Week 20 was good. Did you do one thing you've been meaning to? Brian got me a journal and Sharpies for Christmas and I had only drawn in it once! I got that out the other night and it was so great to lose myself in drawing, something that I need and just don't do. Ever. I also did some charitable giving that I've been meaning to do. Felt good.
This past Sunday was the Promise Walk to raise money and awareness for the Preeclampsia Foundation. After the battle to get a two year old dressed and agreeably in the car seat and a drive to Hyde Park, we were 45 minutes late for the walk. We were also juggling a simultaneous visit with my childhood best friend, Bree, who was in town from Oakland. I hadn't seen her since I was 37 weeks pregnant, about the same time I was starting to get sick. It was a wonderful thing to hug her, and to watch her playing with my son, and to be able to look around and see the smiling faces of all of the children who survived preeclampsia. But there wasn't much time to be alone with my feelings. It was easy to do what I so often have to do - block out the memory of what happened to us in order to just keep living. At one point, I was walking along the path on my own, and I finally let myself just be. And I looked around at all of the women and families and children. I made eye contact with some of the women whose stories I know. I let myself feel the sadness and the fear and the anger that goes along with what we've all experienced. I cried under my sunglasses for a little while, then put on a smile and helped my son climb a tree. Life moves on.
But I've been thinking about gratitude a lot. I do feel grateful a lot of the time, but I would like to be more conscious about it. So this will be a week for gratitude.
Week 21
Mantra | Be Grateful
Action | Notice and write down one thing every day that you're grateful for
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