1. Sunlight. There is no feeling like it and there is no replicating it.

2. Silence. The kind free from mechanical whirring and metallic crunching,  lacking the hum of electrical undercurrents or pumping machinery. True silence. 

3. Space. The ability to evade watchful eyes, to be alone and contemplate. To gain perspective due to physical distance. To leave and have somewhere to return. 

4. Sadness. The removal of my heart to give to another if only for a moment. To carry someone else's pain. Bearing witness to grief and truly grieving. 

5. Strength. So many times have I prayed weakness away in hopes of resolution. In a quiet way I fought, never stopping to feel strength settle in my bones after each battle. 

6. Sight. Whether it be to take in vast landscapes on the hopeful horizon or examine shattered and dark broken earth, I weep. I am grateful for the tears all the same. 

7. Swearing. Just once to say: our reality is fucking insane. 

8. Shouting. THINGS NEED TO CHANGE. 

9. State Senators. This one was a joke. 

10. Social Media. Between home and work, despite systemic efforts, there is still a third place for community.

11. Standing still. Planting two feet on the floor and feeling grounded. No one is chasing me and there is nowhere I’m forced to go. I am allowed to be here. It should be safe to simply be.
 
12. Sanctity. One truth little recognized but universally agreed upon; our lives are sacred. We build societies around this fact. We destroy societies despite it. And sacred still are the lives lost. 

13. Salvation. Even if it seems we are too far gone, there is still a path to return on. We can always turn around. 

14. Sanity. Even if I am holding on by a thread, it retains my humanity. 

15. Smiling. Having an innate means to express happiness . Both the brain and heart are susceptible to joy, our mouths merely follow suit.