“After the final no, there comes a yes, and on that yes the future world depends.” — Wallace Stevens (quoted by Al Gore)

“We all have a really, really big strength, almost like a superpower. And that superpower is our voice…. Don’t forget that your voice and your story are your super powers.” — Itzel Morales Lagunes

Thank you for white-winged doves reminiscent of Peaches. Thank you for their wake up calls outside the window. 

Thank you for “unsubdued elations” (also Wallace Stevens).

Thank you for interesting snippets from a talk by Leah Stokes: “According to Rewiring America, 42% of the energy-related pollution we create comes from decisions that American families make every day around the kitchen table” (like what kind of car we drive, how we cook dinner, how we dry our clothes, how we heat our home and water, where our electricity comes from).

Thank you for her perspective on our homes as little fossil-fuel power plants: There are 140 million homes in this country, and most of them contain gas-burning appliances like space heaters, ovens, cooktops, water heaters, dryers, cars… A billion such machines in the U.S. run on fossil fuels. (Could you imagine having a billion quarters? Or dimes even? Pennies! Little stuff adds up.)

Thank you for gobs of IRA rebates and tax credits for the taking. Thank you for this IRA savings calculator that tells how much we may qualify for.

Thank you for opportunities. The sense that I’ve missed one, by not speaking or acting when the time seemed right, may be an illusion. Life teems with opportunities to redeem.

Thank you for percussion thumped on guitars.

Thank you for a day of cooking after a stretch of fasting.

Thank you for thinking minds that respect inner visions. Some folks assume it’s an either/or—as if our rational thoughts were at odds with intuitive insight. I wonder if it’s better to see the rational mind as a tool. Feelings, observations, beliefs, curiosities, intuition, etc. may craft conclusions with reason as their tool. So when a genuinely intuitive vision appears in conflict with a seemingly rational conclusion, then the “rational” product may be what’s faulty. For instance, the latter may be short-sighted or narrow, ill-formed by a rookie craftsman (like fear), whereas the essence of intuitive sense encompasses a broader scope. That scope could be consistent with masterfully crafted reason yet to congeal. (IDK if that makes any sense.) 

Thank you for the silly saying in philosophy circles, “One person’s modus ponens is another’s modus tollens.”

Thank you for a harmonious Easter with family.

Thank you for memories of Aunt Jaybird’s vibrance.

Thank you for our ancestors’ spirits watching over us. If they really were there, I may not feel deserving. They’d probably love me regardless of how despicable I can seem to me. They appreciate our hearts.

Thank you for the grace of forgiveness that’s neither earned nor racks up debt, that’s as free of requirements as it is of expectations.

Thank you for multiple zingers on the recent Rich Roll Podcast with Cory Booker. The senator shared stories of his shame to empower us through ours.

Thank you for his positive spin on challenges and challenging spin on positivity: “Real hope is scarred. Real hope is wounded. Real hope has had to be resurrected more than once.”

And, “Great despair is a necessary precondition to manifesting great hope.”

Last one, “In the face of intractable problems, hope is always the answer, and doubling down on love…” (Rich Roll).

Thank you for the Cali super-blooms.

Thank you for spring flowers alongside walking trails in the Sandia foothills.

Thank you for the RB lookalike at the blood center yesterday.

Thank you for the choice to give up less safe (overcrowded) spaces, with faith that we all thrive in environments conducive to direct, transparent communication. Those safer spaces hold us accountable to our respect for each other, shine a light on our integrity, and give essential feedback that adjusts our words and acts to better align with our intentions. 

Thank you for scary and exciting (for me) plans to stray from comfort zones. 

Thank you for the thrill of engaging with fears.

Thank you for every one and thing offering lessons. The material is all around. My task is to watch and listen and learn.

Thank you for the warmth of others. Thank you for simple delights of daily living.

Thank you for Harvest Moon playing at the vet’s office when I picked up Coco’s meds on the eleventh anniversary of Peaches and my rescue.

Thank you for the conscious aim, if there is a forced choice, not for a full bank account but for a full life.

Thank you for endings opening into beginnings. Thank you for emptiness unearthing new paths.