In keeping with National Grief Awareness Day, I’ve been thinking about the loss of a friendship, the one I wrote about in yesterday’s blog. This morning I sent her a break-up email. It was to the point, calling out the grievance for what it was—gaslighting—although I didn’t use that term, then cutting the ties and wishing her well. Someone asked me whether I felt relieved about not having to deal with that anymore. Yes, because who wants to be gaslighted? No, because when she was being nice, I actually enjoyed her company. I’ll have to find new friends to do those things with.

It’s Monday, so it must be Office Day. I applied for another role that came up on my job search feed; something I can get excited about. Fingers crossed for at least one interview.

This evening I pitched a story to a panel of judges for the next Tales & Ales storytelling show, the only one in a neighboring county and which seems to really pack the audience in. They seemed to like it, so fingers on the other hand crossed that I get selected to tell in late October. On the way home, I was passing the cemetery where I sometimes walk. Because of evening rain storms, I haven’t gotten in much walking lately, so I stopped for dusk stroll. It seemed a lonely place when the sun goes down. Lots of families have put up solar-powered lights around their loved ones’ headstones, and those began to come on as I walked among the rows. A contemplative evening.