Gratitude

Thank you. I spend so much space in these pages just complaining: complaining about my failed job, complaining about relationships, complaining about slights, failures, and missed opportunities. For once, and hopefully much more than once, I would like to be grateful.

I’m home. All the family Dudek is home. We get along – not perfectly – but well enough, especially considering the decades when we did not. We are healthy, successful, and happy. We don’t fight much. My parents care for me and root on my successes. I try to be present and helpful for them.

I’m grateful for my circles of friends. Together we cheer, we cry, we run, we fall down, and we get up again. I’ve learned so much from so many. I have a lot to give back.

I thank those that have spent years with me. I’m a difficult partner, so dating this dumb dinosaur requires inexorably patience and goodwill. I’ve been shaped so much by others. I’m grateful for the adventures, the togetherness, even the difficult cries.

I’m happy for work again. Although stressful, it was easier than expected to find meaningful work again. I look forward to coworkers, projects, an office, a shared mission, and community. Bring on the difficult projects and pressured presentations.

My arts community nurtures, encourages, and teaches me. I’m grateful for Todd Cooper’s gentle pushes, Polyglamorous patronage, and Comfort + Joy to give me venues to decorate. I would not be so prolific without an audience, not so daring without other fellow artists expanding creativity.

Ostensibly it’s been a difficult year. Nonetheless, I’m grateful for the rolls, turns, jumps, and crashes.

Thank you.