Day 26

Reflecting on 25 days of gratitude, I have to admit it's actually become harder than I thought. I am trying not to repeat myself, and I find that I am routinely grateful for things like seeing the Brooklyn Bridge when I go over the bridge on the train, flowers, sunny days, any conversations I get with my friends (or pictures of their adorable babies via MMS), the joy of cooking my own dinner or a good glass of wine, and anything vaguely related to my cats. These are the things I routinely find joy in and look for throughout the day - and I'm finding it difficult at times to shift my thinking and look for other things, go outside my comfort zone, push a bit.



Today I am grateful for a sense of productivity. I went through financial documents since 2006 and shredded a bunch of the stuff I don't need anymore, condensing a file drawer down to one accordion folder. This resulted in six bags of shreddings! I feel purged, light. Unfortunately this killed my poor little shredder, after three overheating episodes. RIP Staples MiniMate Shredder - you were just not quite shredder enough to meet my paper-hoarding tendencies.

Day 25 - Bikes, Bierkraft & Werner Herzog

Today we went for a lovely bike ride, saw the movie Horrible Bosses, biked over for a sweet sandwich at Bierkraft, where I saw this little guy hiding under the sandwich board next to Bierkraft, and then came home.



We watched Encounters at the End of the World, a sweet, intriguing look at Antarctica and the colony of folks living down at McMurdo. I highly recommend it, and it's on Netflix instant play right now.



So today I am thankful for summer, bikes, people who follow the beat of their own drum, and the incredible beauty of our gorgeous planet.

Day 23, 24

Day 23 - Thursday, July 7
I am thankful for opportunities. I am thankful for old friends.



Day 24 - Friday, July 8
I am thankful for sleep! And unexpected blessings.

Day 22

Family. I love my family.

Day 21

I am grateful for second chances, and the knowledge that I'll never be perfect, but I can have a practice of being better, making better choices.

"Happiness is also a way of interpreting the world, since while it may be difficult to change the world, it is always possible to change the way we look at it."

Also I'm thankful for loved ones who cook me dinner :)

Days 18, 19, 20

Saturday July 2, 2011

I have a lot to report today!

First, I’m grateful to be proven wrong about things – or to have my stereotypes “boulversé.” I assumed Omaha would be flat, which it is, but it’s very green and beautiful. We went to the Durham Heritage Museum today, which had a great exhibit on of Pulitzer photo winners, “Capturing the Moment,” which was touring from the Newseum. Afterwards we went strolling through the Old Market area, which is stunning – lots of old brick buildings, window boxes filled with geraniums, and quaint little shops including Jackson St Booksellers that we got lost in for a minute (or several). After a spicy delicious Indian dinner, we went for a brief walk in Papio Creek. As the sun sank in a watercolorist’s delight over the creek, the fireflies came out. Little shots in the gloaming – brief, shimmering waves flashing over the cornfields (it is still Nebraska) – sparking, sparkling, beautiful. They were so incredible. It was a magical moment, standing and watching a field of fireflies lighting up, intermittently – just because they can! – moments of light and beauty.

Sunday July 3
Today I am grateful for old friends and for new ones. I met a dear friend from high school, Sarah, for lunch today. Thanks to social media, we discovered that we’d both be in Omaha the same week. So we went for lunch, and caught up, and it was lovely.

I also found a new friend. At my Jesuit college, I read a lot of spiritual work and had heard of Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese Zen Buddhist, but had never read more than a smattering of quotations. I found a text of his in the bookstore (yes, 2nd bookstore in 2 days, this is what my family does for entertainment: visit bookstores) called True Love and I read it last night and I felt so relieved, so at peace. It was like having a wise friend speak to you and tell you things you knew, but that you needed to hear outside yourself for them to echo into truth.

Monday July 4

Today I left Omaha, routed through Minnesota back to New York. Before I left this morning, we went to the Lauritzen Botanical Gardens. As we went at midday, due to circumstance and timing of my flight rather than choice, it was incredibly humid and sticky but the gardens were really stunning. To spend even a few moments in stillness in a garden, that is truly a blessing.

Fireworks from above! Flying back, I watched fireworks going off - tiny poofs of light - for about 500 miles. Happy birthday, America.

Day 17: Birthplaces

Today I'm grateful for birthplaces. I haven't been to mine in 27 years (so I don't really remember it, I just have one memory), and I'm going there today.

A lot of people have a tie to someplace like this and I've never felt one - but now, I feel that it's poetic (trite?) for me to go back to the place where I was born at this transition in my life. I am lucky to have a break from the chaos of NYC for a weekend, at least.

(I'm not sure what my internet situation is going to be - I'll do my best. If I can't get online, I'll post my gratitude in a big chunk on Monday when I get back home.)