Day 16 of 100 Days

Prompt: Compose a list of things that are true about you. Sit with each item, making sure you really mean it.

I get my energy from people. When I am sad, confused, excited, depressed, celebratory, successful, or failing, I want to be with people. When I have tough news, the first thing I do is call people to connect. When I had a bad day or a good day, I was to go to a brewery and be around people. Even by myself, I would rather be with people.

Exercise is essential to me. It's my medicine, my edition, necessary for both my physical and mental health. The L4 I broke when I was a teen trying to impress a kid on my street, and ended up doing an endo on my bike, will remind me in excruciating detail how important exercise is to me. My wandering mind will remind me that exercise calms me down. I'm always worse off without it.

I love bright colors. I love bright vibrant colors and patterns. I always have. I am surely influenced by my mother who loved red with unbridled enthusiasm.  For the longest time, the only black pants I owned were the ones that wore as part of my work uniform at the China Lantern. My time in Peace Corps just solidified my love of colorful clothes, glasses, shoes, lipstick, earrings, necklaces, hats, coats, cars, coffee cups, plates, patterns, and life. Life is too short to wear anything but the most vibrant color that you can.

I love writing letters and cards. I love sending mail. I love receiving mail. I want people to know that I'm thinking about them and that it doesn't have to be in a big way. I love the colorful, funny, meaningful cards that you can pick out and the brilliant stamps that you choose from. We always got "decorative" stamps growing up. Never just the plain ones. Because again, life is too short to be anything but colorful. Why get boring flag stamps when you could get Lunar New Year Oxen, Coffee cups filled with sunshine, spring flowers, states, famous writers, singers and athletes, landscapes, seascapes, moonscapes, galaxy, other country flags. There are so many beautiful ways to tell people that you're thinking of them.

Traveling is very important to me and brings me incredible joy. It's not just the language and food and music and culture that I enjoy. I love researching the country, city, and community that we're going to visit. I like to read up on history and learn and listen. I listen to the language, how things are said, the tones, the music, the laughter, the business, the animals. I love to try my tongue at a new language. I love experiencing a new place with friends, with my wife, friends, or my family. It is such a privilege to be able to travel and I'm so grateful for that.