Thank you for little tools around the house (like scissors and Allen wrenches) that make life easier.

Thank you for a measure of relief from election anxieties.

Thank you for the possibility of a brighter future.

Thank you for politicians who care about deeply important issues, and for hope that their dedication to address those issues will increase with more input from people like us.

Thank you for safeguards in place to check abuses of power.

Thank you for the enjoyment of life that comes more readily when all of one’s parts function as they should.

Thank you for the miracle to live here on this planet. 

Thank you for Kara’s excellent news. Thank you for her friendship making me a better person. 

Thank you for friends with shared values.

Thank you for matcha work dates. Thank you for long, caffeine-fueled, chatty strolls with gal pals where you want to keep walking because there’s so much to share.

Thank you for hot chocolate friends. They’re the ones who feel warm, safe, indulgent, and cozy to be with, where you can relax and let down your guard. Instead of being drained by their company, you’re nourished. (I strive to be a friend like that but may have a way to go.)

Thank you for hygge.

Thank you for men who don’t use their maleness as an excuse to be ruled by passions.

Thank you for humans who shatter stereotypes, partly because they refuse to play along with the rules and assumptions of mainstream culture.

Thank you for mochi.

Thank you for my roommate in NY.

Thank you for spiritual practices. Thank you for belief in the unseen. Thank you for efforts devoted to the invisible world that’s more real than the visible one.

Thank you for small investments giving large returns over time.

Thank you for thorough dentists.

Thank you for leftovers.

Thank you for clean sidewalks and streets.

Thank you for involved citizens.

Thank you for yin yoga.

Thank you for soft dog toys that squeak when chewed.

Thank you for ribbons holding places in journals.

Thank you for time to rest.

Thank you for a strong appetite more often than not (especially when exercising). 

Thank you for a relatively healthy relationship with food setting an example that one can enjoy eating without suffering negative consequences. Mealtimes needn’t be punishing in order to reach good health. Probably it’s healthier to do the opposite of punishment.

Thank you for sensory pleasures.

Thank you for the physical being more than physical. 

Thank you for the body’s connection to the self.

Thank you for when we listen to and respect our bodies, and they learn to trust us and share wisdom.

Thank you for magic all around and for senses to witness and feel it.

Thank you for shooting stars.

Thank you for floating balloons.

Thank you for falling leaves.

Thank you for tears shed over eucalyptus trees. Stepping over a patch of leaves on the sidewalk triggered the memory of their scent, but breathing the empty air brought reality back—I looked up to greet an unfamiliar tree. It was probably stress over the election that colored the situation sad. Still, remembering home is happy.

Thank you for flowering cacti.

Thank you for thoughts from reading Gandhi’s autobiography way back when. One thought was about being a scaredy cat who finds courage through truth. Truth can be like a cue card for someone who’s afraid to forget her lines. With it, she doesn’t have to worry or even think much else. She can just read from the card. It doesn’t come from her, and it’s got the right words written on it. So the pressure not to mess up is gone. There’s no seeking accolades or recoiling from condemnation. The autobiography gave me the impression that truth is what empowered its naturally timid author. He sought truth with faith in its compassion and peacefulness. Then when he found it, he advocated for it fearlessly, certain it was for the good of all and that he was simply a servant or messenger. 

Another thought was about when you are by nature or upbringing timid, you may turn oddly brave with the practice you have facing fear every day in little things that less insecure folks might not think much about. The practice prepares you for more socially agreed on “fearsome” situations that require extra courage and could otherwise catch you off guard.

Thank you for the privilege to know someone extraordinary on a level that maybe no one else does.

Thank you for a place to live.

Thank you for healthy food to eat.

Thank you for soup on the stove.

Thank you for beings who respect boundaries.

Thank you for scant dating experience aside from two long-term relationships. It feels like I’ve grown stronger in myself while not yoked to anyone. A drawback is naïveté but more advantages are I’ve not done much of the following: settled (poured water on passions), chased superficial thrills (set fire to passions), or grown bitter (drawn conclusions from the pain of trial and error). There’s learning from those experiences, too, it’s just not mine.

Thank you for lessons from past long-term relationships, too many lessons to mention and a lot that would no doubt go unheeded until I caused hurt to myself or others again. 

Thank you for an inner voice that has urged on several occasions to proceed with caution and was proven right with time. Thank you for when the voice seems to carry good news.

Thank you for all of us who see the sacred in our bodies and who welcome it to stay, encourage it to grow.

Thank you for housekeeping practices to keep inner spaces thriving.

Thank you for when another makes a difficult decision for us that we were unable to make for ourselves, and it gives us needed rest and space.

Thank you for the postal service and the employees who keep it running.

Thank you for independently run businesses.

Thank you for gifts that can be invisible when they surround us, like peace and freedom.

Thank you for seasons. Thank you for change. 

Thank you for colors. Thank you for music.

Thank you for films that impact lives in healthy ways.

Thank you for responsible communication, and for efforts to see and honor that responsibility. 

Thank you for a realization while meditating. When we don’t try to breathe but just let our breath do the breathing naturally, it’s often slower than if we tried to take over and do the breathing ourselves, pushing air in and out as if we’d die if we stopped trying. Likewise, when we abandon our efforts to force our lives and instead entrust them to nature, the living that happens naturally may be considerably slower than what would happen if we were to force our lives to play out by our own (egotistical) will. It seems healthier to let life be lived through us, because that life force is stronger and wiser than personal will. With life, though, it’s harder to know when we’re pushing things and when we’re letting them happen from the inside out.

Thank you for a healthier perspective on recent issues with LA County Building and Safety (while trying to make sure the tiny house will meet permanent residence codes). I wouldn’t be feeling frustrated about a perceived road block if I hadn’t been moving forward on the road.

Thank you for the latest road block teaching that maybe I’m gullible when it comes to dealing with bureaucracy and government, etc. So in the future, I’ll try to be wiser and/or to have help. An example of being wiser: Ask more questions. Verify that the info you’re given is accurate. If possible, have the person who is helping you to sign and date the documents they provide, to up accountability.

Thank you for the helpful intentions behind slip ups.

Thank you for Japanese sweet potatoes.

Thank you for compromise.

Thank you for flexibility. 

Thank you for couples made of individuals who speak different languages from one another and who try to learn each other’s languages.

Thank you for expectations trampled by reality clearing a path to love.

Thank you for patience.

Thank you for comfortable safe cages and harsh uncertain freedoms. 

Thank you for natural evolutions.

Thank you for songs.

Thank you for couples who meditate together.

Thank you for side by side.

Thank you for communication where disagreement is expressed without anger from the listener or the speaker.

Thank you for how stimulating it can be to argue when ego and emotions are not involved, for how much is gained about the topics at hand and the people presenting them.

Thank you for freedom of expression.

Thank you for stubbornness.

Thank you for love.