This list is in no particular order and it’s a way of practicing gratitude, which is something I need to work on in order to feel good, take less for granted and have an easier time manifesting the positive achievements I want/need.
1. Quality time with my loved ones.
2. Laughing.
3. Towels and jeans straight out of the dryer. My inner child is very happy every time I get those warm items in my hands, no matter how simple the moment is.
4. Toddlers. They’re so fun and cute and imaginative. They inspire me and send me good, pure energy almost relentlessly. Hanging out with a little kid makes me confront the importance of gratitude, of simple, genuine acts, and they make me want to spend our visits firmly connected to the love energy, giving what I’m receiving from those beautiful little people.
5. Making new friends out of dogs and cats. I may have previously mentioned volunteering with animals, and I do it because I want to help and they more than deserve it, bringing us joy and stress relief. They aren’t able to advocate for themselves as we are capable of, in addition to the fact that frankly, having sustenance available is more consistent when you have a human who is at least adequate at their job.
6. Mashed potatoes.
7. Espresso.
8. Long walks, listening to videos on YouTube.
9. Weird dreams and remembering them.
10. Sleeping well.
11. Blowing bubbles.
12. Learning. I may well be one of those people who’s insatiably curious. During the quarantine, I was on furlough from work, so I took a lot of long walks, I did yoga, meditated a lot, and also learned via online videos about some of the work of Dr. Gabor Maté, psychoneuroimmunology, epigenetics, etc.
On another note, I’m somebody who has a real, empathetic, history-loving interest in the black slave experience in America, the Civil Rights movement and the Holocaust, but partly because those periods are so emotionally impactful, I choose to check in and out over the years. For example, after reading articles about and watching clips from interviews with some survivors of the Birmingham Children’s Crusade of 1963, I was changed, I cried a little in response to the bravery of those kids, including a guy who’d been 16 and acutely aware of how much his life was at risk. I appreciated relearning about that event and afterward, took months off until discovering Not Your Momma’s History.
In 2012 o3 ’13, I visited Washington D.C. and took my time in the Holocaust Museum. I recommend paying your respects there. They’ve done a fantastic job of supplying the public with photos and stories and replicas, and it was an experience that allowed me to have a moment of deep thought about human resilience and grit, love and kindness, even stories of people who fought back against certain death by Nazi in a ghetto or in a concentration camp. I still value that visit in the museum and how it helped make me a better human, but after that, I wasn’t ready to read or watch anything about the Holocaust or discuss it for some months.
In the last couple of days, I was on a kick where I revisited nearly every video from “Ask a Mortician” and some Q&A speaking engagements with the star, Caitlin Doughty (doe-tee), who is the owner of a funeral home, has worked in the industry for at least a decade, and has now churned out three books encouraging people to be as involved as they want to be in the death rituals of their loved ones and in the planning of one’s own eventual demise. Because I’ve been in this phase, I saw some videos for the first time, like the one about a “secret porpoise”, or the time she and her now-deceased cat named The Meow did a silly little dance to “Gangnam Style”.
Also, committing for a little while to learning something new actually creates new neural pathways in the brain, thus making you smarter. I love that. Bring iiiiiiit.
13. No matter how cheesy this may sound, it’s been true. I’m happy to be in this brain, this body, this life. I like it here. Of course, there’s no denying that being human is difficult, harsh, full of suffering, and it’s literally heavy in an energetic sense, but even grappling with that, I choose to be alive and to be this particular meat bag. This life is so worth it.
Please note: This piece has been a
writing exercise. I’ve had a stressful few days weeks in which I obsessed over what my parents
and I decided I don’t have, and cycling through all that negativity made me
feel low, made me worry about my next move, and of course had me screwing up
sleep, which took a toll on my mood and focus during the day. Yada, yada. In
this current energetic shift on the planet, I need to reign in negative beliefs
and practice more gratitude and love in order to simply feel better but
also to use the Law of Attraction for good! I wanted to add this note to remind,
well, myself, that this post is entirely true but not written by anyone with
Care Bear DNA.
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