Thinking about things I’m grateful for is on my mind this week, like it’s on all the Americans minds, of those who celebrate Thanksgiving with at least some investment in what GIVING THANKS means and not just that it’s a socially sanctioned opportunity to stuff yourself until you feel sick. I found myself getting very upset with some of my relatives who were having family and friends over (in the US), when I’ve spent the last two weeks discussing the situation with my mom and son, imploring them to not get together, and just stay safe, which feels like hypocrisy when I’m not even there, and I have Anders and Karin to communally stuff faces with and neither of them has anyone else. UNFAIR.
I baked pumpkin pie yesterday and upon reflection, I think it might actually be the first time I’ve ever done so. Usually, for our Friendsgiving, someone else is in charge of the pies, and I don’t think we’ve ever had to deal with them…maybe once when the designated pie-provider called in sick at the last minute, but I can’t remember. Anders made the pie dough for me, because he’s really good at making pie dough, and I mixed up the filling and baked them all by myself. MAN, pumpkin pie coming out of the oven smells divine. Tonight, I’m baking spaghetti squash, and tomorrow Anders will cook the bird and we’ll stuff our faces and then lie around groaning with our pants unbuttoned. Haha! I lie! Elastic waistbands, baby!
Most of the time, I’m thankful for the same things everyone else is: health, family, home, friends, a good job. Those are the things that should be the baseline of your thankfulness, and it makes me sad that there are probably millions of people that can only be thankful for some of those things.
Above those, though, right now I’m thankful for the following (non-exhaustive list): Authors. Sunshine. Mittens. Laundry machines. Art. Inventors. Massages. Lightbulbs. Bees. Advil. Wifi. Customer support. Doctors. Postal services. Water. Climate change activists. Unsolicited praise. Pillows and clean bed linens. Soap. The availability of clementines and avocados. Puns that make me laugh out loud. Anthon Berg 66% dark chocolate bars. That reading the news from the US no longer fills me with rage and nausea. That I have surrounded myself in my home with beautiful things that I love, because if you have to work from home full-time, it’s best to be able to do it in a place you like being in. Having you read my words and (sometimes) comment on them.
I just asked Karin what she’s thankful for and she said “having time”.
What a good answer! I’m thankful for that, too. Having time to hang out with her. Having time to read and watch and play. Having time to do the things I want to do as well as the things I need to. So many things to be thankful for. I could spend all night writing lists of things I’m thankful for and never come even close to capturing them all. So, instead I’ll just give thanks that everything that makes this world worth living in, and that makes my life worth living, is in it.