Taking this Thanksgiving week to...give thanks lmao. With 1500 words. I think this is a W2D record!
Happy Thanksgiving, friends!
During this lovely holiday season, I have so, so much to be thankful for. I’ve been pretty consistent and passionate about my gratitude practice in the last few years and even wrote a piece about gratitude back in August. I’ve been trying to root the way I live in genuine gratitude and a huge part of that has just been simple documentation.
Noticing the parts of my life, the blessings in my life, the people in my life that impact me in ways I couldn’t have known to ask for. Writing all of that down. Showing gratitude with my actions and my words. In writing and verbally. Consistently. In ways that feel authentic to me. Not out of obligation, but out of pure awareness that my life truly wouldn’t be the same without it/them.
Without further ado, I’ll continue the piece from August with another quick (but a bit deeper) list of the things/people/etc that I’m thankful for at this very moment.
Shall we begin with the one I talk the most about? Why not lmao
I say this often, both on the blog and in private w/ each of these people, but God has blessed me with the greatest community, the most loving village I could’ve asked for. No matter the degree of connection, whether I talk to them every day or once a quarter, on Instagram or over drinks, the folks I consider myself connected to are beautiful humans who lead such impactful and awe-inspiring lives.
I’m grateful for them because doing life alone is so wack. It quite literally couldn't be me. I’m grateful for them because they’re truly amazing people to be around. I leave each of them with new insights, new perspectives that I could’ve never discovered in a silo scrolling on the internet. I leave with a sore face from laughing and smiling so hard, with tons of pictures with memories we’d never want to forget, with the feeling of being seen, heard, accepted, cared for, and considered, with the feeling of mutuality, respect, and understanding.
I won’t list them here because chile I can’t write that much and I know y’all ain’t goin read it all, but let me just tell you about some cool stuff that some folks I know are doing cuz it’s pretty rad and I’m goin boost them cuz this my blog and I can do that.
I know folks with radio shows, photo books, diligently updated Goodreads profiles, design empires, super rad blogs, AI-driven fashion experiences, IG food blogs, and more. So much more.
No matter how these relationships unfold, I truly pray that God blesses all of em for the rest of their days. They deserve it, fr.
The Disco, this beautiful archive of my life, and its accompanying newsletter have truly brought me such joy in the last 5 months or so.
Though I’ve skipped some weeks here and there, this exercise in expression has revealed itself to be just what I needed all along: a space curated specifically for me to share my thoughts, feelings, and experiences without fear with whoever will come and take a bit of their day to listen to what I have to say. I’ve been urging myself for years now to turn my ear inward and to provide myself visibility when I felt unheard and invisible, and W2D has been an excellent tool to accomplish just that while flexing my writing muscles outside of work!
But I’m especially grateful for how helpful it’s been in times of…less fun. When perhaps I was not feeling quite myself, when seasonal depression struck, or I happened to just be feeling stuck. In those moments, it was for consistency’s sake alone that I pushed myself (gently) to share something on the blog. It was in those moments that I actively sought to create moments of fun, pleasure, and joy if for no other reason than to have something to share on the newsletter the following Sunday afternoon. This digital space I created is an accountability tool for me to make sure I have a good time in spite of whatever’s going on in my world. As OK Go said, my sole intention for W2D is to “see pleasure in [my] eyes.”
And what brings me the mostttt pleasure is when people tell me that something they read in a piece I wrote resonated with them in some way! When they tell me that they were inspired by something I wrote or that they liked a song in the newsletter’s playlist or when they’re experiencing a feeling and reference my piece to help them through that. That is what truly makes me very happy. When folks see what I’m doing and really engage with what I’ve got going on! I don’t count clicks on the blog or impressions or whatever (chiefly because I don’t know how) but the fact that just a few folks are reading and giving me feedback is so meaningful to me. I’m very, very grateful to each of the readers of W2D and subscribers of the newsletter.
Love y’all frrrrr <3
I’m grateful beyond words that I serve a God of abundance whose provisional love ensures that I truly shall not want!
I have the time to THINK. To DO. To TRY. To RECOVER. To CHANGE MY MIND. I have the time to slow down, gain wisdom, take deep breaths, reflect, document, feel, remember. I have the time to recall where I’ve been, where my family’s been, and to imagine where I can go, where we can go. I have the time to pray deeply about the troubles of this world and the desires of my heart. I have the time to write elaborate blog pieces, laugh with my friends on FaceTime for hours, window-shop for flights to foreign countries, and practice my hiragana and kanji.
I have the space to breathe! To wander about and explore. I have access to places and experiences that my heart has seen long before my eyes ever could. I have the space to stretch out without constraints, heavy responsibilities, or burdens. I have the space to dance around and move my body in the privacy of my own room for the sole purpose of release. Never performance.
I have the resources (HALLELUJAHHHH) to really live, chile. To not think too, too hard. To support the habits that contribute to a better, healthier, more joyful life. To support my family when they need, to support my community when it needs. God has blessed me with a lovely job at a lovely company with a lovely team in addition to a lovely financial advisor that keeps me in check whenever I start acting up and just want to go to Chicago for a week because I experienced a minor inconvenience.
I lack nothing because I believe in my heart of hearts that I have everything that I’ll ever need. I also have the humility to know that, at any time, what He gives, He can just as quickly take away. As the late and incomparable Mrs. Alice Carson Tisdale would say, to whom much is given, much is required.
I used to hear my grandmothers always go on and on about “a reasonable portion of health and strength” and it is with every passing day that I understand with greater depth just how much of a blessing those things really are.
I am grateful daily for my reasonable portion of health and strength. To be able to do all the things I need and want to do physically on a daily basis. To be able to take deep breaths and stroll through a park at sunset. To be able to strengthen my body in the gym w/ my trainer (s/o Cato!!!). To be able to push my endurance further and further in rowing class. To be able to see my body slowly transform according to the work I’m putting in. To support my body with nutrient-rich foods, many of which are sourced from local Black farms.
I am grateful for the constant strengthening of my mind! For the ebbs and flows of this mental health journey. For the ability to control my thoughts and use them to better my lived experience. For the ability to know when I’m limiting myself and to push past the barriers of my own making. For the ability to know exactly what it is I want and to articulate that clearly enough to act on it. For the ability to know exactly what it is I don’t want and to set my own boundaries accordingly.
Finally, I am most grateful for the growth in my faith. It is incredible to me the sudden peace I’ve been able to experience these days. When I finally decided to let go and let God. To release all the cares and worries to Him. To truly and thoroughly let it all go? It wasn’t easy, but once I did it, everything started to come together. I started seeing a bit clearer and releasing things a lot quicker. Prayers are being answered. Weapons are being formed, but just as quickly being rendered useless. Miracles are being worked, y’all. Ain’t really much more to be said.
I hope you too can find at least five things to reflect upon and find gratitude beginning to build up inside of you. Cheers to documentation!
