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Post by ecrivain on Oct 6, 2023 20:38:44 GMT
- The dancing crossing guard. She turned my whole day around, doesn't even know it.
Y'all ever think about the people that've had a direct impact on your life that don't know you? You ever wonder if you've had similar positive impacts? Do you ponder whether the cosmic scales are tipped more toward your positive impacts than negative? Is that an egotistical thought? - Sneaking out for an afternoon movie. More of an indulgence than a blessing, really. But it did have a surprisingly cathartic emotional effect, after an oddly emotional day. So... blessing!
- Spiraling upwards. Thinking more about macdiver's comment and my reply (thank you macdiver), maybe I'm not so much repeating a cycle, just making a circle. Maybe it's a really gradual spiral upward, like you have to do with big inclines. At least it's nicer to think of that way, so... blessing!
I hope y'all have the best weekend.
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Post by seltzer on Oct 6, 2023 21:44:06 GMT
Thanks for the update and it's nice to read that you're on a positive path. Looking forward to seeing you soon. Samesies! You keep posting those dinner updates, you're gonna end up with a big ol' bearded dude begging at your door. Thanks for your kind words. I'm not sure when I started the routine about my dinners, but it's been a while and it's become a normal part of my initial posts of the day. As for showing up at my door, you know where I live and I'd gladly fill your belly with some grub should you come a knocking. FYI, I haven't moved. It's the same place I convinced you to leave your car while you visited NYC to save on the exorbitant parking charges and couldn't convince you to stay for a family party on the back end of your trip. On a more serious note, yes the above was my attempt at levity, I meant what I wrote in the thread about our to be determined meet up and the offer extends to any time you are in my area, friends included for the same charge. :-)
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Post by Iroc-z on Oct 8, 2023 13:06:14 GMT
Hey old buddy!!!! What a pleasant surprise to see you here. I thought you had dropped off the face of the earth.
And then I see pics of you hanging out with deja. To say that I am extremely jealous would be the ultimate understatement!
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Post by seltzer on Oct 8, 2023 16:22:34 GMT
And then I see pics of you hanging out with deja. To say that I am extremely jealous would be the ultimate understatement! Why do some people have all the fun?
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Post by macdiver on Oct 8, 2023 22:59:21 GMT
Thanks for the update and it's nice to read that you're on a positive path. Looking forward to seeing you soon. Samesies! You keep posting those dinner updates, you're gonna end up with a big ol' bearded dude begging at your door. I threaten him with the same - I don't think it was a coincidence that he switched from posting what he was cooking for tonight to posting what he had yesterday. I am really enjoying reading your gratitude lists.
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Post by ecrivain on Oct 9, 2023 20:57:52 GMT
As for showing up at my door, you know where I live and I'd gladly fill your belly with some grub should you come a knocking. FYI, I haven't moved. It's the same place I convinced you to leave your car while you visited NYC to save on the exorbitant parking charges and couldn't convince you to stay for a family party on the back end of your trip. On a more serious note, yes the above was my attempt at levity, I meant what I wrote in the thread about our to be determined meet up and the offer extends to any time you are in my area, friends included for the same charge. :-) ^ This right here. Such a blessing you don't even know. Or maybe you do. It does say "God" right there under your name. Anyways, this is a blessing I've been struggling to articulate, but here you just provided an example in real life f'real, so I don't have to bother spending any five dollar words! It's like insurance, but that's far too cynical. I think you humans just calling it having friendships. But (and maybe I'm being presumptuous, but I'm talking literal offers such as this), I feel pretty confident that, were I to find myself out on my ass in the next hour, I could crawl my way to a lot of doorsteps (hopefully) and be sheltered and provided a warm meal. I mean, at the very least, I know good people would take my dog in and care for him, and that's enough to keep my soul warm. The fact that y'all would extend that kindness to me is humbling, and I'm thankful. So, thank you for the hospitality, and the insurance. And, so much as it is in my power, I intend to take you up on the offer, in hopefully the most pleasant of conditions! <3 You know, I've turned down a lot of offers I probably should've taken. But since regret isn't helpful, I'm choosing to believe I've just left some doors open. So again, thank you for that.
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Post by ecrivain on Oct 9, 2023 21:06:27 GMT
Hey old buddy!!!! What a pleasant surprise to see you here. I thought you had dropped off the face of the earth. And then I see pics of you hanging out with deja. To say that I am extremely jealous would be the ultimate understatement! I totally did drop of the face of the earth. Think Gandalf the Gray plummeting into the depths of the Mines of Moria, but not epic at all, but with a pretty okay beard still. Also, jealous? Dude, I only post the pics to have you all verify that it's real, not a delusion. Because I'm still not sure. Which is to say, RIGHT?!? Total dream come true. But like I told her, I hope these meetups become so common that we don't have to freak out every time. Which is to say, I don't want to ever take them for granted, but I do hope they become regular events.
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Post by ecrivain on Oct 9, 2023 21:10:38 GMT
Samesies! You keep posting those dinner updates, you're gonna end up with a big ol' bearded dude begging at your door. I threaten him with the same - I don't think it was a coincidence that he switched from posting what he was cooking for tonight to posting what he had yesterday. I am really enjoying reading your gratitude lists. Past Present or Future, it's not much of a deterrent. And thank you for the kind words. Making the list is helpful for me to keep the mindset of abundance and thanks. That others can get anything out of it, totally sprinkles on top.
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Post by ecrivain on Oct 9, 2023 21:24:53 GMT
- Friends that are living the dream that share their experiences so the rest of us can see what's possible.
- Realizing that the dream isn't at all what I used to think it was.
- Having everything I could possibly ever need already.
- Or, to quote some of my favorite lyrics, which are worth their own future entry: "I live well enough to eat. And I'll live long enough to die."
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Post by ecrivain on Oct 12, 2023 21:48:45 GMT
- Fasting. What a privilege to be so confident in my next meals that I can delay them at my pleasure. Intermittent fasting has helped with fat loss this time around. But also, fasting for other purposes has helped me physically learn the difference between want and need. Which I'm still learning.
- Steak. Because, steak.
- The Lazy Garden. This Summer, before my oldest niece moved away, she dug up a corner of my back yard to plant tomatoes and peppers and start a compost pile from food scraps from her job at a Mexican restaurant (salsa scraps). The garden itself was never tended, so has become wild (you know, for the pollinators). But the compost erupted with tomatoes from all the scraps. I've enjoyed watching formerly domesticated maters turn feral. I've also enjoyed the bounty of maters themselves! And I've loved having this chaotic, beautiful garden as a reminder of my niece.
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Post by macdiver on Oct 13, 2023 14:23:29 GMT
- Fasting. What a privilege to be so confident in my next meals that I can delay them at my pleasure. Intermittent fasting has helped with fat loss this time around. But also, fasting for other purposes has helped me physically learn the difference between want and need. Which I'm still learning.
- Steak. Because, steak.
- The Lazy Garden. This Summer, before my oldest niece moved away, she dug up a corner of my back yard to plant tomatoes and peppers and start a compost pile from food scraps from her job at a Mexican restaurant (salsa scraps). The garden itself was never tended, so has become wild (you know, for the pollinators). But the compost erupted with tomatoes from all the scraps. I've enjoyed watching formerly domesticated maters turn feral. I've also enjoyed the bounty of maters themselves! And I've loved having this chaotic, beautiful garden as a reminder of my niece.
Love all of this but the garden really speaks to me. We didn't do our garden this year but ended up with a bunch of cherry tomatoes that self seeded from last year.
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Post by seltzer on Oct 13, 2023 18:14:44 GMT
Wifey loves gardening and for many reasons I'm glad you're getting joy from your garden also.
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Post by ecrivain on Oct 18, 2023 1:52:53 GMT
- Patience. Have you noticed this comes up often? Apparently I really need to learn to appreciate this one.
- New Family. Here's a Life Update for ya, Dude. In the decade since we've caught up (really within the past few years), I've gained a niece, via marriage to my oldest nephew. But only recently have I been hanging out with them outside of larger family gatherings. It's been a delight to get to know her. And it's kind of fun having a new person in the family that doesn't know much about me, as well. For instance, she's way into theatre. And none of my other nieces and nephews really know the version of me that was a huge theatre nerd in highschool. She's already gotten stories out of me that the others don't know. And, spending time with her has brought back memories of those days and those people who I love and miss.
- Memories. That's a whole double-edged blessing. Yah, not ready to dig into all that yet. But still, noted.
- Walking at Night. Totally distinct blessing from walking in general. I'd forgotten. But thanks to the early evenings these days, I was out with the pupper walking the town when the sun went down. I was surprised at the life downtown, given that they mostly rolls up the streets at 6pm. I enjoyed the different perspective. And I really enjoyed snooping! I got to see in all the shops that leave their lights on, way easier than actually going inside during the day. AND! Speaking of memories. It reminded me of our fellow running buddy BMac, who loved running at night because he could smell the laundry drying as he went past houses. I hope he and TMac are doing well.
- Being heard. Just having someone listen and understand, even just a fraction of the crazy that's in my brain. Even if nothing comes of it. Sometimes just sharing an idea and putting it out into the world is enough, right? That's a form of living on.
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Post by ecrivain on Oct 26, 2023 2:33:45 GMT
- Seeing my Potential-Future-Niece-In-Law while I was out for a walk. Here's another Life Update buried in a Blessing. My oldest niece (she of the Lazy Garden) moved up north with Some Boy (he's actually very nice, but it's absolutely hilarious to me that she's following my path of following a partner up north as an excuse to get away from the ol' hometown - but hey, at least she didn't go to Ohio). P-F-N-I-L has been left behind and has been missing her brother, as I've been missing my niece. So we commiserate over that occasionally. See previous blessing of New Family. I'm claiming her too even though it's not official and may never be.
- I have people. It's easy to get caught up thinking about people I've lost or relationships I've screwed up. I mean, it's kind of the point of this journal - to keep my focus on the positives instead. So when I'm missing any one particular person, I can remember that I have so many people. More than I deserve. Better than I deserve. All the best people.
- Easy, Light, Smooth, Fast. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Or any of those other mantras you use to slog through hundreds of miles of long distance training. They come in pretty handy outside of endurance sports, too. There's a lot of the Slacker Ethos in distance running, now that I'm thinking about it. Don't force things, you'll hurt yourself. Make time for rest and recovery. Strive for efficiency over hard work. Like, you wouldn't think of a marathon runner as lazy. But to physically survive the distance, you need to conserve energy. So I guess I'm saying the Blessing is that all of that past training has made me a better slacker.
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Post by phillydude on Oct 26, 2023 14:25:34 GMT
I love you man. Sending you a FB message.
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