Spending a few seconds this morning being mindful and grateful
March 30, 2023
It’s an ongoing joke between Khai and me that whenever I travel, I enthusiastically remark, “I would love to live here!” Notable recent examples include Bangkok, Bristol, and Boothbay. On the one hand, my comment is an expression of the honeymoon phase of travel, where I am easily biased toward novelty. On the other hand, I honestly believe I could adapt to enjoy living nearly anywhere. That’s partly due to my privileged positionality in society, but it’s also my personality as someone who intentionally focuses on the positive characteristics and potential of a place. I allow myself to learn and be gently shaped by my surroundings while also finding ways to contribute my gifts and passion. As a result, I’ve lived happily in many different places, like Princeton, Spokane, Chiang Mai, Cambridge, Washington DC, and now Baton Rouge.
This morning I woke up early, snuck out of the bedroom, and met my clothes laid out in a row on the coach where I had left them the night before. I rode my bicycle during the cool, quiet morning as the sun began shining through the trees. Biking occasionally feels like a chore, no doubt, but the cardio inevitably gets my heart and spirit spinning in the right direction. I got to campus on this definition-of-spring day, grabbed my special coffee that I use for writing days (a triple-shot hot vanilla latte), and snapped a few pictures before heading up to my office.
How fortunate am I to live here?
How fortunate am I to work in this building with a window facing the parade ground?
How fortunate am I to have a job I love that provides for my family and enables us to thrive?
I hope to bend this fortune/luck/privilege/blessing toward building a world in which more people have the opportunity to feel the same. There is much progress to be made. LSU’s campus is, after all, built on land originally belonging to Indigenous people who were unjustly and violently persecuted and removed. The campus still holds two ceremonial Native mounds that have lasted millennia. There is so much pain in the world — past, present, and yet to come. As someone who leans toward optimism, it is even more crucial to learn from history and be mindful of all the work still to do. May I continue to do this work and use my life to learn, serve, and contribute to our world’s collective flourishing.
Onward.
Oliver S. Crocco 
As someone who leans towards optimism?
You are far and away the most optimistic person I know. My suspicion is, you were born this way, this is your default nature. But I remember you writing some years ago about building relationships using the “yes, and” method from improv. It makes me wonder if you cultivate optimism, and if so, how? Could be a great blog post.
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