1. Morning walks. They weren’t all that exciting this week, short and sweet. Ringo strained his elbow on an early morning and very cold run on Saturday, got his limp back, so we’ve been taking it easy with him, only going around our neighborhood. He’s on the mend and we are taking it slow. Even if it wasn’t over the water, the river or the ponds, we can still see the sun rise in the sky over our house.

 2. Trying new recipes. In particular this past week I was looking for baked oatmeal recipes to try. This strawberry baked oatmeal with fresh strawberries on top was super yummy. I also have a bunch of salad recipes saved on Instagram I want to try. I always follow the recipe the first time, to know how the author intended it to taste, and then, if I like it enough to make it again, I make tweaks according to my preferences. I love how cooking can be both creative and restorative.

3. Swimming laps. I have a goal to be able to swim a mile, which is 63 laps in the pool at my gym. I can currently do 13 before I get too tired, which for some reason when I swim translates as dizzy. I swim with a snorkel because with my anxiety about drowning and the claustrophobia of putting my face in the water, I’ve never really learned to both swim and breathe on my own, so the snorkel makes that part easier. I don’t have to worry about it, I just swim. Recently, since I recommitted to swimming laps, something shifted. I don’t really know how or why, but now putting my face in the water, having my ears under as well, feels really soothing where it used to trigger panic. I still use the snorkel because it continues to make things easier, but now the whole process feels a bit more like joy.

4. Ringo. Oh boy, can he be a real jerk, but he’s also hilarious and sweet. This week he found another friend while he was out on his walk. It’s so cute how happy it makes him, and he almost seems proud of himself. When he was a baby, he had a special love for water bottles. He once carried a baby doll for almost two miles. I think he believes he’s captain of the neighborhood lost & found or head of recycling.

5. My tiny family, tiny home, tiny life. The world can seem so big, so broken, but this safe haven, this big love, this soft place to land gives me reasons every single day to not give up.

Bonus joy: making art with Calyx, Hendrix’s first birthday, strawberries and raspberries, drive through pharmacies, tacos with Carrie, texting with Chloe’ and Mom and Chris, the 300+ people who showed up for my uncle’s funeral, kittens, other people’s dogs, hot coffee with hot cocoa and tiny marshmallows, aqua aerobics, vaccines and masks, good TV (Somebody Somewhere on HBO is so good), listening to podcasts, that corner of the couch, cuddling with Ringo and hugging Eric, sitting together on the couch doing nothing, sitting in the sauna, the hydromassage chair, my nutritionist, my therapist, my primary care physician, access to the support I need, watching Guy’s Grocery Games with Eric and making each other laugh, gummy supplements, down and wool, hot clean water, watercolors, house plants, naps, small group training with Shelby, meditating before the sun comes up in the morning, writing, Wild Writing with Laurie and my writing sangha, stickers, my HappyLight, clothes that are soft and loose, stretching, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.

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.