Dear President Trump,

I need a break from you so I’m just going to chat about small life stuff.

This morning was my first day back on my usual walk/run routine since the very beginning of the month. A handful of stalwart exercisers ran throughout our weather ordeal, but I was not among them. As far as I could tell, none of us “good for her/him” runners (as in not at all svelte, kind of clunky) braved the conditions. I thought about it for a nanosecond since I did miss it, but as you know, I’m apt to fall even when the sidewalks aren’t icy, so it seemed like I’d just be asking for trouble.

So anyway, while it was hard to make myself get up this morning, I’m glad I did. It wasn’t as cold out as I thought it would be and it was quiet.

There also wasn’t as much trash to pick up as I thought there’d be. I suppose people had less opportunity to lose track of their stuff since they weren’t out nearly as much as usual. I’m not sure, but I think the combination of trash and dirty patches of snow led me to think about how picking up litter is like picking up other people’s sadness. More often than not what they’ve left behind are beer bottles and cans, plastic fast food containers, soda cups and bottles – all stuff that mostly serves as a quick fix for something or other.

And, I’m probably over thinking it. I guess, though, that I’d rather think about people and their litter in this way than mentally railing at them for being careless and/or not giving a damn about their surroundings and the impact that plastic lid or crushed can would have if it gets into Lake Washington or the ocean. Laura is able to do something like this with scary drivers – she finds some kind or compassionate way of interpreting their behavior when all I want to do is honk at them as I mutter about what assholes they are. From a blood pressure standpoint, hers is a much better approach so while I’m probably a ways off in terms of being able to do it with drivers who scare me or who I perceive as cheating/cutting, maybe I can cultivate this attitude around the trash situation. We’ll see.

Just so you know, this morning I also got back to saying my loving-kindness meditations for everyone, including you.

May we be safe to take care of ourselves.
May we be happy when we can engage our self-care routines.
May we not neglect our health even when the world is tough to navigate.
May you give us all a chance at safety, happiness, and health by not starting a war.

Sincerely,
Tracy Simpson