You know you're having a good day when ...

Hmmmm.  Now that's a good one.

Sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean - North Myrtle Beach, 2013

This was a title for a potential blog I put up months ago.  When I had a thought in my head and wanted to expand on it.  I was so sure that I would remember what it was that had triggered this title, that I never wrote anything more down.

Life changes.  It has been so many months since I had a good day that I no longer know what a good day looks like.

Oh yes, I have glimmers hear and there.

For me, a good day translates into a day where I feel peace, contentment.  At home in my body.  A day when all the accumulated, debilitating affects of severe stress have laid down their ugly heads for a truce.  A truce which is tenuous at best.  Unstable.  Liable to be broken at any moment without warning.  But still, for the time being, a truce.

Fog over the ocean

A good day is when the at times severe itching is under control and my skin feels like skin, not like an inside out pin cushion with pins poking from underneath the skin.  A great day is when I can sit in my "safe" room wearing clothes.

A good day is when my emotions are not cloaked and choked under a fog so deep that all creativity, passion and interest are stifled.  A great day is when the spark returns and interest in the outside world starts to flow.  Maybe only for a short time but still there.  Lurking somewhere deep inside straining to get out.

A good day is when I'm able to crochet or knit; cook; work on my blog.  A great day is when I'm able to read the patterns; read a cookbook and understand what I'm reading.

A good day is when energy is not so seriously depleted that I'm able to do small things:  make the bed, take a bath; a great day is when I'm able to plan an outing and follow through, take a walk, drive, ride the bus.

A good day is filled with colour; a great day is filled with vivid colours.

A good day is filled with contentment, shared moments, memories being made.  A great day has all these three plus the added ingredient of laughter.

A good day is where there is peace; a great day is where there is hope.

Hope for healing.

Hope for full recovery.

Hope.

Late afternoon at the intercoastal waterway, South Carolina