I’ve been sleeping very well and deeply for a few days now. It’s lovely. It’s a rare thing. I’m enjoying waking rested each morning, with the lingering remnants of my dreams colliding with each other as I make my morning coffee. The impositions of changing my living space so substantially haven’t really been “all that” this time around, which is also very nice. I feel comfortable here. I sip my coffee smiling, in spite of a stiff neck and some morning pain. I appreciate where life has taken me, so far. I’m grateful for my good fortune, and for the outcomes of my efforts and my decisions (and those shared with my Traveling Partner).

Another day.

My coffee is good this morning. I sip it contentedly, over the news, shortly after meditation. Yoga helped some with the pain in my shoulder and neck. Maybe not “enough”, but it seems rather early to be adding an Rx pain relief solution to the day. I had intended to start the day with a walk, but it seemed so dark at the time, I decided against it. It now seems like a much better time, but it’s also close to the time I generally start my work day. lol I decide to make taking that walk a nice break later in the morning. I enjoy having the choice to do that.

Simple self-care is so critical to the quality of my experience of my life, generally. I wish I’d understood that much sooner! Sleep. Enough water. A nutritious, calorie-limited diet. Carefully managed healthcare. Exercise. Meditation. I mean… every one of those things is probably equally important… none of them seem like negotiable details or “frivolities”… Are you taking the best care of yourself that you know how to? (Am I taking the best care of myself that I know how to?)

I think over the day ahead, and consider what needs to get done, and how best to fit in caring for myself, along the way… I look around my studio… There are still some details that don’t feel “moved in”, in this one room. Chaos. My personal chaos, reflected in my working space. I shrug to myself, in acknowledgement more than as an excuse. I think ahead to the next weekend, while also admitting there are some things I can easily work into the week – no need to wait. My industrious Traveling Partner pushes his projects ahead fairly aggressively. He sets a good pace; it’s not a competition. I smile, thinking about our tidy home, and the team work that gets us here, together.

…I remember the paintings in the back of the car. I brought them home from the office yesterday. I remind myself to retrieve them from the car before the heat of the day turns the garage into one of the gates of hell. (I exaggerate, but it has been quite hot.) My “to do list” grows slowly, as I sip my coffee and think about the day ahead. I should get on that. It’s already time to begin again. 😀