My dear friend David Reiley invited me to play the 5-day “gratitude game,” which involves publicly posting 3 things per day for which I’m grateful, and tagging 3 people per day to do the same. Usually I shy away from things like this, but since I adore this man and since cultivating gratitude is much more like paying it forward than like a chain letter, I’m in. David Rodwin, Karen Page, Anne L. Fifield – I’m tagging your asses here on my Day 1 of 5.
What I am grateful for today:
my Uncle Jim.
1 – simple freedom. I just spent a weekend celebrating/memorializing my uncle Jim, an amazing and delightful man who was burdened with the awful memories of his years as a prisoner of war in the Philippines, enduring horrific captivity during World War II. So my mind has been on some dark topics lately – mortality, cruelty – and I am deeply appreciating the very basic autonomy we almost always take for granted.
2 – easy access to the outdoors. I am so lucky to live in a place in California where I can go outside on our little terrace, drink coffee and write these words surrounded by lots of greenery, the quiet bustle of our street, and the beautiful mountains to the north.
3 – an exuberantly affectionate son. Mose generally wakes up first thing and comes in to our room for extended snuggling. It’s only the best way to start the morning in the history of the world. Not sure how long this will last (he’s almost 9 now) but I am grateful for it every single day.
More tomorrow! Thanks, David, for making me do this.
