Thank you for “Every fall leaves a scar. And those scars are there to remind us, not what went wrong, but what went right.” Is that cheesy? (It’s Will Evans.)

Thank you for woodpecker and blue jay fly-bys kicking off bike adventures.

Thank you for casual poop talk.

Thank you for a full house this week (popping off). Thank you for harmony.

Thank you for Duolingo showcasing goofy phrases like “J’ai renversé mes nouilles.”

Thank you for embracing joy in the juggle of life. 

Thank you for articles raising awareness of wealth (and emissions). Are you in the top ten percent, too?

Thank you for the four pebbles of freshness, solidity, still water, and freedom. (Is that right?) I could use a mega dose of them all lately.

Thank you for the nerve to stick up for myself when it felt like I was treated less than well this week. Even if I reacted rather than responded—causing more hurt—I’m glad to have said something. Thank you for forgiveness of us all.

Thank you for wake up calls to how much more healthy I could be. Thank you for determination to keep trying. Thank you for wellness practices. Thank you for compassion.

Thank you for old lessons, like the one from leaving a job at a homeless shelter in Hollywood to start Ivy League grad studies in NY. (Sorry if it’s another repeat.) The job was with an extremely low-SES population, and the studies were with crazy-high-SES folks.

It showed good is everywhere. Some contrasts, though, made a lasting impression. I decided that bits of what society values may actually be less good for us as individuals. And hardships, lack of status, etc., sometimes spur maturity, humility, compassion, human decency...

Thank you for Covenant House residents.

Thank you for good relationship advice.

Thank you for the latest read, Blink. The part about brutal police thinking like autistic folks should have been checked for kindness and accuracy. Still that book is eye opening (no pun intended). I learned about myself.

Thank you for an LLJ-inspired thought: contentment increases by moving out of the dark and approaching light. No one can deliver light to me. It’s not like I can remain in a less happy place and relocate happier, healthier things and people down to my level. (Doing so may have the opposite effect.) What works is me actually traveling from a dimmer locale toward the desired, “lighter” direction. Proximity to the origin of light makes us shine because we’re simply vessels.

The great thing for us is that maybe we will dwell in the company of “lighter” beings when we’re nearer the source, when the light that brightens them is also close enough to energize us. Is that sort of what it means to move to a better place? I wonder if healthy relationships involve mutual encouragement to be lightward bound.

Thank you for refusals of conventional media. When not immersed in it, glimpses are more transparent.

Thank you for information that shows behind the curtain (for instance, Blink fills us in on sensation transference).

Thank you again for plain brown packaging, second-hand goods, rescued mutts, whole foods. Thank you for value in what isn’t so promoted.

Thank you for another benefit of relative freedom from dependence: improved regulation of emotions. It leads to more evenness, or less unevenness. That builds trust.

Thank you for Samber.

Thank you for SM’s calm carrying him through a life-threatening situation. Thank you for his presence. 

Thank you for the miracle of health restored. Thank you for hope nourished.

Thank you for your prayers.

Thank you for miracles in your life, big and tiny, obvious and subtle.

Thank you for grace and gifts to come. May they bombard you with love <3