Homemade Pizza, Compression Socks, Beautiful Things: My Weekly Gratitudes

Project 365, Day 229/365

Thank you everyone for your kindness and support yesterday. Reader Lia’s comment really sparked something in me…growth over goals. It got my head swirling and twirling about “hustle culture” and the delicate dance between working hard toward something relentlessly and drilling yourself into the ground. I’m looking forward to a little time away from…all the things, which is a gift I haven’t given myself fully in quite a bit of time. As adults, we always have something: work, obligation (social, personal), chores, errands, projects, to-do lists. Rarely do we give ourselves the grace to shut it all away, no guilt attached.

Before taking time off of work, I’m usually frantically trying to get through tasks, apologizing for my absence in advance, making lists and having meetings about who does what while I’m gone. But this time…I don’t really feel that way. I even said to my team this morning “you’ve all done this thing so many times already, I have no doubt you’ll do it again without me watching over you.” We put stressors on our own shoulders that no one else would put on them. We carry the weight and load of things we pile on ourselves.

While I’m normally packing and repacking in my head, thinking about all the things I might leave behind, or may need while I’m away, I just picked some clothes I like to wear, put them in a suitcase, and called it a day. Sure, tomorrow, I need to go through and ensure I have important things—masks, IDs, chargers, vitamins—but as Charles said to me today from the guest bedroom while I talked about ordering razors and lotion “Florida isn’t a foreign land. If you forget something, just buy it there.” Wow…such a simple concept.

So anyway, off I go, holding your lovely comments of grace and support with me while I enjoy my family…finally, after so long. Beyond that, here’s what else I’m grateful for:

I’m grateful for all my supportive readers (that’s you!).

I’m grateful for helpful neighbors and friends.

I’m grateful for time away (physically, mentally).

I’m grateful that I get to hug my momma and daddy after two years of not seeing them.

I’m grateful for homemade pizza (Trader Joe’s pizza dough works wonders for weeknights.

I’m grateful for packing cubes (ugh, they make everything so much easier).

I’m grateful for popsicles.

I’m grateful for pants with stretch.

I’m grateful for compression socks (Charles is a very lucky man, clearly).

I’m grateful for weekend afternoon naps.

I’m grateful for cookbooks.

I’m grateful for reliable transportation.

I’m grateful for beautiful things.

I’m grateful for fall, even though it feels very far away (heat-wise) and won’t actually arrive in LA for another few months.

I’m grateful for those that continue to fight the good selfless fight against misinformation.

I’m grateful for safety.

See you on the other side, FOAS.