Dear ____,

It's been a month without THC. At first it was difficult because things weren’t, I don't know, shimmery the way they were before.

Then, though, as the days went by, I just noticed that instead of day-to-day life feeling depressing, it just felt like, you know, day-to-day life.

And…that was okay.

And I started thinking about that word…okay.

And I started to really, really like that word.

I thought: “you know, right now, if my day feels like a C, instead of saying that the day is merely average, which just sounds so disappointing, I could instead say: hey, the day is okay.

And no, okay is, for me at least, every bit as much of an appropriate word for a C. It just feels so much better than average.

If I'm doing something that's way outside my skill set, there's a big difference between someone saying “well, you did average work,” and someone saying “hey, you did okay.” Okay, as you pointed out again and again, is the realm of Denzel Washington nodding his head and saying “okay…okay.” If someone is racked up a couple of days of being off of something, they’re probably not feeling extraordinary. At the same time, if they’re not completely down, they’re not, just, you know, average. They deserve a pat on the shoulder with an affirmation: “hey, you're doing okay.”

Okay, as I tell folks and have written in numerous letters, is a C, and a C is a five.

And five is okay.

Six (C+) is decent.

Seven (B) is good.

Eight (B+) is fine.

Nine (A) is excellent.

Ten (A+) is extraordinary.

And honestly, if many of my days are okay and decent, and if I'm not disappointed at them not being extraordinary, well, then I find that a whole lot of other ones turn out to be pretty darn good. Some, in fact, turn out to be fine, and a select few turn out to be excellent.

And maybe once or twice a year, they may be extraordinary.

I don't have much else to report. I read. I listen to music and words, watch stuff and think. Then I write letters or play my ukulele. Often some of the less personal words that I write make their way to the writing that I share with the world or wind up as lyrics to a song that I play on the ukulele.

I'm getting my left hip fixed in two weeks and can't wait. I do not recommend the feeling of one bone grinding against the other to anyone.