spirit of the rising sun, lift me up
hold me there and never let me fall

~lyrics from "The Three Sunrises" by U2

I've been riding in my car listening to old U2 a lot lately, with the wind in my hair, my shoulders relaxed and feeling of gratitude heavy in my heart.

"Life is a mixed bag," I told a friend the other day, "and in it there's the good, the bad and the ugly. We all have some of each, you just never know what you're going to reach in and pull out on any given day."

I've chosen a bit of each one recently and in a short period of time, but for some reason it seems lately like the sour parts of life don't have as much of a hold over me as they once did, or perhaps I'm just letting them go a bit easier and the good parts, the really good ones, feel even better.

I look around at friends and see how they are right in the middle of life too. Deep in it. Struggling, triumphant at times and devastated just the same. It overwhelms me, the sameness between us all that we don't realize, or don't use to our mutual advantage, and how much stronger we are when we come together.

So that will be my intention for the near future, to draw closer through shared experience, trusting, treading slowly and listening very close to what the hearts of others have to say.

Pictured above, my birthday gift to myself, an array of sunflowers courtesy of Hickory Green Farm. I love them, Halsey, they'll brighten my whole week.