Thank you for when friends come easily. Thank you for text messages and phone calls and invites and chats. Thank you for common interests. Thank you for comfort around others. Thank you for love for them. Thank you for looking back to see how far I’ve come by working on the insides and not worrying so much about outsides, not forcing life. It has more meaning now. Connecting with people is fulfilling.

Thank you for when I don’t try to force myself to change and end up changing (growing) naturally. That’s what has happened with my shyness. It’s still there but much better.

Thank you for shyness and introversion being compatible with loving others. Thank you for work-arounds that compensate for shortcomings. One of the reasons I’ve loved living in dense areas (like Manhattan and Westwood) is that it’s impossible not to connect with people in urban areas, not matter how shy you are or how much of a homebody. That’s also a great thing about life in Cornell. Running into neighbors is inevitable. All you have to do is spend some time walking outside. So there’s less effort to make friends. And that automatic interaction is a real plus for shut-ins who happen not to be misanthropes.

Thank you for the Golden Girls theme song and for hearts full of love. Thank you for a tiny kernel of confidence that everything is alright no matter what. Thank you for special friends. Thank you for the feeling that we are not alone. Thank you for healing. Thank you for our interconnected world.  

Thank you for when we let go of punishing others for not doing or being how we expect, and instead accept and appreciate them as they are.

Thank you for dogs barking in their sleep.

Thank you for my budding sudoku addiction. It’s a guilty pleasure. It won’t always be there.

Thank you for The Breaks and other cute funnies. Thank you for virtual warm blankets.

Thank you for hugs.

Thank you for a feeling of safety. Everything will be ok, regardless…

Thank you for our wishes for others to thrive.

Thank you for new options popping into my head.

Thank you for this Sunday.

Thank you for bike rides, yoga on the beach, and farmer’s market visits.

Thank you for healthy boobs.

Thank you for the inspirational stories of late bloomers.

Thank you for prayer plants. 

Thank you for a clean toilet and house.

Thank you for succumbing to sleepiness, and wishing you restful sleep and refreshed mornings.