Just sharing a list of things I've been super grateful for lately:

My poetic past
During a recent declutter session, I stumbled upon my college graduation portfolio with all the poems I had written for various poetry classes (Creative Writing majors had to choose a concentration, poetry or short story fiction). There were sestinas, villanelles, sonnets, pantoums... the list goes on. Maybe that's why I was in a rhyming mood in my last post? Regardless, it reminded me how I went into my course of study with no real structure to my writing. I hated structure. I also hated grammar. Those classes taught me to love both, and they showed me how to mold my writing (and general creativity) to fit certain guidelines as needed. That turned out to be a bigger life lesson than I ever could've imagined, and I'm glad I learned that lesson as early as I did. It's been a big help in my career.

The ability to give
There have been plenty of times in my adult life where my funds were stretched too thin for charitable giving. Even then, I was giving what I could but still wanted to give more. These past couple years have been different in the best way, and I noticed it when I was balancing my bank account and reviewing some spending patterns. I hope this upward trend continues!

Old tech
This may be a weird one, but it's still noteworthy. I dropped my phone in the toilet at the beginning of this year, and I've been using J's old iPhone 6+ ever since. I hate it. It's huge. It falls out of my hand often, sometimes hitting me in the face on the way down, but I didn't want to spend money on a new phone at the time. By the time I was willing to spend money on another phone, it made more sense to hold out until Apple drops their new model, so I've been stuck with it for even longer. At one point I replaced the battery on it, with the help of a guitar pick and a youtube video, but you know what? It's a first world problem, and I don't always need to have the latest greatest tech toy. So I'm thankful it's been holding me down this long. (but trust, I will be upgrading as soon as possible)

Changing seasons
Every morning is a little bit cooler than the last, and I am in heaven.

Babies
Not pregnant - not trying anytime soon - but babies are popping out all around me and I plan to get some good snuggles in this fall. Something about new life entering this world makes me appreciate my own so much more. Like, that was me 20+ years ago! Look how far I've come!

The little things.



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