Day 3,775

Growth:

This morning I took Leia out for a run, bundled up from head to toe, even wearing Dominic’s snowboarding goggles to keep my eyeballs from freezing up. As we ran down one of her favorite trails I heard a part of American Gods by Neil Gaiman which has always struck a chord, but this time it almost brought me to tears.

If you have a copy of the book be sure to pause, skip ahead to Coming to America, 1778 at the end of Chapter 11. The first 2-3 pages will deliver a gut punch to the soul in the best possible way.

“There are stories that are true, in which each individual’s tale is unique and tragic, and the worst of the tragedy is that we have heard it before, and we cannot allow ourselves to feel it too deeply. We build a shell around it like an oyster dealing with a painful particle of grit, coating it with smooth pearl layers in order to cope. This is how we walk and talk and function, day in, day out, immune to others’ pain and loss. If it were to touch us it would cripple us or make saints of us; but, for the most part, it does not touch us. We cannot allow it to… …There are accounts which, if we open our hearts to them, will cut us too deeply.” Neil Gaiman, American Gods – Coming to America, 1778

Appreciation:

This has been a day of action, of moving forward, of busyness, of flow. Throughout the day I’ve been going almost nonstop with very little time to pause in between – and I’ve enjoyed every single moment of it! As I think about it I can’t help but think back to Jim Valvano’s speech and his insight: “If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that is a full day.”

Today I’m grateful for having lived a full day!

Presence:

Several years ago I read Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson and it had a profound impact on a part of my life I was not expecting. In the book Isaacson shares how da Vinci would paint the same scene multiple times – and always at a different time of day in order to learn more about how the ever changing sunlight transforms the colors and the highlights of the scene. Ever since reading that nugget I can’t help but take a moment to appreciate the bluffs in the Mississippi River Valley on my drive each day with the sun changing the hues ever so slightly based on the exact time I drive past.

Yesterday was a seeming fire erupting from the horizon, today was golden lit bluff tops. Each morning and evening the lighting changes just a little, but just enough to amplify the majesty of the natural world all around me. I’ve made that drive at least 5,000 times and it never ceases to draw me in.

Huge thank you to Walter Isaacson for a wonderful bit of wisdom which has sustained and grown my appreciation for the natural world.

Thanks!!!