Lessons in Gratitude Day 568

This evening I called a friend with whom I hadn’t spoken to in well over a year. It was a good thing to do. I have known her since I was 14–our families were friends–and though I haven’t spent much time with her over the years, particularly as we’ve gotten older, I think about her from time to time. I think this is probably only the second or third phone conversation we’ve ever had. I realized as we chatted that she probably doesn’t get phone calls very often and so the first hour of the conversation passed quickly with us catching up on various things. The second hour did also. It wasn’t until I looked at the phone and realized we were headed toward three hours. The conversation ranged widely (mostly she talked and I listened) from family stuff, to books she’d read recently, and a variety of other subjects. I lost the advantage of time I’d gained from driving home in an unusually light commute, but I’m glad I called and checked in on her. It was an okay way to spend my Friday evening.

This has been a long week–even though it had the same number of hours and days in it as last week did, somehow this week has felt like it had twice the number of days of the normal week. I think I’ve taken a few mechanical bull rides, but mostly it’s been a predictably tiring, draining week. Still, I am grateful for so many things this week–I’ve written about most of them, and much of my gratitude has focused on simple things: the “basics” like food, shelter, and warm clothes, as well as things like friendship, perseverance in the face of difficulties, the beauty of the natural world, and the connection with my four-legged companion and play meister.

This weekend I’m going to get myself out of the house at least once: I have to take my car to the shop for some routine servicing, so I’m guaranteed to get out anyway, but I also know that I need to be sure to connect with the world, even if it’s only briefly. Last weekend the two sisters with whom I most frequently spend time with on weekends were both out of town over the weekend. And even though it’s possible that I would not have spent time with either of them, knowing that I couldn’t talk to or hang out with them was remarkably affecting. I spent the majority of the weekend talking to myself, to God and to the dog, and none of the conversations were particularly satisfying. So my goal for this weekend is to get out and at least interact with the world a little bit. I am working on developing other activities that will get me out and interacting with other human beings on a weekly basis. I miss volunteering, which presents at least one possibility, and I am thinking about other things I can do to get myself occupied and out in the community.

I am grateful for this upcoming weekend. I need to refuel and refresh in preparation for next week, which will be full of meetings and numerous hectic activities and projects. It’s exhausting but good. It has been a long time since I included the night time prayer in my blog, but tonight feels like a good time for me to contemplate on it and post it.