1. Our garden, and the gardens that supplement our garden. We are finally getting tomatoes, and the cucumbers keep coming. I bought basil at the farmer’s market to make pesto because I waited too long to pick ours and the plants are already dying off. I also got some fingerling potatoes and carrots for roasting, as well as a watermelon and more peaches.

2. Flowers from the Farmer’s Market. They make me so happy, especially when there are leftovers from the week before that I can put on my writing desk.

3. Swimming. As I move further from the panic of having my face in the water, out of the shadow of the fear of drowning into something that looks more like actual swimming, I can feel my body starting to learn and get comfortable, and I feel myself trusting my body in a whole new way.

4. I quit my job! I know I already told you that, but I keep remembering and it cheers me up, especially in those moments where I’m at work and it feels overwhelming — I get to remind myself that every day is the last day (for example, August 15 was the last August 15 I’ll ever work there). Even though people I work with are sad I’ll be leaving, they have all been so happy for me, so supportive.

5. My tiny family. My favorite.

Bonus joy: Clean sheets, clearing space, grilled cheese sandwiches, long naps, good books, good TV and movies, a long list of really good podcasts I can’t wait to listen to, rain, our whole house fan, the compost pile, twinkle lights, people who are huggers, sitting in the sauna with Eric, a big glass of cold clean water, grasshoppers, a hummingbird feeding in my flowerbed, pulled pork breakfast burritos from Mainline at the Farmer’s Market, how happy Sam is riding in the car, how sweet Ringo is with little kids who really really want to pet him, seeing our neighbor’s sweet old dog out for a walk.

1. I’m still here. This past week was rough. I’m still healing from getting my tooth pulled, adjusting to the restricted diet, and then I had a colonoscopy, (Happy 50th!). None of it was any fun. As an HSP, body stuff like that ends up being particularly traumatic. And yet, through it all, I continue to be so grateful – to be here, to keep going, to have totally normal, boring days.

2. Practice. It keeps me sane, allows me to work with all the hard things.

3. Flowers in the bathroom. The new ones from this week, and the ones leftover from last week on my writing desk.

4. Our garden. I’m not really supposed to be eating anything crunchy or with seeds because of the stitches in my mouth, but the Japanese cucumbers from our garden are so good that I’ve been scraping out the seeds and taking the risk. Our watermelons and pumpkins are really starting to fill out.

5. My tiny family. I have to go back to work next week and am going to miss not getting to spend so much time with them, but for now I’m not going to waste too much time thinking about it.

Ringo Blue loves it when he finds a toy when we are out walking, will carry it all the way home

Bonus joy: Clean sheets, clean water, our “new” fence, grilled cheese sandwiches, hummus, aqua aerobics, Pilates, morning walks, afternoon rain, good books, texting, going to see movies with Eric, french toast, sleeping in my own bed, doing laundry (I know, I’m weird like that), the flowers in our garden, good neighbors, having the whole summer off and not checking my work email once, opportunities that arise simply because I showed up as I am, confidence in my decisions, a good night’s sleep, an awesome massage.