Exhaustion, fatigue, and general ambiguity are hitting hard. It is the final stretch of the last couple weeks of August and most of my friends (who are in the service industry of some sort) are clutching themselves and holding their breath hoping they will make it to Labor Day, which many of us consider the finish line. Tourism lingers at a good pace for several weeks of September, but the numbers dwindle, the weather sublimates, and the type of folks visiting the island seem to inhabit an increased IQ level.

I am grateful for many things today. I am grateful most of all for my increased awareness of God’s presence in every moment of my life. I am grateful for the man in my life that I love so greatly. Sometimes I wish I could crawl inside his very skin so that I could be as close to him as possible. This may sound strange to many of you as I know folks have all sorts of relationships. Many spend large amounts of time apart. Steve and I, however, do not like to be separated. We do know we are different people, and I feel confident that we have healed any co-dependent tendencies. Along with this characteristic of relationship, we also have a scarce level of adventure, vacation, or luster in our lives.

I am grateful for my friends and my pets, which bring so much love and support into my life. I am grateful for Lopez Island, locals and tourists alike, wildlife, scenery, water, wind, rock and cloud. I am grateful for a generally ordinary life where I plug away at routine and regularity, only to find that there is much wisdom and strength to be learned from a disciplined and plain life. They say that God is in the little things. I am learning that I do not need great excitement in my life to find peace and serenity, what I need most is a close relationship to the divine, to God.  As I become closer to God I am ever more in tune with my body and emotions as well as the little synchronicities that exist all around me and in many moments throughout my day.

So as the wind rustles the leaves, as you eat your lunch, or as you drive in your car or walk to your house after work, try to see the things that are before you that you do not always see. Try to feel the subtle message that passes through your very body. This is God sending you reaffirmations, messages of truth, and light being shed on the depths of the soul that you carry around within you through all the menialness of your day. I am not alone, and life is anything but dull, meaningless, flat or cold. If I get in touch with my senses as they are divinely orchestrated by our creator, I am able to grasp the amazingness of the moment, the world, and my place inherently therein.