Your problem is how you are going to spend this one and precious life you have been issued. Whether you're going to spend it trying to look good and creating the illusion that you have power over circumstances, or whether you are going to taste it, enjoy it and find out the truth about who you are.~Anne Lamott, Berkeley commencement address (From The Comfort Book by Matt Haig)

There are some authors that I will read without knowing what the book is about. Matt Haig is that author for me. He's been described as the "King of Empathy." His latest title, The Comfort Book, meets all my expectations. I've lifted several excerpts that I thought may comfort you as you move forward in these uncertain times.

~And yes, we might feel that others are judging our worth via metrics like income and follower counts and weight and chest measurements and all the rest of it, but always remember we are more than can be measured. We are life itself.

~For when you reach rock bottom: You have survived everything you have been through, and you will survive this too. Stay for the person you will become. You are more than a bad day, or week, or month, or year, or even decade. You are a future of multifarious possibility.

~Pizza: The sky isn't more beautiful if you have perfect skin. Music doesn't sound more interesting if you have a six-pack. Dogs aren't better company if you're famous. Pizza tastes good regardless of your job title. The best of life exists beyond the things we are encouraged to crave.

~Scroll your mind: Social media can be a gallery of lives you aren't living. Of diets you aren't following. Of parties you're not attending. Of vacations you're not on. Of fun you're not having. So, cut yourself a break and scroll your mind instead. Scroll your consciousness for reasons to be grateful to be you. The only fear of      missing out that matters is the fear of missing out on yourself.

~I hope this email finds you very far away from this email.

 Instead of a blessing this week (or perhaps it could be), I leave you with Matt Haig's poem:

HOW TO BE AN OCEAN

You haven't failed,

In a moment of sadness.

You haven't lost,

In a moment of defeat.

You are not a statue

Standing in an eternal contrapposto.

You are a thing in motion:

A rising tide, a cresting wave.

Your vast depths witness

Every marvel, every wonder:

You are, then, marvelous, 

And wonderful. So:

Don't fight the moon.

Allow every tide.

And give all your wrecked ships

The space to hide.