The View from Here

My eyes opened early in the morning and it took just a moment to register…home. After being out of the country for sixteen days, waking up in different hotels to different vistas and the joys of jet lag, it felt so good to wake up in our cozy bed with the dogs at our feet. The gifts of home are so precious and so many.

Shiva…

I never feel quite complete away from home and our animals. I love to travel, love experiencing new places and meeting people different from me. Travel pushes me out of my comfort zone, something that I- a major homebody and introvert- need to do to keep me from becoming rigid and stuck in my ways. I know that the older I get, the more I’ll have to battle those tendencies in myself. Travel is the perfect elixir.

Morning, Marley style…

Reconnecting with our animals has been my favorite part of coming home. The comfort of morning routines; morning snuggling, letting the dogs out, feeding them, walking them, brushing them, taking care of Shiva. I am a woman who thrives on routine and always functions at my best when I have that anchor in my daily life.

It’s easy, though, when you’re in that comfortable routine to stop seeing what you experience every day as special or beautiful. I do my best to live in gratitude, but I have caught myself taking many things in my life for granted. Maybe that’s why I like to travel, because it shakes me into awareness. I saw amazing places in Belgium and Denmark, I’ve seen such beauty in Italy, Austria, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland, and Spain- the world is full of wonders. But…walking through the door of our home and back into my little slice of the world reminds me to feel wonder in the every day- not just while traveling to exotic places.

Buds…

I never want to forget how fortunate I am to live in a home filled with love and respect with the love of my life. To live with animals that bring such joy and companionship. To have a career that fulfills me and makes me look forward to going to work with colleagues that I truly like and admire. To have real friends who are there for me- and me for them- no matter what. To live in an old house with history, something that was always my dream. To have plenty of food and good healthcare. The list goes on and on…such bounty. May I never forget to be grateful for the beauty of life.