Everyone seems to do this in the “blog world”, and I don’t consider myself a full-fledged member of that community. But still, it’s a great way to look back at the week and focus on the positive. So here goes…

1. Sunny and rainy spring days. Let me clarify here – not rainy all day, March-like days, but rather summer storms (which is what we’re having today and tonight). You can’t have sunshine all of the days – more than not would be nice! – but if I’m going to have rain, this is the kind of rain I like!

2. A productive week on the work front, thanks to summer break (ha, not for me…) and making significant progress conceptualizing and presenting my most recent proposal.

3. Coworkers who really care and who really help. Especially my next-door office neighbor, who has been just wonderful. It makes me realize that I am in the right place for me.

4. Good health care. From my therapist to my other docs, it’s just such a relief to have this. Of course, EVERYONE should have it, but I’m hopeful we’ll (eventually) get there. Just not in this administration…

5. Actually giving myself grace to shut it down Wednesday when I came home sick. I changed and laid on the couch and napped and felt so much better after just an hour down. I felt hideous Wednesday morning and wound up heading out of work about 10. Horrible stomach ache and pain and I just could not get it to go away. Usually I’d power through, but I actually did what was right for my body this time. Astonishing! 🙂

6. OK, one more… anti-frizz air dry cream. So superficial, but so awesome. My suddenly wavy hair (what IS this pre-menopause stuff?) is grateful. So am I.

I’m working all weekend, but that’s life on the tenure track. Time to buckle down for my Friday working-at-home (plus some food prep and a doc appt, of course).

Why I Wake Early
by Mary Oliver

Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who make the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
and the nodding morning glories,
and into the windows of, even, the
miserable and crotchety–

best preacher that ever was,
dear star, that just happens
to be where you are in the universe
to keep us from ever-darkness,
to ease us with warm touching,
to hold us in the great hands of light–
good morning, good morning, good morning.

Watch, now, how I start the day
in happiness, in kindness.

The most beautiful and most profound emotion we can experience is the sensation of the mysterious. ~Albert Einstein

Well, yes, of course I spoke too soon with my triumphant post on breaking the looking-at-the-activity-app-all-the-time habit.

I didn’t really think it would be that easy. Turns out that temptation can be strong, and, of course, ingrained habits can be even stronger. Combine temptation with habits, and… let’s just say that I backslid quite a bit yesterday.

But! I am hoping today is a better day. More meetings, more distractions. Hoping not to be where I was earlier in the week, not yesterday.

Spring has (finally) sprung here, bringing with it sneezes and sniffles and glorious-looking evenings that tempt me outside… if not for the fact that I am usually in my pj’s by 7 pm. I go to bed very early and get up very early, which means that I never miss a sunrise (no, really, I don’t think I’ve missed one for years now) but I do tend to miss that golden light in the evenings. It’s such a glorious and short-lived time of year here (in Wisconsin) and I try to soak up as much of it as I can to hold me through the colder, darker months. Those are good in their own way, but what they don’t have is a lot of light.

I find that as I get older I am even more appreciative of how privileged I am to live in a place with seasons, and that I have the resources to enjoy them all. I know that’s not the case for so many people, and I try very hard not to dread or complain about any one season. This winter made that a bit difficult, but I persevered. I know how lucky I am…. and being grateful and thankful for that does help when it’s -20 with a wind chill of -40. 😉

Which brings me to one, final, larger point (finally, sorry). I was kind of slapped in the face earlier in the week with a recitation of how privileged I have been in my life – my parents were not indulgent, but we did not want for anything. My education was paid for. I was “launched”, if you will (I kind of hate that term, but go with me here), with all the support and love and help that I could ask for. And I like to think that is what has helped me to focus more on those who have less, who are less privileged and less fortunate. In my work, in my life in general, in my politics, etc. The person who made the initial comment to me thought it would / should have shifted me the other way – that is, preserving my privilege and restricting it to those “like me”…but to me, it makes more sense that because I had those advantages I want others to have similar opportunities. Helping others… seeing them rise despite (or perhaps in a way because of) their adversities in life… it brings me so much joy if I can give them a bit of a boost along the way. Yes, I am lucky. No, others are not. That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t do everything in my power to help them get where they want to be…

And that doesn’t really tie things up neatly either, so I’ll just end this way – I am grateful for the life I lead. It’s a darn good one. And if I can help others have a good life? all the better, in my opinion. Now, off to save the world. Ha.