a little bit country gratitude

i am grateful for:

1) gratitude lists. they really are a balm when my head is feeling gritty or turbulent or panicked. puuurspectiiiiive. helpful.

2) the lovely feedback so far from the YJ article. thanks, y’all. it’s lovely to be received.

3) how my stomach started gurgling during acupuncture today. it’s a pretty quiet stomach but it always feels healthier when it can make some NOISE. lemme hear your stomach holla! holla! yeah. that’s what i’m digestin’ abooout!

4) cicadas, everywhere.

5) reading to miss l. age 2.5, at bedtime. (or “storytime,” the greatest language switcheroo since “death tax.”) fun.

6) swimming and doing ring-around-the-rosie in the pool.

7) finding ways to worry less.

8) this awesome facebook status from my friend, life coach and mantra genius anandra allison george: “Is it fair to distance yourself from a friendship because you didn’t get what you didn’t ask for? (In other words, if you expected the friend to read your mind and he/she didn’t?)” we do that all the time, don’t we? i think i do. even if it’s just a subtle distance for a little while. like, “i’m going to protect myself because i’m too scared to tell you how i need you to be so i can feel safe with you.” it’s sad. all these missed opportunities to share with friends, to make them more into family for how real we are with them. this is how blood builds, by truth-telling about the relationship, in the relationship. this is how we are, quite literally forged–not just into sweet light cocktaily comfortableness, but joined by true connection and authenticity. this does not have to involve conflict, but it does have to involve two things: being willing to be vulnerable and being willing to tell and hear the truth. and this is rare and precious.

9) crayons.

10) peace and relief.