untitled gratitude

i am grateful for:

1) three clear goals: more present, more kind, more open. now i want to say something like “it’s good to have goals.” but it is.

2) amtrak–traveling without queasiness or having to put my shoes in a bin

3) ganapati

4) when things get so intense that people who normally panic actually calm down

5) anais. so feeling her.

6) seeing the amazing k-b. family and being surrounded by open, soft, smiley kids who plop on your lap and play and talk and explore and ballerina dance in purple dresses and command you to read to them

7) anne lamott having a new book, even though it’s a novel

8) the poem she opens the book with. holy mama she can pick em–the last was the stunning merwin. this one, “a blessing” by james wright. the final lines literally made me gasp. aloud, complete with involuntary hand to the heart. much better with the whole gorgeous poem but alone not too shabby: “Suddenly I realize/That if I stepped out of my body I would break/Into blossom.”

9) health

10) the cover of poets & writers right now

11) gifts that are just right–recognition and heart and generosity all in one.

12) madonna

13) patience. i need so much more than i want to give myself. i am blown away when people offer me enough.

14) eye contact

15) remembering to pray when i’m nervous–it’s tenderizing

16) bhangra, baby

17) men who dance all the way

18) snow, drifting down

19) old, old friends you can just speak straight from your brain with

20) wireless access

21) heat, of many kinds