#365Gratitude Day 303: My bags are packed

Thursday night after work I threw a few essentials into a suitcase and got on the road to go visit Maya and Michael. 

It's a trip that's been in the works for about two months now.  I love them, and have wanted to visit them for a "just because" visit for ages. 

It worked out just fine.  I made good time and four hours later, arrived at their home.  I have this thing about knowing the place a person is, being in it, so I have a sense of it when I'm not there.  I was super excited to see their apartment, because I'd never been there before.  They're both enormous parts of my life, and people I text with, call, bullshit on twitter, or otherwise insinuate myself  as often as possible.  So getting that extra little shot of juice of being in and knowing their home meant a lot to me.  They've really made me feel super welcome.  I'm catching up my blog from their house right now in fact.    

I love them, they're family to me. 

#365Gratitude Day 302: Coaching

No funny picture, no pun-making-title.  Just serious gratitude for the fact that I also do life coaching, and that sometimes, it's an absolute joy.  I had an absolutely wonderful session of coaching with a client Wednesday night.  I'm so thrilled with them and how they're doing.  They're making fantastic strides in accomplishing something very important to them.   

I showed them some different ways to think about things, gave the some new strategies for making progress, but they are doing all the heavy lifting.  And OH BOY are they ever doing it.  I'm super proud of the progress they're making. 

I love being a life coach.  Sometimes the world can seem like a hostile, jumbled, confusing place, filled with misfortune and unhappiness.  (Which is a lie, it's not that way, nor is it a place filled with constant joy, ease, and laughter.  It's just the world, and it's here for us to use as we can.)  But coaching, for me, is a way of fighting back that darkness I sometimes can't help but manifest.  In a world filled with people being intolerant, depressed, and shitty to one another, it makes me feel great to help someone to realize change they want in their own life.  It's a great way to see change in action. 

#365Gratitude Day 301: A practice of gentle intentions

So I've been trying something new lately, that I learned from Pema Chodron's Getting Unstuck.  It's a practice Pema calls 1 & 1, a way of being mindful but easygoing.  When you wake up in the morning, you pick an intention for your day.  It can be anything, big or small.  The crucial guidelines are: 

• Pick just one thing. 
• Do your best to do that thing. 
• At the end of the day, take the time to consciously see how you did. 

I do this with a little tech assist.  I have alarms on my phone for getting up and going to bed, and I've added a little note to each to remind me to do this.  Plus, I keep my intention in a little document on my phone, so I can take the step of actually writing it down.  

I've only been doing it for a few days, but it feels good.  Some days, I've really been on top of my intention, and made it happen.  Other days, I totally flubbed it.  But it's still cool, because I got to look back on why I did.  In one case, I had planned to write, and just ran out of time.  In another, I resolved to not grouse about something at work to coworkers.  (Totally unrealistic!) The great thing has been no matter whether I've had a home-run or a strike each day, I've made a practice of paying attention. 

It feels good. 

#365Gratitude Day 300: Yeah

Just watch this. 

#365Gratitude Day 299: Balloongenuity

On Sunday Missy and I drove up to see our girl Katie, her partner Leah, and help celebrate the birthday of her son, C.  Katie really, really, really likes balloons. 

You can tell from this picture of her holding the balloons for the party, in the back seat of my car. 

They only even fit because Missy was able to get the lions share of them in the hatch, in the back.  She squeezed, pushed, pulled, and shoved balloons around until the four of us and the copious amount of balloons fit in the car.  That was the first moment of balloon ingenuity. 

I had my own moment of it later, when we were trying to tie up some balloons outside the hall where the party was going to be.  I'm no boy scout, but I do know how to make a slip knot, because reasons.

"The party is that way!" 

I was proud of myself.   The party was great too.  At one point all the kids played a game where they kneeled, sat on, leaned against, or just outright stomped on balloons to pop them.  (Did I mention we had a lot of balloons?)  It was hysterical.