Habitual Gratitude

It's all about rising above and about love. Rising above who we are to become more of who we are. I wrote these words in yesterday's post. It was one of those times as a writer where my own words surprise me. They just show up and leave me thinking "where did they come from?" On this last day of 2021, many may be reflecting on the past year and resolving to transform themselves in the next. Reflecting and resolving are good practices, when followed with action, persistence, and faith. I tire of "new year, new you" rhetoric though, and the reality is that most people's resolutions fall by the wayside in the first weeks of the new year.  It's not a new me that is needed. It's maybe one new (or returning) habit that helps me feel a little better in some area of my life. I can build from there. That's where the words above came from. No need to seek a new me. I am right here, right now, perfectly present and perfectly me. I love who I am and I lo

Living gratefully today, I appreciate that I was taught to read at a young age, and that I can enjoy movies in the comfort of my home thanks to streaming services like Netflix. Last night we watched a movie that others had recommended. This morning I finished a book, also recommended by others. Both were worthy of my time. They weren't light fare in terms of struggle and emotional range, but those are the kinds of movies and books I like. It's all about rising above and about love. Rising above who we are to become more of who we are. Love wins.  The book came recommended to me by two students at my school, and a colleague had a copy I borrowed. The book is: It was a quick read, and also quick to touch my heart in many ways. Set in WWII, it is about a sister and brother finding the true meaning of home. And it is about so much more.  The movie is: (imdb.com) It was an emotionally-heavy movie, with a strong performance from Sandra Bullock and a good supporting cast. The plotline

Today I am grateful for the moon and stars in the morning sky, bringing me both a sense of awe and a reminder of humility. I also appreciate my sense of touch on this cold morning. Feeling the below-zero temperatures on the small area of my face that was uncovered, but also noticing the reliable warmth of my decades-old parka. I am also grateful for a visit with my friend Betsy. Good to see you!  Consider today's "Word for the Day" from A Network for Grateful Living :   I am thankful for my struggle because without it, I wouldn’t have stumbled upon my strength. (Alexandra Elle) Most of us probably ponder this and call to mind some of our own struggles and what each has taught us. As adults, we have the perspective and experience that shows us we can get through many difficulties. In retrospect, such times and challenges are seen as transformative and transcendent.  Some of my challenges include active alcoholism in my teens and early twenties, cancer and surgeries in my f

Today I am grateful for safe travels, nice walks, fun games, good food, the joy of little children, shared coffee and conversation, and many more gifts that came my way as we spent time with family over the last few days.  My husband Darcy and I treated ourselves to a stay in a newer hotel in the area. I treated myself to the workout room for two mornings. I have been running regularly outdoors, so this presented an opportunity for worry-free terrain and also an opportunity to push my pace. Though a little hard to read, the words on one wall in the workout room read: "Don't wish for it. Work for it."  I ran a varied pace, got my heart rate going and sweat flowing. I listened to music one morning, having forgotten how motivational that can be, though I still prefer to run device-free a vast majority of the time. Running form is also easier to see and feel with mirrors nearby and a controlled environment.  I appreciated my improved form, the fruits of the labor of a few phy

"This holiday season consider making your (true) presence a present to as many  people as you can. Less wrapped. More rapt."  Lisa Valentine  Quoting myself today. Not something I usually do, but this one fits nicely here. It is from my first-ever paid and published piece. It ran in the Minneapolis Star Tribune in the Opinion Exchange section on December 5, 2010 with the title of "Slow down; you move too fast."  I was thrilled then, and honored now. Reading it again, the message within is just as timely as it was 11 years ago.  I am not one to get too crazy at the holidays. I typically enjoy them and the time off from school. But I am one to just get too busy with life on a regular basis.  Taking my own words to heart, I captured some rapt moments in the last day. I also captured a couple of pictures. This first one is a Trader Joe's bag. We shopped there over a week ago and I put the the bag downstairs for a few days because it had holiday baking supplies in i

Take your seat at the table of healing and transformation. Dr. Larry Ward Everyone has a place at this table. Not everyone takes their seat. It can be unappetizing work at times, but nothing nourishes the human spirit as well.  Yesterday was the winter solstice. The darkest day in the  Northern Hemisphere. Darkness is already giving way to more light. Do I feel this in my own life? Where there is darkness, am I shining the light of forgiveness?  The darkness I face isn't nearly as far-reaching as it used to be. There has already been so much healing and transformation over the course of my 56 years of living.   If we are honest though, we each have work to do at this table. Does the holiday season present you with opportunities and time to give to some of this work?  Maybe there is a person you resent, a circumstance that seems unforgiving. Is it weighing you down? Darkening the horizon of this new day?  Consider what you can do.  Most often it is about letting go, shifting expecta

I wrote this as I considered my ongoing recovery from alcoholism. The times I have struggled the most in recovery have been brought on by complacency. Recovery is work, but it is also freedom and joy. As in anything, we will hit plateaus and uninspired times. The important thing is to recognize it for what it is and step up or change our routine and practices. I was considering this all as I took an early morning walk the other day, thinking about the lives lost to alcoholism and addiction every day. In my own recovery community, I had just heard of a couple of people who had recently died, directly or indirectly caused by their addictions. Lives of diminished joy and much suffering. Lives cut short.  Complacency doesn't take our lives quickly. It tends to do it subtly and slowly. Addiction is wily that way.  I don't want to die, and I don't want to live half-heartedly. Complacency has had me really stuck and in significant pain in various times throughout my recovery. I di

Today I am grateful for connections of many kinds and for timing that made one this morning possible.  This is what I wrote and caught on video earlier: Movement caught my eye across the street in the pre-dawn. I hadn’t even turned on any lights other than those on our Christmas tree. Three deer made their way through the neighborhood. I watched from the warmth of my home as one paused and began to head my way. A buck with antlers walked slowly across the trail, then the road, pausing near our mailbox and then foraging near our crabapple tree.  I simply watched and also felt the complexity of one living being connecting with another. A deer sent to hearten my spirits and remind me that Great Spirit and Nature are always with me even when I ignore them. Just yards away, with some sort of lifeline between us, a deer and I connected. I captured video to show my husband, but needed no permanent record because my heart holds the memory, the moment of presence shared. (12/19/21  5:20 a.m.) T

Living gratefully today, I have generous appreciation for the good health I have, and I embrace healing and acceptance in those times when my body has faced altering in the hope of improving quality of life and longevity. I am so grateful to my husband Darcy for his support and love through my health issues and surgeries.  It was thirteen years ago this morning when Darcy, my two intact breasts, and I traveled to United Hospital in St. Paul. The scheduled third surgery to address the cancer in my right breast was a bilateral mastectomy that day. Surgery was "successful" and a couple days later just Darcy and I went home. I was forever changed, and in ways also forever free.  And 108 days ago, I had a complete hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oopherectomy at our local surgery center. I went home later that day, forever changed again. The jury is still out on where this most recent surgery leaves me and where I find myself as a post-menopausal woman and breast cancer patien

Living gratefully today, I appreciate the sounds that my ears can hear; from house sounds to my own breathing. Sounds can help ground me in the present moment.  Last Friday afternoon and evening, we got over a foot of fresh snow. Rather than my usual Saturday morning run, I was busy shoveling. By Sunday though, roads and sidewalks were clear enough to allow a run. I had to be cautious and slower (than usual), but it was a treat to be out in the fresh winter wonderland.  I was giving thanks for snowplow operators and the road clearing, and my community neighbors for their efforts to make sidewalks passable. That included this stretch.   It went on for a few hundred yards. Less than two feet wide, but plenty of room for a solitary runner to take her next strides. It was like running through a tunnel in ways. As I ran, I first thought about narrow-mindedness and how it serves no one well. It can be detrimental and divisive, and our contentious world is full of it. I had to ask myself in w

  A miracle happened: another day of life.   (Paulo Coelho) I am writing this in the early morning of a brand new day. If you are reading this, it means you woke up to another day too. There are no guarantees, ever, that we will get another day. I don't know about you, but I forget that regularly, taking days on end for granted.  Reminders of the fragile and precious nature of existence always come along though. They wake me up in a different way than my eyes opening each morning. Reminders like terrible tornadoes that took dozens of lives in parts of the U.S. over the weekend. Reminders like a former colleague dying suddenly. He was a year younger than I am. Reminders like alcoholics and addicts dying from their disease or the long-term effects of it. What if I didn't need these shocking and jarring reminders? What if I woke up each new day and welcomed it with a smile and a thank you?  What if I approached it as suggested by Brother David Steindl-Rast: "If you learn to r

A is for almond milk B is for bananas C is for clementines and cereal D is for dark coffee E is for plenty to eat F is for family to share it with  G is for granola  H is for healthy habits  And so on . . .  Doing an A-Z gratitude list can be a fun and engaging way to focus some energy on what is going well in our days. Living gratefully is about noticing what we already have, and also about creating energy so we can be contributors to others and the world around us.   I regularly did these A-Z lists when I was exercising or commuting. I haven't done them as much lately. I will bring them back into my rotation of practices for living gratefully. Another way to approach this is to have others that you text or email your list to, or that you team with to complete a list. I'll text A-H, you take it from there, until we're done.  If you missed it, here's a related post from last week:  Making a List . . . Checking It Twice Gratitude shared is gratitude multiplied.

  "Be. Receive. Give thanks." "You are worthy dear one, and you have been since the day you took your first breath. Sarah Blondin  Sarah Blondin  is a meditation teacher on Insight Timer, author, and podcast host for "live awake." You can read more about her in this post from last June. In it I write about timely teachers. She has been one of mine this last year as I have become more consistent in my mindful meditation practice. This practice, this new habit, is one I have tried before and walked away from. Or should I say "thought my way away from." I developed a thinking problem in my childhood. It stemmed from emotions that were stunted or lacking entirely. As an active alcoholic, I had a drinking and thinking problem for ten years. In the thirty-plus years since I took my last drink, my alcoholism has continued to show itself in my faulty thinking patterns. I am not making light of any of it. Recovering people may joke about our "thinking pr

Not THAT list. This one . . . Today I am grateful for: 1. Resistance bands and the exercises they allow me to do. 2. Reminders to live gratefully that are in a variety of places around our home, including:     a. a "Blessed" sign in our family room                 b. "Grateful Heart" keychain with my car keys, a gift from a friend (the keychain, not the car :-)      c. my coffee mug this morning, from my niece's shop, that reads "Everyday miracles are all around us,           go find yours." 3. Our neighbor's holiday lights that are on early each morning when I take Oliver out. They are colorful,     flowing lights that capture the eyes.  4. Streetlights and a reflector vest that helped me take a run safely last evening in the dark.  5. Self-forgiveness. For me, the toughest to come by, but the most transforming. 6. A phone call with a recovering friend. A vent session, but also always some laughter.   7. The cows and farmers that made possible the

Today I am grateful for yogurt and granola, easy-to-peel clementines, coffee, our kitchen. I am also grateful for the first measurable snowfall of the season. It brightened up the drab late fall landscape.                    And it presented the opportunity for this picture: These are some holiday lights on a bush in front of our house. I went for a walk later last evening just so I could take in the gentle snow falling and the excitement of this winter wonderland. Ever since childhood, I have loved being out in the snow when it is coming down. Sometimes it is brisk and windy, but last night the air was still and the flakes lazily made their way to the ground.  It was also a very light snow, easy to shovel off the driveway, and more likely to cling to a small light like those above. Fragile and precious snowflakes. Fragile and precious life that we are gifted with each morning we wake up. Light snow. Snow covering, but not dousing, cheerful little lights. That's all. And it's e

Living gratefully today, I appreciate seeing things with fresh eyes, like the ironing board that hangs in our basement. It is over 40 years old and doesn't get used often, but I am thankful every time I need it. What is something you have walked past dozens of times lately and not noticed? Look for one thing today to give a few moments focus to, and then send it some gratefulness for existing. Speaking of gratefulness for existing, there were mushrooms in my roasted vegetables for lunch yesterday. And then scrolling on Facebook, I came across a "World Soil Day" video (which was December 5) from the incredible cinematographer and filmmaker  Louie Schwartzberg . It brought my son Sam to mind. He is studying agronomy, which includes soil science. I appreciated the connection and showed the video to Sam when I saw him shortly after. Back to those mushrooms though. As I kept looking through some more of Schwartzberg's work, I came across this mini-lesson on mushrooms. It&#

Today I am grateful for the vocabulary of words available to me, and for Christmas cookie decorating with our grandson.  Those two gratitudes bring together today's post title. Askance is defined as:  with an attitude or look of suspicion or disapproval   To look askance at:  to be doubtful about, insincerely, deceptively, obliquely, sideways, indirectly, out of the corner of one's eye The word came to my mind when I took this pan of cookies out of the oven: The cookies were random on the pan. Whatever fits. But the angel and the gingerbread cookies caught my eye and brought askance to mind. See what I mean? I smiled a little. Each cookie was perfectly imperfect in a unique way. I was in cut-out production mode and had made a double-batch. I was using several pans, including this one that is clearly well-used. I am not one to be too particular about what the cookies look like. When our grandson Leo joined me later to decorate many of them, we really enjoyed ourselves, made a me

  I am not what happened to me,  I am what I choose to become. Carl Jung Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.  Carl Jung I am a big fan of Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung and his work has been influential in a key area of my life: ongoing recovery from alcoholism. The first quote above was one I don’t recall hearing before, so I appreciated when it showed up on Insight Timer this week.  It really nails the futility of victimhood. I am not negating the difficult times and losses in my life, or anyone else's; I am encouraging choices that help me, and you, heal and transform.  That is recovery work in a nutshell.  Here are some more words of Carl Jung's and mine from previous blog posts.  Nigredo, a post from January 17, 2017 Psychiatrist Carl Jung and others of his time compared the alchemist idea of nigredo to the human ego; how stemming from our darkest times and deepest despair can come light and growth. And how at least some of our problems of our own making, th

  Living gratefully today, I appreciate my legs, arms, and heart and how they make it possible for me to run. I also give thanks for the awe and perspective that sunsets provide. I have plenty of sunset and sunrise pictures. Do some of them look similar? Sure. Are any of them the same? No. This was the sunset for December 1, 2021 in my part of the world, specifically captured at 4:25 p.m. CST. I never tire of witnessing sunrises and sunsets. How could I? Why would I?  It means I was given another day. Not everyone gets that.  The lighting in the top photo caught my eye first, as I ran on a local trail with my back to the setting sun. The trees are bare, barren, and muted in color. With a closer look, it is clear that several have broken limbs. Broken. My local community made national news this week, exposing hate and intolerance. Another school shooting has left four students dead in Michigan. The omicron variant of COVID is raising major concerns.  The darkness seems so heavy at times

Today I am grateful for the fellow recovering alcoholics and addicts who enrich my daily journey. I appreciate the soothing sound of a clock ticking and my ears that are able to hear it.  I gave myself a couple of opportunities yesterday to practice the pace of presence. After some overnight tossing and turning, I got up earlier than usual so I could do some meditation in the hopes that I would fall back to sleep for at least a little longer. It worked and I woke up more refreshed than my sleep hours would indicate.  I also woke up with a slower mind and went into the next part of my morning routine, some strength and core exercises, with my brain not flying from one thought to another and tension not building. The pace of presence is a kinder, gentler pace for me, for all of us.  We live in a world that seems to run counter to this idea though. It is causing significant harm to our overall health, and we often don't even pause to consider it. The children and young people of today

A late November rainbow is a random and fairly rare event. I captured the photo above, and the two below, yesterday afternoon as I stepped out of PIVO Brewery and Blepta Studios in Calmar, Iowa. It was November 27, 2021 at 12:37 p.m. CST. That's my shadow in the bottom center of the photo.   I wasn't expecting a rainbow. There were just a few sprinkles, and as you can see, there was plenty of blue sky too. I took it in and felt it worthy of some photos. I sometimes get caught up in the photos and miss the experience. I tried to capture both yesterday. Others stepped out and exclaimed their surprise as well.  Within minutes, the rainbow was gone. A little while later, I hit the road to head home again. It has been a gratifying and full week of time spent with loved ones and plenty of road miles. Sometimes it all feels so fleeting, like this rainbow.  Today I carry this thought with me: Life is precious and fragile. Let's treat it, ourselves, and others, with gentle compassio

Today I am grateful for safe road intersections, thanks to traffic signs and lights.  I also appreciate on so many levels the lives that have intersected with mine over the course of my life so far. For a reason, a season, or a lifetime, they each matter in the story of my life.  I was thinking about intersections as I took this picture yesterday morning. It is in downtown Hastings, after I had participated in the annual Gobble Gait 8K that was able to be held in person again this year.  These snowplows protected us from the potential of the horror and tragedy that played out in Waukesha, Wisconsin on Sunday. I appreciated that precautions were being taken, and was also deeply saddened that these are the times in which we find ourselves and our communities. My heart goes out to all the victims, families, witnesses, emergency personnel, and others involved.  This intersection was safely blocked, but the runners and walkers who came together, in an intersection of holiday energy and gene

I n daily life we must see that it is gratefulness that makes us happy,  not happiness that makes us grateful.  Brother David Steindl-Rast  This quote is in the header for this blog, and captures well what I believe to be true. I came across it years ago and have let it guide me ever since. Happiness, once an elusive pursuit, is now more a byproduct of the grateful living practices to which I am committed.  This blog is now over 9 1/2 years strong. I am a more contented writer because I regularly give time to my heart and soul's passion, rather than waiting until everything else is done first. (That never happens!)  And this mug is one I often use for my morning coffee. It reminds me of my sisters because several of us were together when I bought it out in Colorado, including my sister Mary Jo. She died in 2019. When healthy, she would have been up early today preparing a feast to share with others.  I pause and notice the abundance I am surrounded by more frequently now. That beat

There’s a self expansive aspect of gratitude. Very possibly it’s a little known law of nature:  the more gratitude you have, the more you have to be grateful for.    Elaine St. James Laws of nature like gravity and electromagnetism are all around us. From keeping Earth in orbit around the sun or bringing a softball off the bat to some spot in the outfield, to helping tape stick to a package or a magnet to stick to the refrigerator; we experience these irrefutable laws in our daily lives. They are powers greater than human, though humans have learned how to utilize them to our advantage.  Elaine St. James is an author and lecturer well-known for her writings and talks about living a simpler life. Too much stuff, demands on our time, and distractions from our priorities leave many people unhappy and anxious, at least to some degree.  Simplify your life. Amen to that! I start with simplifying my overactive and counterproductive thoughts. It is a daily effort for me, and well worth it. Gra

Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  I am grateful today for safe travels and time with my friend Sheila and her family yesterday for her father's funeral. Rest in peace Earl. I am deeply grateful for the lasting and deep friendship that Sheila and I share, and for the peace that I know in my life and the new ways I am learning to tap into it. The above quote is telling me it takes peace to find peace. Initially that sounds counterintuitive, but then again I can't fully share something with others until I understand and possess it myself. Seeking personal peace --through meditation, recovery, therapy, forgiveness, healing, writing, running--has helped and continues to help me know more calm and clarity.  With a healthier sense of self, I spend less time spun up in my head and in self-centered pursuits. That allows me more time and energy to bring to the people and circumstances in each da

Today I am grateful for the smooth, smoother than usual, cup of coffee I am enjoying right now. Is the coffee better today, or am I just paying more attention to my senses in the present moment?  It doesn't matter. I am just savoring it. That moment is gone. The next has arrived, and the next. If we look at life this way, life is a series of losses. Maybe if we looked at loss differently we could see how inextricably it is woven into every aspect of life, and maybe we could embrace it in new ways.  I am not saying that we should go looking for loss, rather that it finds us at every turn. It can't be avoided. Neither can the gift of the next moment. Until we draw our final breath anyway. The person I was five minutes ago, five years ago, five decades ago is gone. But there's a new me in this particular moment and that is pretty amazing. Life is about loss. Big ones. Small ones. Noticed and unnoticed ones. Loss is on my mind the last few days for several reasons. My dear frie

Living gratefully today, I pause and notice the varied colors of the lights on our Christmas tree and the calming soft glow that is coming from them.  Paying attention while driving is always a good idea. It brought that beautiful sunrise in my rearview mirror the other day.  The next day it was this message on the back of a dump truck in front of me: "Do Not Push." This is certainly wise with a fully loaded truck of rocks, sand, or other materials.  I also thought about how it applies to our interactions with self and others in many ways. Maybe in a conversation I am having with a student or a parent. More listening, less talking. Help them draw out their own understanding or solutions. Or a fellow recovering person. What works for me may not work for them. Suggestions only.  "Do Not Push" is also a message Lisa needs to hear for Lisa's sake each day. It is good for each of us to know our limits, examine our motives, keep healthy boundaries, and take care of o

Today I am grateful for opportunities to problem-solve, seek insight, meditate, listen. These are pursuits that can be binding or liberating. Letting go of outcomes is a key to freedom. And paying attention is key to daily living. It’s not just for students sitting in a classroom. It is for all of us as students in the much larger classroom of life.  Pay attention when driving, making coffee, turning a light on, taking a bite of food.  Pay attention when listening to others, watching facial expressions, hearing tone of voice.  Pay attention when outdoors. Sensory overload from natural sources beats sensory overload from manufactured sources.  Pay attention to breathing, to thoughts coming and going, to peace that can come in a simple pause. As I drove yesterday morning, paying attention to the road, fellow drivers, lane changes, I noticed the sunrise in the rearview mirror. I captured this picture when I had a safe moment. The rearview mirror bringing me the sun that would brighten the

Living gratefully today, I appreciate safe travels and time with extended family over the weekend. I give thanks for the marriage of my nephew Carson and his wife Megan. It was their wedding reception, one year after they got married, that brought family and friends together. Happy Anniversary you two! As we traveled on Friday afternoon, we came across these 2 benches in downtown Lanesboro, Minnesota. (If you are ever in the area I recommend a stop and a stay.)  They are the handiwork of the local Girl Scouts.  The benches caught my eye on the quiet streets, but it was the messages on each that really beckoned to me. It is so very easy to find discouraging news, devastation, conflict, vitriol in our ramped up and edgy communities, nation, and world.  It is just as easy to find the encouraging and hopeful signs of resilient and caring people who make a difference in big and small ways every day. We are each these people. These kind-hearted, tolerant, and loving souls we can be if we cho

Living gratefully today, I appreciate unexpected family time  and the anticipation of seeing extended family.  Yesterday morning I was filling a water bottle from the pitcher we keep in the fridge. There was just enough water left in the pitcher to fill the bottle right to the top.  In perfect measure.  I carried that thought with me throughout the day. Not perfect, rather getting what we need in perfect measure to live our imperfect, sometimes messy, but still beautiful and bountiful days.  Perfect measure of roadway, shared with other vehicles, got me safely to work. Perfect measures of air to breathe, gravity to offer stability.  Perfect measures of surrender and acceptance to balance out the push and pull of expectations and responsibilities.  Not perfect in that it went just the way I wanted, rather that it went just the way life was meant to go in that moment. 

Today I am grateful for the tables I have sat at and do sit at that bring good memories and intentions to my days. I also appreciate the "table of life" that is before us each day; a buffet of experiences, awarenesses, and connections. Here's a practice I do from time to time: 3 x 3 > 9 Today I am grateful for:  1. The table in our dining room.        a. the many meals we have shared there as a family        b. comfortable, straight-backed chairs to sit at while I work or write       c. the dark granite, shine, and easy-to-clean surface 2. Meeting tables we use at work.      a. the laughter and smiles that often accompany even the tedious tasks and agenda items       b. the colleagues I meet with and their insights, experience, and curiosity      c. chairs on wheels at some of these tables, adding a little movement and fun 3. The table my family ate at when we were growing up.      a. the benches we filled with hungry bodies each meal      b. plenty of food for us all,

Living gratefully today, I give thanks for ears that hear and feet that take me places I want to go. On my commute yesterday morning, I was running a little late. I hit several yellow lights at the stoplights I encounter on my usual route on my way to work. Instead of racing through the yellows, I slowed and took a moment to relax during the red light.  I had thoughts like these: I really am not running that late and it’s really not that important that I get to work two minutes earlier. My vehicle slowing and my mind slowing complemented one another. Regular meditation practice has been bringing me a healthier mind, a right-sized ego.  Yellow is for caution. Slow down. Red is for stop, take a breath. Green is for proceeding at a more sane pace.  After work yesterday, I came home and went for a bike ride before it got dark, which of course is earlier now with the time change. The weather was still fairly mild and I like to take advantage of such opportunities when I can.   I am usually

Today I am grateful for our son Sam and the meals and conversations we have shared this weekend. I also greatly appreciate the beautiful weather we have been having.  I am about to go on a rant. You have been forewarned. Though I can still find good in each day, the not-so-good is more in our faces than ever before. Please, stop and notice it. Nobody said any of us had to get on the crazy merry-go-round of materialism, constant comparison, and shallowness. Shallow?  How about hollow? Okay, you will definitely pick up on some judgment and self-righteousness, but there is also legitimate fear and real discouragement. It started when I walked into the local branch of a large national chain store yesterday and heard "All I want for Christmas is you..." coming through the sound system.  It's a little early isn't it? This isn't about holiday cheer and festivities starting early to pull us out of the funk of COVID, divisive politics, and a climate crisis. Folks, they don