20 Things I Can't Do Without
1. Natural light streaming indoors, especially through skylights and big windows.
2. Travel & adventure, to either new places or places I haven't visited in a long while. Some frequent travelers are sick of airports, but I love them, no matter how often I go or why.
3. Singing ridiculous songs about my pets and loved ones. I do it every day, sometimes from my desk at work.
4. Knowing that there are people in this world who see social and political shades of grey, who understand that not everything is black & white, that complex issues don't always have simple explanations or simple solutions.
5. The sight, smells and sounds of the ocean, no matter the weather.
6. Strangers who summon the good will to smile at me in passing. If did that, the world shift in microscopic increments on a massive scale, and the world might actually become a better place.
7. The knowledge that friends no longer in my life still think of me from time to time, that I haven't just passed into shadow in their minds.
8. Sharing the art & legacy of dearly departed artists & thinkers like like George Carlin, Howard Zinn, and countless others whose activism and/or humor continues to inspire.
9. Basil
10. Autonomy at work. I get things done most quickly and thoroughly when I'm not being micromanaged by someone who doesn't understand anything about my job.
11. A vision of the 'middle way,' keeping me balanced & centered, so that I do not veer to far into solitude and loneliness, or distraction and drama.
12. Starting a Saturday so early that most people are not yet up and about, either in a cafe or market, feeling like the day belongs only to me.
13. A really well made after dinner drink made on a special occasion and with friends, something simple, like an old fashioned, or an extra dry martini, or a g&t.
14. Hearing a really, really good song for the very first time. It happens so rarely, so when it does it's impossible to ignore.
15. My wife and everything to do with her enthusiasm, unique perspective, sense of humor, and sensitivity. The memories of all the things we've been through. Additionally, I could never do without the numerous ways our relationship has made me tougher, more responsible, and more confident in my intuition and sense of self. I look back on myself pre-marriage and am sort of amazed at how much commitment changes a person.
16. Writing
17. A good workout, be it walking, jogging, swimming, or lifting, and how my senses come to life afterwards when the endorphin rush kicks in.
18. I'm so glad there are so many things to get geeky about nowadays. This is a great time to be a geek and I am thankful for it.*
19. My taste memory of the best meals I've ever eaten, and the promise I might eat there again. Case in point: the bacon wrapped, cheese injected, butter topped filet mignon at 300 East (a few of you know of what I speak).
20. The feeling I get - all too rare for me now - when I sit down with a great book I'm hooked on and get totally absorbed. I think my breathing and heart rate even slow down, my peripheral vision disappears, my anxieties dissipate.
*Wish that was the case back in the 80s. I must have grown up in the wrong decade. All of the most popular guys at my school had slicked back mullets, super tight acid washed jeans, and wore giant hairbrushes in their back pockets. These were the cool kids. And I was made fun of for looking like a disheveled nerd with a 70s haircut, which are all the rage now.
12. Starting a Saturday so early that most people are not yet up and about, either in a cafe or market, feeling like the day belongs only to me.
13. A really well made after dinner drink made on a special occasion and with friends, something simple, like an old fashioned, or an extra dry martini, or a g&t.
14. Hearing a really, really good song for the very first time. It happens so rarely, so when it does it's impossible to ignore.
15. My wife and everything to do with her enthusiasm, unique perspective, sense of humor, and sensitivity. The memories of all the things we've been through. Additionally, I could never do without the numerous ways our relationship has made me tougher, more responsible, and more confident in my intuition and sense of self. I look back on myself pre-marriage and am sort of amazed at how much commitment changes a person.
16. Writing
17. A good workout, be it walking, jogging, swimming, or lifting, and how my senses come to life afterwards when the endorphin rush kicks in.
18. I'm so glad there are so many things to get geeky about nowadays. This is a great time to be a geek and I am thankful for it.*
19. My taste memory of the best meals I've ever eaten, and the promise I might eat there again. Case in point: the bacon wrapped, cheese injected, butter topped filet mignon at 300 East (a few of you know of what I speak).
20. The feeling I get - all too rare for me now - when I sit down with a great book I'm hooked on and get totally absorbed. I think my breathing and heart rate even slow down, my peripheral vision disappears, my anxieties dissipate.
*Wish that was the case back in the 80s. I must have grown up in the wrong decade. All of the most popular guys at my school had slicked back mullets, super tight acid washed jeans, and wore giant hairbrushes in their back pockets. These were the cool kids. And I was made fun of for looking like a disheveled nerd with a 70s haircut, which are all the rage now.
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