It is American Thanksgiving, which, as a Canadian, I find strange. Christmas is hot on the heels of this holiday; how much turkey can one person eat within a month? How many sweaters can one person wear and how many rude relatives’ questions can one person deflect?
But I digress... Here, in the spirit of this problematic holiday, is a list of some things I’m grateful for:
Music so good you want to grind it into your bones, soak it up through your skin, roll around in it instead of getting up and going to work.
Meals lovingly prepared for you by someone whose eyes go warm and soft when they glance across the kitchen at you, making you feel like, “Yes. This.”
The way Twitter and other such mediums allow so many of us to access a coveted feeling of renownedness and belonging that can sometimes be the difference between total despair and begrudging grit.
Word nerds, book nerds, etymologists, agents, editors, voracious readers, overthinkers and graceless dorks.
Bright colors assembled in ensembles like armor. An unfuckwithable pink cardigan that is feminine but not soft. Dresses that are like “suffragettes, but make it fashion.” Boots that suffer no fools.
Podcasts you can lose yourself in, that make you laugh until you cry and momentarily forget about the world that lurks outside your headphones.
Having a partner who feels like home and safety and rightness, whose scent balances your brain, whose kind words stitch you back together day by day.
Happy Thanksgiving, my loves!