Dallas Bragg describes being homeless in early recovery, finding profound gratitude in small things: a late-night walk, a taco restaurant job, shadows on a pipe. He argues gratitude doesn't need possessions, just attention to tiny details.
You know, one of the most grateful, high-vibe times in my life was very early recovery when I was homeless, when I had nothing, and everything that came into my life was a big deal, and I was so fucking grateful for it. My first job working at a taco restaurant, and I remember getting off at 2 AM and walking downtown because this lady that I didn't know From Facebook allowed me to sleep in her massage studio on the floor on an air mattress that I stole. Um, but I remember walking in the middle of the night and just feeling so free and so hopeful and so separated from my chemsex life. And now, even today, I go back to that place. I take myself back to that night because, you know, now there's pressures. There's adult life pressures. There's rent. There's the business. There's relationships. There's responsibilities. All of that stuff gets so burdensome sometimes. But I take myself back to that place, and I remember just how elevated I felt and how every single thing was beautiful. I remember I stopped and took a picture of a a pipe coming out of the ground because of the shadows that were facing it, you know, that night, 2 in the morning, in the morning. And I was like, wow, everything is beautiful. And so I want you to think about that in terms of what can you— when were you your most grateful? And how can you get yourself back to that place? How can you take yourself back there when life is feeling heavy, when life is feeling so hopeless? And isn't it amazing that I didn't have to have anything to feel grateful? I didn't have to have. I didn't have to be or do. It was just existing. It was just finding the gratitude in all the little things. Ah, I hope you have a great day.
