happy new-vember to you! happy new home-vember to me!

we have a new home!

dear friends, family, fellow folks i care for and want to wish a happy new month to,

happy new month!
happy now month!
happy NOW-vember!

1) new month, new now

ever have deja vu? i mean, it seems like it was just Now a second ago, and all of a sudden now it’s Now again? and right now we’re in the specific flavor of now that i call NOW-vember. what goes on in november for you? growing a mustache? shaving a mustache? nothing mustache-related? watching leaves change colors and fall? living somewhere where that doesn’t happen? watching YOURSELF change? what’s new? what’s old? what’s good? what’s happening? so many possibilities! i hope that the changing of the calendar treats you well. for me/us over here, here’s what’s up…

2) new month, new home

previously on My Life: on june 1, rini and i moved out of our brooklyn residence and embarked upon months of home-free living. we spent weeks traveling the states and more than a month in the UK, with our plan being that when we returned from the edinburgh fringe fest, we would find a new residence in NYC. we returned at the end of august, moved into a new place in september, got flooded out of that place a week later, and for the past month have been seeking a new home. and thankfully, just like the expression goes, “seek (and pay a real estate broker more money than you want to) and ye shall find.” on october 30, we moved into our new apartment, the first apartment that is OURS since five months ago, so the happy new month vibes are strong and present right now, and i just wanted to share this gratitude with you.

3) new month, new thanks

i aim to feel and express gratitude every day, every moment that i can remember, even when it’s NOT the month that thanksgiving happens, the same way that i tell rini i love her even when it’s not valentine’s day, and the way i wish people a happy new month even when that’s not a thing that most people do (thank you for receiving!). and also, thanksgiving the holiday exists. and while it is of course tied up with a painful history that we can hopefully all do our best to understand, reckon with, and move forward with the mindful aim to soothe suffering wherever possible, it also does offer (for me at least) a reminder OF my aim to feel and express gratitude every day, even in the midst of a world where there is so much suffering and pain. i am truly grateful for rini and all the people i love and that love me, for our home, for our life, for the lives of everyone who is doing their best to be kind and compassionate, for water and the sun and the changing of the seasons and the animals (have you seen birds? cats? there are some videos online!) and the plants and consciousness and joy and meaning and words and sounds and silence and long run-on type sentences and YOU. i might have mentioned you already, but i’m grateful for and to YOU. thank you for being here, thank you for receiving.