Just so you know, the following was written with no creative input from drugs. (Unless Tylenol counts)

I just had the most magical moment. I am sitting at my office desk. My “Likes” playlist is playing on my Jam Box Speaker. Three stories down, the river sparkles and takes flight as the wind drives small waves against the sea wall. Adele’s is belting out “Make you Feel My Love.” I am drawn inwards and I lean my head back as I rock and sway with the music.

My eyes sweep the photographs and tchotchkes on either side of my desk. The elephant cow tends to her baby. They seem to celebrate the day, just as they have since I bought them sometime in the early 1970s. A polished ostrich egg from our 2013 trip to Africa offers fond memories. And there is the stuffed elephant Hans bought me last month to support the Elephant Sanctuary.

These personal treasures stand between and betwixt the photographs of my life. In my magic moment, I am surrounded by my life story…

The moment passes quickly and I feel privileged to have recognized it. A truly happy moment amongst the pain and fear of my cancer. A happy place that has been sitting here all along, waiting for me to recognize it.

I realize that I have been subconsciously creating this happy place… updating some photos and replacing others with the past. Each image captures a magic moment in my life and keeps it alive . Each is individually magnificent but together, together they are magic!

If you know me, then you know that I love design and appreciate diverse aesthetics. Today, I need to add a new category to home design. The Dutch have a word for it…warm en gezellig. Gezelligheid is not truly translatable to English. (And don’t even think about pronouncing it correctly.) Gezelligheid represents the merging of conviviality, togetherness and contentment. It captures a wordless sense of comfort.

I am looking forward to consciously creating happy places throughout the rest of my life.