I’m at home most of the time …but I enjoy celebrating diversity through food… there are so many amazing cuisines around there world.. I enjoy cooking a lot, but also exploring and taking advantage of the diverse restaurants nearby.

Whenever things end up not as bad as I think they will be.

The desire to be a better person…. the desire for knowledge and new experiences. But it should be both learning from others, as well as seeking knowledge on our own.

It was a big part of the music scene I participated in for many years…it led to me meeting many of my close friends, and indirectly also my current partner.

Also, I’m a huge believer in the importance of a morning routine — my ritual that prepares me for the rest of my day.

I’m sitting outside on my porch as I do every day when I answer the daily question. Here in Northern California we’ve had a rainstorm the past few days and the air is smelling fresh. There are several trees in my view, I can hear a few birds in the distance, there’s lingering fog in the sky, and I can hear the world waking up— the distant hum of motors and cars on the distant highway.

It would probably change them a lot- I have a tendency to immediately jump to worst case scenario mode…or to be negative, but the truth is things are rarely worst case or *that* bad. The pause is a difficult thing to remember in the moment when emotions take over. But the pause is important as it keeps us from being ruled by emotion.

From my ex —- we both did and said bad things to each other. Even though we are no longer together, we still maintain a friendship.

Sometimes love means keeping your distance, if that is to keep the peace, and hope they go off and find happiness for themselves. We can’t make everyone like us. We all aren’t meant to get along, but that doesn’t mean we can’t live in peace.

I hope that we can get through this pandemic. I hope that we can restore dignity to our country. I hope that I can learn to be more content with myself. I hope that I can continue to explore, learn, and love.

Desire for knowledge and understanding.

A world in which we can trust and have faith the everyone has good intentions and is just living life as best they can. I can’t control what others do, but I can make an effort to view life in a more positive light.

My cats, my partner, music, cooking good food, going hiking.

I can stop procrastinating— this pertains to work deadlines, things around the house I haven’t taken care of, interests and goals I want to pursue. Procrastination due to fear of failure or whatever other reason eventually leads to stress that could be avoided.

I think it helps us to see the big picture and what’s really important. I’ve recently been feeling down about not being able to get my work done as fast as my boss wants me to …that combined with a lockdown with no end in sight. For I while I was writing every day about 3 things I was grateful for that happened on that day… then it stopped. I know circumstances have made it more difficult to see these things every day, but I think it would help me to give it another try.

Understand that you can’t be good at everything and know your limits. I excel at parts of my job, but I’m hopelessly terrible when it comes to time management. I’ve tried and failed many times to change this and am frustrated and disappointed in myself.

I think back often these days about my unhappy childhood—and how I made it through those years to finally go out on my own and live my own life without guilt or worry about constantly being put down and discouraged. I think about the inner strength and emotional self sufficiency I gained from those times. I’m reminded of these memories every time I question the god things in my life.

And this is why thanksgiving is my favorite holiday