gratitude on a monday

i’m grateful for….

1) seeing michael franti and spearhead on saturday. gotta love a spearhead crowd, even in times square: after michael’s story about an israeli and palestianian family grieving together, some dude yells from the back, sincerely, “thanks for sharing.”
2) my new fuzzy clogs.
3) that i’m ignoring the news for the moment. still recovering from election obsession.
4) that it’s a short week.
5) meditating with noah levine and the dharma punx last night in the bowery. i even asked a question during the q&a. during the sitting part, as i was watching my usual mishigas of thinking and thinking and thinking about the same three things, he said to shift away from the breath and use mindfulness to be present to all your senses. i had a brain-coming-to-a-grinding halt moment. wait. mindfulness means i can use my mind? put it to good use instead of destructive, bad use like how it’s torturing me now? mindfulness. i realized i actually don’t know what that means. so i told my mini story and asked. he seemed a little amused. he said it’s about how you direct your attention. you don’t just rigidly focus on your breath. you don’t just stay still. you become present to all of it. you kind of expand your attention to include it all. at least that’s what i got from what he said. not sure if my question was all that coherent. but it was scary to ask with all those people, all those serious, punk-rock meditators, so i’m glad i did.
6) that i’m getting out of dodge for the weekend.
7) running into a friend from elementary school this morning who i haven’t seen since sixth grade. she’s adorable and pregnant and it was so nice to see her. and it was only because i explored a new coffee shop in a neighborhood i am almost never in. weird. and cool. and so old-school for it to have nothing to do with the internet.
8) gilmore girls, season 4
9) that tomorrow eve is shrinkage.
10) lunching with k today, also cute and pregnant and enjoying that we’ve known each other for so long. gad, 23 years. wow.