaced people – many of them risking death in overcrowded boats – in Southeast Asia. TIME magazine this month called them ‘The nowhere people.'”
I’ve lost my arm obviously, so I have two options: I can try to live my life the way I was and make an effort to do that even though I don’t have an arm, or I can just let this be completely debilitating and bring my life down and ruin it. Out of those two, there’s really only one that I would actually choose and that’s to try to fight and live a normal life with the cards I’ve been dealt.
3. Eric hiking with the dogs. I appreciate the time alone, they have a great time gone, and Eric brings back lots of good pictures and two tired happy dogs.
