I’ve talked about our breeder, now it’s time to talk about something else Corgi-related: the community.
Yes, there’s a “Corgi community”, and it’s pretty darned cool.
Growing Up Together
On October 7, 1977 I met Kathy. We’d been “set up” by my roommate a the time and his fiance — they had decided we should meet.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Just Showing Up
Good help is hard to find. I think we’ve all heard that, if not said that, particularly if you’re a homeowner.
One of the themes of our home ownership, however, goes a tad more basic than even that. Even good help can be no help at all, if they don’t show up.
In The Company Of Dogs
It should be absolutely no surprise that any list of gratitude I create would include the dogs currently sleeping in my office as I write this.
More specifically, though, I’m grateful that we hooked up with an awesome breeder.
Meditation Mediation
I plan to share my “path to meditation” sometime in the future. It’s the path that lead the skeptical, pragmatic, logical, rational, engineer that I am to embrace meditation as a daily habit. It’s been useful, and I’ve been doing for some years now.
But it dawned on me that I owe a debt of gratitude to some authors and apps that helped me get here on that path.
That’s Challenging
I had lunch the other day with a good friend — the kind of friend who challenges my thinking, all in a very positive way. This person is one of those people with whom I need no mask.
In reflecting on our relationship I realized that in the last few years I’ve grown — personally, spiritually, intellectually — in part because of my relationship and interactions with this person.
If that’s not something to be grateful for, then I don’t know what is. 🙂
Engineering 141
In 1975 I’d applied to four colleges: The University of Washington, Washington State University, Gonzaga University, and Seattle University. Each application form had an entry that corresponded to some variation of “area of study.”
They each wanted to know what career path I would choose.
How the heck should I know? I was 17 at the time, doing all this during my senior year in highschool. I suppose some of my peers knew what they “wanted to be when they grew up,” and had for perhaps a long time, but I wasn’t one of them.
What I did know, from my own tinkering, along with some encouragement from a family friend, was that electronics and electrical devices were kind of interesting. I didn’t know what that meant in terms of a career, though, but, “electronics” is what I put down.
That one word changed my life.
Inspiration
As I’ve said before people who’ve lost weight love to talk about how they lost weight. I’m no exception.
I’ve written about it, some, talked about it, some, and just generally put it out there that — after 50+ years — I’d lost some significant weight.
Private Audience
As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I gave a friend a ride into Seattle for an orientation meeting for a new job. While that meeting happened I hung out near the Starbucks in the lobby.
Eventually, though, I moved outside. The weather was beautiful, there were tables available, and it just seemed like a pleasant thing to do.
That’s when it became unexpectedly more pleasant.
The Masks We Wear
We all wear masks as we interact with others. On one hand we might consider being anything other than our completely authentic true self as somehow deceitful or incongruous, but the masks serve an important purpose.
We use masks to protect the relationships we value.
Pill Hill
I’m grateful to have grown up in and around Seattle.
Ironically(?) after yesterday’s post about my propensity to roam all over Seattle on my own as a child, I find myself back today for a completely different reason. Because I’ve lived so much of my life here I have a level of comfort and familiarity with the area that I value.
So being asked to give someone a ride to a confusing part of town? No problem.
The Grandparents
Today we think nothing of calling overseas. In many cases, using tools like Skype, not only is it easy, it’s free and can easily include video.
In the early 1960’s it was another story. My parents made one phone call to Holland. It lasted 3 minutes, took something like an hour or more to set up, involved at least three separate operators, and cost an arm and a leg.
I believe it was in part to set up a visit.
USA, USA
While I see being born in Canada as having been a positive thing, I’m also grateful that we moved to the United States when I was three.
Nothing at all against Canada, but when I look at the years that followed our immigration much of my good fortune would not have played out as it did had we not moved.
Oh, Canada
As odd as it may seem to some, I’m actually grateful that I was born in Canada.
For one thing, even though I’m a U.S. citizen having been born elsewhere protects me from ever considering a run for U.S. president. 🙂
In reality, being a Canadian citizen as well as U.S. (I have both) opens a few doors that wouldn’t otherwise be opened.
Sixty Days of Gratitude #1: My Parents
For the next 60 days I’m putting a little bit of structure around my daily writing exercise. Each day will be about something for which I’m grateful. Some may be trivial, while others (like today’s) more significant, but all will be honest and from the heart. I live a fortunate life, and it’s good to reflect on that from time to time.
Why sixty days? I’ll reveal that … in sixty days. 🙂
♥
It’s only logical that I start with my parents. After all, they “started” me. 🙂
We Can Each Make A Difference
We’re being flooded with negativity. Every day, it seems, there’s something newly horrific, upsetting, depressing, embarrassing, or just wrong that comes across our news feeds or in our personal communications.
I think it’s having a deeper impact on our collective well-being than most people realize.
That was brought home to me again this morning when I received the following in response to one of my mailings:
What Is It About 4 AM?
Four o’clock in the morning is a magical and often anxiety ridden time for me. I don’t know what makes it special, but when I wake up at 4AM there’s a certain consistency in how I frequently feel, or where my mind often goes.
Getting Away
It’s common wisdom that sometimes you need to “get away” from your normal day-to-day surroundings. A change of scenery, as it’s often called, can bring renewed energy and fresh perspectives.
The problem, so to speak, is that there’s getting away, and there’s getting away.