Grace is spiritual WD-40, or water wings. The mystery of grace is that God loves Henry Kissinger and Vladimir Putin and me exactly as much as He or She loves your new grandchild. Go figure. — Anne Lamott

Thank you for the love we deserve no matter what.

Thank you for kindness being unattached.

Thank you for extended sabbaticals (like the one I took from work) because maybe there is something good about breaks that are longer than we think they should be. 

Thank you for the beauty of twisted oaks.

Thank you for free performing art shows by birdies in the sky. 

Thank you for values. It helps when I think of what mine are. Why do they matter? How does my passage through each day, little moments to bigger stuff, align with them?

Thank you for learning from the past. The coaching program is presenting challenges because it seems to transmit potentially harmful (and not based on solid evidence) information. Before, if I saw that, I’d run. Now, I’m thinking in shades of gray. 

Thank you for a few of the (many) pros of a vegan diet that’s mainly whole foods. Society may want us to believe these distinct possibilities aren’t available in one package: Enjoyment of a limitless and guilt-free abundance of starchy goodness. Freedom from calorie counting and portion restriction. Freedom from worries about consuming enough protein or too much gluten. Freedom from fears of becoming overweight. Lower chances of lifestyle-related illness.

Thank you for focus on the three T’s aiding my transition to a vegan diet. Satiety means staying full with plenty of whole plant foods. Novelty involves trying new options and different takes on familiar ones to keep meals exciting. And variety means regularly chomping a rainbow of diverse fruits, veggies, grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds. It’s beautiful. It’s abundant. It’s simple. And the health it contributes to feeds happiness.

Thank you for the lady who saw me ogling her Irish setter, Winston, and invited me to pet him. Thank you for his big soft head. 

Thank you for the oak leaf that blew into my hand walking away from the rental car place in TO after a long couple days.

Thank you for friends’ responses to Fatima so far—KG’s for instance: “I think of it as sort of a nothing burger.”

Thank you to the stranger who said I looked nice and cozy, when inside I felt like a slob. Thank you for noticing that to think of myself as a slob is less than kind.

Thank you for compliments from strangers (like when the man walked up to Sis at Lawry’s).

Thank you for HALT coming in handy this week. Luckily awareness of sleep deprivation, hungries, loneliness, etc, unveils the deception in thoughts. The truth is that my pessimistic narratives spring neither from reality nor from a vision of it I’d like to manifest. They’re a biased add-on. So telling myself, “You’re tired right now. Pause your mulling until you’ve had a good sleep,” helps to ride out the waves.

Thank you for sobriety clearing the fog that gathers in its absence.

Thank you for planning. We can plan for hiccups in advance. We can assume they’ll happen and decide beforehand how we’ll move forward once they do. 

Thank you for instead of simply giving up what’s unhealthy, filling the void with alternatives.

Thank you for when you and I and he and she have the courage to go the upright route.

Thank you for awkward conversations that increase intimacy. Thank you for bravery to start them. Thank you for practice to improve at them. I wish us all a flood of uncomfortable conversations throughout life, and the perspective to enjoy a chuckle at our fears.

Thank you for a morning walk past a fig tree and a lime tree by the Ventura County line. Thank you for eucalyptus out my bedroom window reminding me of Dad. Thank you for trees that feel like home.

Thank you for songs matching thoughts and responding to questions. 

Thank you for leaps of faith.

Thank you for roomies different than I’d imagined, in interesting ways. Thank you for painful pasts deepening their kindness. Thank you for their sons as lasting gifts from decades-long relationships that ultimately ran their course. Thank you for our unanimous appreciation of the home we share. Thank you for the woman who brought us together.

Thank you for the irony of going down in some respects to reach higher. Turning back may move me forward.

Thank you for integrity to give space to men and women battered by choices they don’t understand have been theirs. Thank you if that space helps them even a tiny bit. Thank you for visions of their solid, courageous, honest, empowered selves. Thank you for hope that everyone’s path will lead higher regardless of what that looks like or how long it takes.

Thank you for JL sending a pic of her veggie sandwich with hummus and alfalfa sprouts. It inspired me to munch more or those little powerhouses. Thank you for our virtuous cycle.

Thank you for monster burritos to make up for calorie deficits.

Thank you for future bike rides.

Thank you for descents becoming less scary. Thank you for all-out efforts down Mulholland twisties.

Thank you for friendly faces at the Old Place.

Thank you for a visit to homies at Seminole and for love from their doggles. I wonder if they realize how much they mean to me. (Maybe I should communicate that lol.)

Thank you for the choice to make the best of difficult anniversaries.

Thank you for when a future that seemed unimaginable instead leaves you grateful for the pain of the past. I’ll get there!

Thank you for insight into where different paths may lead based on how they’re traveled. For instance, I’ll do well to walk upright in the light with truth as a guide... (Does the journeying itself create the way?)

Thank you for thinking about thoughts (related to the HALT thing). A walk the other morning happened on an empty belly, with itunes piping sad music in my ears—angry women lambasting men who’d wronged them and such. So the mean reds flooded my heart. Back home, I had breakfast, brushed my teeth, and washed my face, only to feel happy vibes return. 

It reminded me of what it is to be kind. For me, it never works to rely on will or discipline or intent alone for that sort of thing. Nor do I feel good about kid-before-Christmas kindness (doing it for the presents). I try instead to arrange life so the good stuff just feels right to do because it is right.

And it does feel that way. Sometimes. Or it can, especially if I practice a certain way. Wellness is key. When fresh plant foods and nature and walks and rest balance my body, when right messages fill my ears and eyes—then the intention toward kindness sort of for its own sake flows into action like it’s going with gravity. Sure, wellness isn’t always possible. But persistently seeking to do a little bit better, to have a little more balance, to be ever more honest, usually is. A life filled with these positive micro-choices may elevate us. (I don’t know…)

Thank you for the randomness of repetitive gratitude lists. Thank you again for feeling doubt mixed with shame and posting anyway.

Thank you for the aim to choose better this week. Thank you for gentleness on ourselves when we’ve chosen lass than wisely. Thank you for learning from the past and trying our best. Thank you for rest. Wishing you decent bedtimes and deep sleep for strong days to come! <3