Seventy

on the occasion of entering a new decade

Photo by B, the Dear Husband

The day has come. Early this morning I completed seventy trips around the sun. I was born in Phoenix, Arizona, on March 27, 1955, at 1:41 am Mountain Standard Time. My Sun (identity) is in Aries (action-oriented style), my Moon (physical body) is in Taurus (grounded and stabilizing style), and my Rising Sign (motivation for living) is Capricorn (disciplined and self-restricting style).

To celebrate, I thought about giving you “70 lessons learned in 70 years of living” but that would be a stretch — for you reading and for me writing. Instead, I offer the following lists, with seven items each.

March Joys

Practicing new commands with Tjikko at Puppy Kindergarten, then writing down the steps so I don’t forget them

After a fun, active Puppy K class, Tjikko’s two-hour nap!

A break!! – a weekend retreat with longtime friends

Days of beautiful spring weather

Talking with a close family member or friend

Playing bass clarinet in my community band – so fun!

When the puppy finally goes down for the night (so maybe I can finish this post)

Affirmations that make sense to me

I am a channel for the divine creative intelligence to flow through.

I can move toward love and self-trust instead of fear and anxiety.

I deserve to have my wildest dreams come true.

Kindness starts with being kind to myself.

I can control my own actions – not those of other people (or a puppy)

I can give freely of my gifts and honor my boundaries

I can practice the productive art of rest. I am not so important that I can’t take a break.

What’s been going well this month

My tolerance for cold weather – 55 F with a brisk wind is no long “too cold” after the winter just past.

My Apple watch stats – before Tjikko, I didn’t always walk 10,000 steps in a day. Now, it’s between 14K and 16K most days.

Publishing a post here every week.

New landscaping in our front and back yards

The sermon I preached at my church last Sunday

This kale salad – especially the dressing

Making progress in decluttering my house by tiny steps

What I’m working on

Living with greater simplicity and presence

Rebuilding my meditation practice

Accepting that puppy care and management is a full-time-plus-overtime job

Giving up on control – some days go better than others

Making more time for my music practice

Resisting commitments and obligations – test: would I say yes to this thing if I had to do it this week?

Going to bed on time

And finally …

The prayer for this day, from Look About You: A Book of Ordinary Prayers, by Cody Cook-Parrott:

I take a lantern to god like the hermit in the tarot and I say – let me find my way in this solitude. I see that spring is upon me but I also stay with one foot in the winter world. I pray for daylilies and irises while also honoring what has died and yet to reemerge.