Holding Space for Gratitude

...and Defying Gravity, of course

We’ve made it to the last week of November, which is also the time most Americans come together to eat a meal that comes with a side of drama, and celebrate the things we’re thankful for.

Photo by Megan Watson on Unsplash

I’ve never been a fan of Thanksgiving for lots of reasons I’ve previously discussed (lol):

And much like in 2016, I find myself not in the mood to celebrate. There’s just not a whole lot to be grateful for…

...except there is. There always is.

I’m very excited (and grateful) for my holiday plans this year. I’m not anticipating any major life-events this weekend, and I’m also not deathly ill or under a deadline— so it’s already off to a better start than the last dozen or so Thanksgivings 🥳

Self Care To-Do

If you want a little self-care assignment for the week, I challenge you to make your own gratitude list. It can be anything you want, but try to have at least three items.

Extra credit: Write down your gratitude list on individual slips of paper, then glue or tape them to a simple drawing to make a “gratitude tree.” Pull this out whenever you need a little boost, or something to doodle on.

Kid-friendly: Combine your gratitude papers to make a bigger tree that you can decorate together, or they can turn their gratitude papers into the turkey’s tail-feathers. Let them decorate the tree or turkey with craft products, markers, whatever makes ‘em happy.

Make it witchy: On a separate sheet of paper, write down your list and let it bask in the moon Thurs and Fri evenings. Then on the new moon Saturday, burn your gratitude list along with your intentions to spread it out into the universe.

Photo by Joshua Newton on Unsplash

Wicked

Speaking of witches, the Wicked movie is out and it’s everything I wanted it to be. Perfectly cast (shout out to Bowen Yang and Peter Dinklage), the musical numbers expanded on the stage show, but still felt authentic; and a very spoiler-y moment was not spoiled for me and made me tear up at how wonderful it was.

The only thing slightly better than the movie musical itself is the amount of incredible sound bytes we’re getting from Ariana and Cynthia during the press tour.

image from Daily Dot

If you haven’t seen the AMAZING video that inspired this week’s title (and provided much-needed levity for me personally last week), HAVE YOU BEEN LIVING UNDER A NON-QUEER ROCK?! (Probably…)

It’s been analyzed to death and it’s probably on minute 14 of its’ 15, but my goodness, I can’t stop watching it and finding new ways to appreciate it.

Is it the thing I’m most grateful for this year besides my son, dog, health, friends, career, healthy-optimism, my therapist, and my parents? Who is to say!