27 Powers | Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray)

1. Opening The Creative Channel workshop, led by Andrea Scher and Laurie Wagner, both fiercely compassionate, and attended by the most amazing group of women, honest and funny and creative. We made the wildest, most wonderful mess together.

2. Paid sick days, being able to sleep in and rest.

3. Eric, the pictures he sends me when he and Sam are out hiking, and how after reading my blog post about our anniversary, he brought me home a Twix candy bar.

Sam’s impression of a baby grizzly

4. A sweet potato and black bean quesadilla from Whole Foods, apparently only the Whole Foods in Berkeley because I went yesterday to look at ours and nothing. Good thing I wrote down what was in it, can try to make it for myself, because it was one of the best things ever.

5. Good soap. It really is the little things that matter.

Bonus Joy: Sam, the best sick day buddy ever, except when he’s stealing my spot on the couch.

1. The way the colors in the landscape are changing, the shifting light, everything turning golden.

2. The last cucumbers, the final tomatoes. Bittersweet.

3. Susan Piver and the Open Heart Project. Our retreat this past weekend was so beneficial. The whole project is so helpful and good. And Susan…well, I absolutely adore her, will forever and ever be grateful for her wisdom and her friendship.

4. Knowing what I’m doing, some of the time. I know that it’s very enlightened to “only don’t know,” but sometimes it can feel really good to know I am competent.

5. Another workshop at 27 Powers, and the loving husband who supports me going and takes care of things while I’m away. This time it’s this, with Laurie Wagner and Andrea Scher, “Opening the Creative Channel is a gathering of kindred spirits who will share stories, gorgeous food + creative exercises. We’ll write, we’ll pull out cameras and pens, we’ll put words to paper, play with color and even take a field trip, all in the service of opening the creative channel and waking up our intuition so we can hear the sound of our own music.”

Bonus Joy: The different shapes Sam can take, sometimes curled into the tiniest ball, or stretched all the way out like the tallest, longest dog who ever lived.