There are always ups-and-downs, day to day, week to week, month to month. Yet if I had to encapsulate my life at the moment in just one word, it would be
joy. Joy for so many beautiful facets that seem to come together in such a miraculous and improbable way that unacknowledgement of it would be sacrilege (even in the most secular of contexts). Joy for rain, for thunderstorms, for happiness bursting in so many directions. Joy for colleagues of wit and intelligence and energy--unadulterated vivacity. Joy for long nights and early mornings (and late mornings especially) and sleepiness crumpled by caffeine; joy for long car rides with music and fresh memories and wind blowing through the moon-roof. Joy for small creatures that only want to be loved, and for large creatures that only want to love. Joy for poetry and good books, for smiling eyes, for exhausting runs, for music that comes from deep within. Joy. Lots of it.
And some mathematics and stress, along the way, in typical documentation by my ever-photogenic white-board:
All in preparation for tomorrow's meeting, probably my last official "business meeting" (for a couple of years, at least). A bit of sadness, but still joy. Lots of it.
