There have been days lately that I look around and am nearly overcome with pure gratitude. Sometimes it happens while I'm drifting off to sleep. Sometimes it happens on my walk home from Allegory Gallery. Sometimes it happens when I'm at my desk and just catch myself drifting off into my thoughts. But lately, it's been happening a lot. You see, I consider myself one of the lucky ones; I'd be crazy not to. There really isn't much in my life to complain about. I don't say this to gloat or to sit on a high-horse or to belittle; I say this simply to express how lucky and enriched I feel to have the people in my life that I do, to have had the opportunity and experiences I've had, and to have been born under, what I can only assume, is a lucky sign. There have been times that I've been pretty pessimistic about life, love, and the pursuit of happiness. There have been times when I've been really down and really, honestly, felt that recovering fr...