People Watching
Today I am grateful for a cooling breeze amid a very humid few days. I am also grateful for the chance to get out for some people watching and enjoying the downtowns of our Twin Cities.
We took a new stretch of our light rail train. We saw the new Vikings football stadium under construction. We walked around downtown Minneapolis. We enjoyed the pregame and early innings of a Twins game at Target Field. I hadn't been downtown in months. I am still a small town farm girl at heart. Seeing the city and skyscrapers still impresses me and gives me a sense of the wider world. My son Sam has gotten to experience these views in more than one city in his young life. I hope it widens his view and promotes an open mind.
And we saw lots of people. More variety than I usually see in my own community, at my job, and other places I typically spend time. Variety takes many forms. For me, it is an exercise not in judgment but in gratitude. To be able put all my senses to use in a crowd of people in a city setting is a blessing. To be able to put my senses to use in any setting is a blessing. One I too often take for granted.
I am also grateful Sam sees the variety of our fellow humans. I think it promotes the dignity of all of us. We all have a place and a space in this world, and a need to belong and have meaning. That is where it all starts. Maybe there will be less fear and judgment if there is more acceptance and open mindedness.
Gratitude practice is about awareness and not taking things for granted. Watching others move about their days seems to help me become more aware and take less for granted. For that I am truly grateful.
We took a new stretch of our light rail train. We saw the new Vikings football stadium under construction. We walked around downtown Minneapolis. We enjoyed the pregame and early innings of a Twins game at Target Field. I hadn't been downtown in months. I am still a small town farm girl at heart. Seeing the city and skyscrapers still impresses me and gives me a sense of the wider world. My son Sam has gotten to experience these views in more than one city in his young life. I hope it widens his view and promotes an open mind.
And we saw lots of people. More variety than I usually see in my own community, at my job, and other places I typically spend time. Variety takes many forms. For me, it is an exercise not in judgment but in gratitude. To be able put all my senses to use in a crowd of people in a city setting is a blessing. To be able to put my senses to use in any setting is a blessing. One I too often take for granted.
I am also grateful Sam sees the variety of our fellow humans. I think it promotes the dignity of all of us. We all have a place and a space in this world, and a need to belong and have meaning. That is where it all starts. Maybe there will be less fear and judgment if there is more acceptance and open mindedness.
Gratitude practice is about awareness and not taking things for granted. Watching others move about their days seems to help me become more aware and take less for granted. For that I am truly grateful.
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