Ten Reasons to Stay Alive

1. The scent of lavender and pine on a summer breeze.
.
2. Sitting under the cherry tree in the noon day sun, light filtering through the leaves like gold satin.

3. Fast-moving, shape-shifting clouds carving up the sky.

4. The premonition of rain in the air and when it falls, the softness on my skin. The way raindrops gather and trickle on the window pane making patterns. The way rain strengthens the colours of leaves and flowers.

5. The miraculous existence of rabbits.

6. Birds that sing at night.

7. The rhythm of the sea, white surf boiling up on the beach after a storm.

8. The cool smoothness of sea pebbles.

9. The darkness of forests, the dry crackle of twigs under foot.

10. Biting into a ripe nectarine, the juice trickling down my chin.