I call them My Four Points.

Each is something I carry with me all day, everywhere I go.   They were all together on the table this morning after I got up.

Each has a special spiritual and personal meaning for me; one is essential for daily life.

This morning, they were all together on the dining room table when the sunlight entered.

I was thinking how simple these things are, but also how necessary. They can be helpful when I need to think of what is important in life as I have the kind of mind that wanders in many directions.

One is the cross a friend gave me some years ago. I wear it as a necklace most days. It reminds me of my spiritual life and suggests that it; it represents the importance of honesty and faith, not any particular religion.

The necklace for the cross is broken. I’m looking for another one.

The second is an unusual metal piece, an Appreciation Necklace.

The words “appreciation”  and several others are engraved in Jave Script computer code on a platinum pendant.  I got it from a gifted artist and spiritual software writer in Brooklyn.

I’ve never seen anything like it.

I sometimes alternate the two.

Lately, I’m wearing the “appreciation” pendant, which guides me and reminds me to be grateful for the things I have rather than be angry or troubled by the things I don’t have.  It is a whining preventive. It inspires me to count my many blessings.

The third point is my wallet, which carries my credit cards and identification. I use it several times daily when I shop and visit the doctor. It’s a new kind of wallet, compact and efficient, and simple.

It only carries what I really need.

The fourth has enormous meaning to me.

It’s a sterling silver money clip Maria gave me as a wedding present. It is engraved with a verse from our favorite Mary Oliver poem, Mornings At Blackwater.

Our friend Margaret Waterston read it at our wedding ceremony. Miraculously, I haven’t lost it; I’ve dropped or misplaced it too many times to count, but it’s still with me, and it is my most precious possession.

It reflects the theme and purpose of our lives:

The full last verse reads

“So come to the pond,

or the river of your imagination,

or the harbor of your belonging,

and put your lips to the world.

and live

your life.”

The last three lines of this verse are engraved on the money clip: …put your lips to the world and live your life. I never used a money clip in my life, but I used this one every day. Those words make me cry almost every time.

These four things ground me, remind me to be grateful, connect me to my spiritual life and love for Maria, help me organize and pay for my life, and shop and purchase things for the Mansion or the refugees.

All four functions are essential, creating fixed points that help me remain grounded in the storm that we also refer to as life.