2020, Fifty-Three Celebrations of Gratitude

If you were like many of us, you welcomed 2020 into your life and lexicon with the attention to numbers. In January, so many interesting combinations lay in the 12 months ahead. Now other numbers garner attention and they are not numbers you may have ever thought to consider. As you and I continue to navigate the pandemic and pay attention to our health, it is good to find time each day to send out the sincere desire for everyone’s well-being. The Metta Bhavana or loving kindness meditation has been a constant in my life for many years and now more than ever, the practice of sending out good thoughts to others is critical. 

Today, I offer my annual celebration of gratitude which is a practice I undertook several years back. While the number is finite, the expanse that my heart encompasses is infinite.

May you be well. My you be healthy. May you be free from struggle. May you know peace and hope.

The 2020 Gratitude List …

1. My health. My health. My health.
2. Friends. Because without them my health would suffer
3. My beautiful mom who stays in my heart to remind me to do good and be kind
4. Sweet Vip, who took the adventurer’s plunge to find a home in Bend together
5. Kara — with a life that has ups and downs and sideway stops — thankfully, it has you
6. Brother John who is still the best big brother ever
7. Tara who says YES! to adventure from California to Japan to Thailand!
8. #Wearewriters — Gaye and Heather who get that writing connects us to other beings and to our own being
9. Sistah CindyBea whose love of life and good remains an infectious necessity to my life
10. Altina — because someone has to keep you on task and talk you off the ledge
11. Greg who just can’t shake free of me and kindly believes I am a pretty good person, doing pretty good things
12. Julia and Grant, may your love continue to grow and encircle our world
13. Tate St. Coffee for all it has given and will return to give and those who make it possible. Thank you Becky and Austin
14. Did I mention coffee? Coffee. Coffee. Coffee. Because my health depends upon it
15. The 21-Day Yoga Challenge: Inspiration for a Lifetime of Good Health, still a habit that continues to live healthfully
16. My Yoga Teachers near and far: Terry, Debbie, Alice, Heather and Jerry. Inspiration, dedication and wisdom. 
17. My two legs that keep me running like Forest Gump through Covid
18. Msr. Look, the two-wheeled French transport that refuses to leave me stranded
19. Letter writers unite! With gratitude for the snail mail writers: Angie, Lisa, and Altina — and all who use pen and paper
20. Tina, Dick and Kim whose love and acceptance of me like family is a gift
21. Independent Businesses who continue to inspire, persevere and re-create: Triad Yoga, Dudley’s Book Shop, Scuppernong Books, Just Be, and Baker and Commons and Spring Garden Bakery
22. Dave — the best Covid Quarantine Housemate we could wish for
23. Capi and Mike who welcomed us graciously aboard the Oregon Bandwagon
24. BRYAN Family YMCA for their continued care of the community
25. The Yoga Dawgs who remain dedicated to their mats and one another 
26. Yoga — the balm of daily life and a quarantine healthful companion
27. Sitka Friends who never let me feel too far away
28. Zoom — I said it! Covid Fatigue be damned
29. The writers who encourage me –Heather Brewer, Gaye Hill, Jeri Rowe, Betsi Robinson, Joyce Sutphen, Sarah Dorsey, Mike Gaspeny and so many others
30. Julia Child whose passion to feed people has inspired me and without Covid, I might have missed a chance to obsess over mushrooms in butter 
31. Kristen who I hold with such love as we prepare for more love to be delivered
32. Phil and MM who keep inviting back to their home and their hearts
33. The London Gents — Michael and Nick — who keep us laughing and informed, correctly and otherwise
34. That beautiful Greensboro community that rises above and holds on to one another
35. Farmers Markets from East to West and North to South
36. Michiko and Misa who still tolerate my misadventures and who I hold in my heart and soul
37. Lynnie and Family because you should always have friends who make you laugh and make time for you
38. Aunt Ann and Uncle Howie who taught me you do not need to be blood related, you just have to believe that ice cream is a family value
39. The folks that keep me hopeful for tomorrow — Celia, Lillian, Adeline, Emma and Annie
40. The touchstones of Ryan that circle my life daily
41. Sunshine — both the Orb in the sky and my kayak to travel the river
42. The trees that save me and the woods that hold them
43. Richard Nelson — Nels — who opened his Sitka home to me, taught me a little didgeridoo and a lot about marveling at the gifts of nature, salmon, the tides and the birds. 
44. Donald Moyer — teacher, challenger and quiet soul who I carry with me each time I roll out my mat
45. Reminders from the good people in my life to keep my heart open 
46. Alice and Al for all the stories and love they shared with one another to inspire us all
47. Cooking meals for kind people
48. Poetry — writing it, reading it, holding it in my head and heart
49. The other P gratitude …. PIE! PIE! PIE!
50. Courage to believe in better — better me, better country, better times
51. Music, Memes, and Meditation … components to keep my heart light and healthy
52. Cribbage with John and the loser’s push-ups that keep us strong
53. Hikes to explore, to meditate, to be in awe and to be reminded how beautiful this life is