Winter Immersion with Trackers is blowing my mind – the activities/projects/days are not only amazing but the people I get to work with are absolutely fantastic as well. So many unique and wonderful individuals with similar goals but lots of different ideas and paths.

I’m finally starting to figure out Portland a little bit. And really, it’s only a little bit, because there’s just SO MUCH of it to figure out. NE and SE are starting to make a little more sense to me. I still sometimes end up on the freeway a little sooner than I’d like to be, and other times I end up driving a lot further than I should just to get somewhere that was supposedly 5 minutes away. But I’m learning, and it feels really good.

Hi Portland, I’m glad we met. :-)

When I got home tonight, Grandma Lucy had left me a note saying there was Vegetarian Chili and Cornbread for me and that she’d get to the dishes in the morning. That is love. What a sweet gift.

I know so very many ridiculously incredible people. And I just keep meeting more of them. Which, to be honest can get a little overwhelming because I want to spend time with all of them. But I just don’t have that much of me to go around.

I have friends that let me crash on their couch or at their house at the drop of a hat; something that continues to surprise and delight me and I am so grateful for the gift and still coming up with ways to show my thankfulness.

I get so many little (and sometimes big) opportunities to laugh. And it just feels so damned good to do it. I think you might like it, too.

I can honestly say right now that my life is so very full of goodness that my heart sometimes feels like it’s going to burst right out of my chest – though in a very good and not-at-all-heart-attacky sort of way. I just don’t know what it is.

Even if there is pain and difficulty at times, I’m just so glad to be alive. And to live life. And when you realize this sort of thing, you want more than anything for everyone else to feel that same way about their own lives. Because it just feels so good! I don’t say this sort of thing to gloat or make it seem like I’m better than other people, I’m just in a really good place and I feel somehow like I owe it to everyone and everything to let it be known. I may not always smile or actually be elated and happy every moment of the day -- because it's not really about being HAPPY, it's more about just showing up and being present for whatever is going on. That something could be a very short conversation with someone you've just met, a walk, a game of cards with a friend, a phone call to someone you're not sure what to say to but know you ought to talk to them anyway, a few minutes outside in whatever the weather or a trip to the grocery store. Just BE there. And see what happens.

Something keeps bringing me back to this place. And when I’m not in this place, it’s getting a lot easier for me to remember that it’s close by and that I can choose it if I want to. And maybe that’s a big part of it. Maybe I’m just getting better at choosing it.