I keep feeling so much gratitude for what we are given in our lives. All of us, by way of accident, by way of things we couldn't have selected oursel… - Naomi Shihab Nye

We feel uplifted, exhilarated. Writing regularly can help us feel that way too. It slows and eases us, calms us down. Having a focal point is generative. Consider the spaciousness of the sky over the water, which we often forget about as we scurry through our days. I love what the poet Marvin Bell has suggested about writing-Read something, then write something. Read something else, then write something else. It's all connected, it's always been connected. Let one activity inform the other. Streams of language exchanging their powers.

When you liked somebody, you wanted to trade the best things you knew about. You liked them not only for themselves, but for the parts of you that they brought out. (p255)

When people tilt their heads just slightly to imagine another person's experience, the space inside the mind grows. (2019)