Hey,

  Just thought I’d start a thread for posting something pleasant that happened in your day-to-day lives, and maybe it happened because you practice the dharma.
 
I’ll Start!
 
The weather has been scary, global-warming-esque nice here in Boulder lately.  Like almost reaching the 70s!  Today, I sat outside in the sun to eat my lunch.  I’ve been trying to live as many moments as possible outside of their context.  For example, if you’re driving to work, just forget about the fact that you’re driving to work, and simply going for a drive and… Hey, look at that pretty sunrise!
 
In my work, I can take as long a lunch as I like, but it starts to eat into my pay when it exceeds 30 minutes.  Today I was soaking up the sun and really enjoying it and 30 minutes came and went.  The thought of going back to work to get my 8 hours in came to mind, but then I thought that this moment was it’s own kind of payment.  I can think and stress about money a fair amount, but in the grand scheme of things, money isn’t really all that important, and for a little bit this afternoon, I was able to live beyond the small context of life and be a little more present with my experience.
 
-T

Walking with a friend with parkinson's last night, two of us kept putting a foot down in front of them: something to step over to help them unfreeze. We realized how fun this would be if everyone in the square last night began walking with their friends this way. A kind of experiential empathy relay.

I had dinner last night with friends I’ve known for many years.   The food wasn’t wonderful or awful.  The conversation wasn’t particularly inspiring or dreadful.  It was just a time to be together without anything much happening at all. Just the magical companionship of friends spending time together doing nothing special. 

There is a similar magic to parts of my practice that I have done for years - just relaxing with what is happening it just as it is, 

I had a moment yesterday when a particularly crotchety colleague emailed me his thanks for something I said in a faculty meeting. He and I have had our ups and downs over the years, and I know he ended up thinking all sorts of negative things about me. So when he was able to send that message yesterday, I felt a wave of warmth toward him, which has returned every time I think about it. 

p.s. Thanks for the thread.