Today was a lovely day for cycling along the Los Angeles River with friends, for enjoying a relaxing lunch at a café along the river afterwards, for playing with our friends’ new kitten, helping my friend choose an outfit to wear to a party tonight, and then for returning home, chatting over dinner and then slumping down on the couch to watch a couple more episodes of Glee with our son Theo.

Today wasn’t such a great day for creative giving, but I am learning that sometimes that’s ok. With the end of this project in sight, I’d love to make every last day of this project count by giving something meaningful each day to someone who has profoundly impacted my existence and then writing something beautiful about it. However, one of the things that this Giveaway journey has confirmed to me is that our experiences and friendships matter far more than our material possessions. And to be honest, there have been quite a few days this year when I have become so obsessed with giving something away and then write about it that I haven’t really been able to relax. So today, I chose to give something away (two pairs of Theo’s pants and a pair of his shoes) to a thrift store quietly, without any fanfare. And I let myself focus on enjoying my family, my friends, my health and relative fitness, the soft, playfulness of a kitten, the dramatic beauty of mountains in the distance, and the coolness of the autumn air against my cheeks as I glided along the river path.