5 or 6 years ago, I would have never pictured myself living on the west coast. I didn’t expect to meet anyone after I separated from my husband.

I would regret not learning how to develop and maintain meaningful relationships. I’m not sure how to tend to this —- I feel like this ability is innate and intuitive- learned from watching parents and relatives as a child. I’m not sure what happens when you don’t have that natural ability and you’re not really sure how to act.

Moments like right now— early morning sunshine, sitting outside, drinking coffee, listening to the birds, the whole day ahead of me.

I’d slow down and pay attention more. I’d increase my awareness and I’d document my experiences more (photos or journaling) so that I can re-visit those memories at any time. And lastly, I’d probably be happier in general.

My name is Lauren. No interesting stories behind it. I think my mother named me after the author Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder who wrote the Little House on the Prairie books….so from Laura Elizabeth, I am Lauren Beth. No nicknames — it’s hard to shorten that name. But I’ve always resonated with this name for some reason..

Meeting my partner for the first time — and having no idea we would hit it off right away like we did.

I can think before I speak and not make assumptions about what others might be thinking.

I can try to not hold on to my feelings of being hurt and upset. Because these won’t serve me and in a week they likely won’t matter. I can accept what’s hurting me and do my best to move on.

It’s all about the little things — a sunny day, birds chirping, my cat purring, the city at night, fresh vegetables…the things that just keep going in the backdrop of our lives. These things are constant and exist independently from the presence of pain.

Birds chirping outside. Really any sort of nature sounds — I listen to recordings sometimes when I’m trying to focus at work.

To be happy.

I was working at a large law firm in Boston- it was fast paced, competitive, stressful work. One of the quieter more reserved attorneys on our team decided to leave the firm for a less stressful position as outside counsel to a healthcare company. On her last day she wrote a goodbye message to the team and included the ‘word for the day’ in her message — that led me to this site about 4 years ago.

When I think of things I am grateful for – nature, sunshine, my partners love, my cats, etc – it’s humbling because all those little things that get me upset – a bad day at work, my lack of exercise, the fact that I can’t travel – are so minor and narrow in scope- it makes us re-frame our points of reference.

A hard day for me might be my boss giving me a hard time for not getting cases filed fast enough. But he does that while I’m sitting at home, safe from Covid, with plenty of food to eat, no money stress, in good health, with a roof over my head. Everyone’s perspective is different. It’s an easy question to answer, though difficult to keep in mind always in the moment— we get caught up in our emotions.

Boston in the springtime is so pretty…

Well said.

‘Let me not raise dust’ — such a perfect metaphor.