A Gratitude List

Paris on My Shelf

What an overthinking brain learns to hold with thanks

by the author with Ideogram

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I am grateful for Paris. No, not the city, but the tea, by Harney’s. The city is beautiful, sure, and I’d go back again to visit in a heartbeat, but Harney’s tea called Paris is fragrant and delicious, imbued with vanilla, black currant, bergamot and caramel oils. The aroma sends me into a mini-bliss state, and sipping it soothes my soul.

If you ever come to visit me here in Poughkeepsie, or the next time you come to visit, I’ll take you to Harney’s, and we’ll have a tea lunch and tea tasting, and shop for cool tea paraphernalia in their tea shop.

I am grateful for days of rest, even when days of rest mean I have special projects to work on.

And I am grateful for scheduled foot massages and body massages, dedicated to restoring sore muscles, tendons, and overthinking brains.

I am grateful for my overthinking brain — without which I could not possibly be a writer. Because that is what writers do. We overthink.

I am grateful for overthinking ways to bridge the financial gap between now and social security, so I can work less physically hard, and spend more time writing, editing and publishing, as this is the space I love the most.

Besides being in nature, traveling around and experiencing people in all their many forms. And that is an endless adventure, since there are 8 billion of us.

Each Friday morning, we offer a gratitude journaling workshop. It takes only about 1/2 hour of your time, but likely will be the best 30 minutes you spend all week. Want to join us? It’s open to the public here.

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Brand art by Gael MacLean