Thank you for the practice of joy.

Thank you for “every time we ask a question, we’re generating a possible version of a life.” - David Epston

Thank you for awareness of (repeating) dominant stories we tell about life and selves, and for the power of alternative stories to freshen things up. 

Thank you for nuns at Deer Park who chant for hungry ghosts. I doubt you’re a phantom like that. Who is, really? It’s sort of a less-than-positive judgment. Anyhow, I think we all have aspects of such hungriness in us. At the same time, some among us do seem extra lost, and their choices tend to alienate them from honest, healthy relationships. I’m grateful for the compassionate wishes that may be these ghosts’ best hope for healing.

Thank you for when we do (inside) work on who we are. Thank you for times I’m not trying to borrow or steal happiness from outside and instead assume responsibility for finding it within. The result is more effort on personal contentment. As wellness augments, kindness does too.

Thank you for practice spotting strengths in others and in myself. Thank you for efforts to make spotting strengths a thing. Thank you for that superpower in you.

Thank you for, “My life is what it should be just forgiving you.” - Seth Avett 

Thank you for different languages.

Thank you for small fish in big ponds. 

Thank you for one day at a time. 

Thank you for awareness of illusions.

Thank you for advice to self. This one stands out: Remember to accept your sadness and choose positivity, both at once. There is pain, and there are love, beauty, wonder, hope….

Thank you for the gray haired couple walking ahead of me Sunday morning in the ‘burbs. His arm slid down from her waist for a playful cheek squeeze or two. (Or three.) 

Thank you for naming parts and things—car parts, body parts, fragments of feelings, situations. Such labels or concepts can distance us from reality like a middle man who grabs attention from what he stands before, distracting us from nameless actualities. 

When we put names onto concepts that are already implicit in our heads, though—when we give the (covert) middle man a title—it actually adds transparency. It shows he’s there. It reveals that some more concrete and limited understanding represents the real deal that isn’t fully represented by concepts or labels. To make explicit the unspoken understanding, being as specific as possible, shows assumptions. Our view then expands. (I don’t know how much sense that makes.)

Thank you for small details mattering in big ways.

Thank you for different kinds and levels and ways of love.

Thank you for happy times melting sadness last week. I went to my lot. A guy asked if he could let his labs free there, so I obliged in exchange for their affection. Then a peacock joined me in a visit to friends off Triunfo. Not long after, their neighbor’s cat jumped in my lap. A little doggy stopped by for a quick massage. And Cindy brought out pancakes to hand-feed the baby pea hens at her door in search of nibbles. 

Thank you for a few of my superpowers: I’m happy in solitude (enjoy my own company as narcissistic as it may sound). Rumination often has positive outcomes for me, so thinking too much is less of an issue. I can feel at home in diverse settings. And I believe people at their core are good. 

What are three or four of your superpowers? If you feel like ‘ish about yourself, listing them may help. And if it’s too hard to come up with something, ask a loved one!

Some superpowers I can think of in humbler friends: Seeing strengths in others. Respecting others’ freedom and decisions. Loyalty or devotion. Forgiveness. Persistence. Self awareness. Sensitivity that lends to gentleness and respect (soft powers with weighty impacts).

Thank you for inexpensive superfoods like beets, cabbage, sweet potatoes, and oats.

Thank you for the choice to try happiness on the first anniversary of a difficult day. The day reinforced the idea that life is sort of what I make it. Just like accepting sadness is crucial, deciding to be happy is possible. 

Thank you for an exhilaratingly close hawk fly-by on the walking path one morning.

Thank you for funny thoughts from looking up hawk photos on the New York Public Library website to match the above sentence. The photo search got me reminiscing about the hawk that used to watch over Peaches and me from its perch on the eucalyptus tree at the Mulholland lot. The library search result turned up lots of “sparrow hawk” pics, too, which was neat considering I had just helped a friend on Sparrowhawk Lane yesterday. I don’t know why this other random detail seemed interesting on top of the others: images from George Balanchine’s Jewels (the emeralds) for some reason surfaced in the NY public library’s search results for “hawk.” That’s the ballet I saw last month at the Lincoln Center (where Balanchine made his mark). Finding funny connections makes life interesting, at least.

Thank you for recording dreams, then rereading and interpreting them in different ways. It strengthens honesty muscles while it teaches about myself. So dream journaling is practice in truthfulness. What are other everyday exercises to flex your honesty muscles? 

Thank you for empowerment.

Thank you for every finish line being a starting line. May our little daily habits hone the insight to discern higher paths ahead. If we focus on blessings and promise, we’ll travel those paths. They’ll lead us through dark stretches into light.