Happy Thanksgiving! I sure have a lot to be thankful for. Thanksgiving is meant to celebrate the harvest of the previous year… and having just seen Interstellar, I truly am reminded of just how thankful I am for this planet, it’s beauty, and, existence. But putting aside my embracement of the trees, Thanksgiving really is a remarkable holiday.
What I love most about Thanksgiving is how genuine it is. There are no gifts or the creation of lists of wishes and wants that ultimately end up setting expectations, that, quite frankly, sometimes end up making you feel let down (as ridiculous as that sounds). It is not just an excuse to get drunk, nor is it a religious holiday that excludes any from partaking. There are no silly mascots attempting to create buzz and forcing you to spend money on things you don’t need. It is a celebration that we, as Americans, come together to give thanks for all that we have.
In it’s simplest form, it is about gratitude, and it is about family. These two things carry such amazing power: There is great strength in a family that loves, supports, and teaches one another. Don’t get me wrong, family ties can bring challenges, but most of all, and likely a result of these challenges, they bring the greatest happiness. And gratitude… an attitude of gratitude allows you to be more resilient, less envious, and and can heal your relationships and competitiveness (the bad kind), ultimately bringing you happiness and longevity.
When you put gratitude and family together in one place, you can’t help but have a full heart… the full belly is just an added bonus.
So today, as I stuff my face, I can’t help but remind myself – and celebrate – all I have to be thankful for. And I thought I would share some of that with you in hopes that you too will be able to sit down and come up with a list to remember the remaining 364 days of the year.
So here it goes…
I am thankful for my husband. He is the reason behind my smile every day. Having been through some incredibly tough times, and experienced some terrible, emotionally abusive relationships, he has been a beacon of light and a breath of fresh air that I just want to inhale forever. I am thankful for his love, his kindness, his patience and his loyalty.
I am thankful for my family. They have been a guiding light in my life, and better yet, my best friends. No matter how many times I stumble or fall (and there have been quite a few), there has always been a crowd of familial faces reaching down to pick me up with both hands.
I am thankful for my dog Mini. There have been many times where I have questioned whether I had the strength to make it – but he has always been there – with a wagging tail – to make me feel loved and eternally needed.
I am thankful for our new furball who has yet to be named. In a world where there can be hate, jealousy and a competitiveness that makes you question your capabilities, there can be such innocence and joy. When I look at our new puppy, I see nothing but sweet loving loyalty that doesn’t care what kind of house we live in, what kind of clothes we wear or how many Instagram followers we have. He puts a great big smile on my face and reminds me to enjoy and appreciate all that I have and to try to look at things with big fresh innocent eyes.
I am thankful for my friends. Without them I would not be who I am today. We have laughed together and we have cried together. And we share a bond that can withstand the test of distance and time as most all of my best friends are scattered about the nation.
I am thankful for my experiences. I have been lucky enough to have traveled the world and experienced different cultures only to realize that the small things don’t matter. We are but a tiny grain of sand in the big scheme of this great, grand world – and it matters not the kind of imprint that we leave, but the impact in the hearts of others.
I am thankful for my home. Our home is a place of family, happiness, peace and sunshine that all collect on our prized possessions and memories. But I have had many homes – and not just sticks and stones – but places where my heart and mind feel at ease. I honestly wasn’t that excited to move back to Arizona when we first moved here a year ago – I have some pretty heart-wrenching memories here from before (before Ben) – but my home is wherever I am with Ben. And a part of my heart will always be in the snowcapped Wasatch mountains, in the North End of Boston where Frank Sinatra and the scent of stogie’s fill the air, in the cobblestone streets of Granada and on the cliffs along the California coast.
I am thankful for my education. For something so important, it is so sad that education is something that is not accessible to everyone around the globe. Aside from allowing you to find a job, land that promotion or even secure a desired social standing put in place by society, it teaches you about the world. And it makes for a more peaceful world at that. I am lucky enough to have been able to go on to college and get my degree, study another culture and language in Spain, and go on to graduate from law school. Whether or not I choose to utilize my education in any particular career, I rely on that education daily and it has enriched my understandings of the world around me and of myself.
I am thankful for you. You guys, this has been such an incredible space for me to explore and share my creativity. And you know it would be nowhere near what it is today without you. Of course, I would still be blogging away even if the only person that ever read my words or appreciated my style was my mother (cause I know I will always have her support), but it means the world to me to have this incredible community of like-minded creatives that I can share my little existence with. Thank you so much for your support. You guys mean the world to me.
I am thankful for Thanksgiving.
Last, but not least, I can’t wait to go rub some mashed potatoes all over my face and steal all of the pumpkin pie. Mua-ha-ha (in an evil laugh as I tap my fingers against each other).
Have a great holiday you guys!