Thinking about gratitude this morning - Thanksgiving 2020. This certainly hasn’t been the best year of my life, but it also hasn’t been the worst. There truly is always something to be grateful for - in every minute of every day. The fact that we are alive and breathing, for starters. As of this moment, Thanksgiving morning 2020, 262,000 Americans have died from Covid-19. Worldwide, 1.42 million people have lost their lives to this disease. It’s staggering when you take that in. I’m grateful to be alive. I’m grateful I don’t personally know anyone who has died of Covid-19. I’m grateful for the scientists working around the clock to bring vaccines to market - never have I been more proud to work in the innovative industry of biotechnology.

Speaking of, I’m grateful for my job; it’s challenging during these times - I’m used to being on planes, being with people, interacting with customers and colleagues, and suddenly all has become Zoomland. I’ve gotten used to it I suppose. I can’t say I love it, but I’m grateful for the opportunity to still do gratifying work, to support my family, and be engaged with some of the best people I know via the internet. I’m grateful for the incredibly smart, talented, dedicated team of people I get to work with - I’m lucky I get to work with people that inspire me every day.

I’m grateful for the internet!! Imagine a pandemic without internet - for now it is literally my workplace, it is where I shop for groceries that are delivered, search for answers to questions, take online Italian, and cruise through Pinterest looking for decorating ideas and recipes. (I really wish the internet would stop sending me ads for alllll the things I like though!) . They know me better than I know myself……

Most of all, when I think about what I’m grateful for, it’s the people. It’s the human beings in my life that make my heart happy. This has been a year that I’ve spent far more time with my family than I would have otherwise - I’d be lying if I didn’t say I long for 100% alone time occasionally, but overall, the family time has been great. I’ve had less time with friends than I might usually have, but the time I have had with them has been that much more special because it is so limited.

I’m grateful for the trips I HAVE been able to take - they have been all that much more sweet because they have been few and far between. My Italian wedding was canceled this summer, but I still got to have a beautiful romantic elopement by the sea in northern California. I’m grateful I got to marry the love of my life in an intimate setting in a place we love. I still got to visit some incredible wineries and go on beautiful hikes and explore my favorite state. I was able to stay in California for two weeks and work remotely from there WHILE enjoying my favorite place. (thank you ZOOM)

There are a million random things I’m grateful for too . I read a New York times article this morning where 10,000 people wrote in using a “six word” sentence of what they were grateful for - so many random things - so many heartwarming things. Here’s the link - https://messaging-custom-newsletters.nytimes.com/template/oakv2?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20201126&instance_id=24498&nl=the-morning&productCode=NN&regi_id=74195342&segment_id=45480&te=1&uri=nyt%3A%2F%2Fnewsletter%2F893cada1-de5f-5c69-b15e-c3969d16852a&user_id=46751518de16dcfeb6bea6e4908fae91

I’m grateful for the sound of the birds in the morning and how they change with the seasons - I’ve been quarantining for three full seasons now - just the winter to go and it will be a full year. The birds sing different songs, at different times, and they are quieter now as we enter winter.

I’m grateful for INCREDIBLE television content - be it Netflix, Amazon, HBO, Showtime, Hulu, Apple TV - I have watched FAR too much TV during this pandemic, but I’ve also just given in to it. In a world without live music, live theater, parties, etc., I appreciate the depth and breadth of television programming that is available right now. I’ve made some of my best friends on shows like Schitt’s Creek and Ted Lasso. I literally missed them when the shows were over. Topics of conversation with friends - what have you been cooking? what have you been binging? Binging on TV - a fairly new concept since the advent of streaming. I think we can all relate to staring at the clock at 10 pm and thinking….”should we watch one more?”

I’m grateful for getting back to reading books. Somehow in the hustle of my pre-covid life, books had fallen to the wayside a bit. I guess I should say FICTION books. I’ve always been an avid fiction reader, and somehow between the work travel and reading books for work, I had lost the window of time for reading good old fashioned fiction.

I’m grateful for wine - some days during the pandemic, opening a great bottle of wine on a Tuesday for no good reason has given me immense joy…. a little reminder of the beauty of waiting. It took several years for those grapes to become great wine - maybe I need to think about this time as “fermentation” time. May we all come out of this pandemic with more depth, a smooth finish, and just a little fruit forward. (likely a little full bodied, too, from all the delicious cooking we’ve been doing!)

I’m grateful for the Saturday morning farmer’s market - while everyone social distancing and masked up, the beauty of buying fresh produce and homemade pasta and freshly baked sourdough every Saturday and then creating a beautiful meal from it has been wonderful.

I’m grateful for more time with my kids than I would have ever had while on the road for work. I’ve been able to BE there for many more events and hugs.

I’m grateful for my running partner - we ran so much we both are now injured, so currently she’s my walking partner….. grateful for running too, which I desperately miss as I nurse this injury. Running is so good for my body and my mind - it’s a beautiful way to think and process and come up with all kinds of ideas. I don’t know why running stimulates my creative brain, but it does. I often get home and furiously scribble something down on paper - something I want to do, or write about, or create. I’m grateful for the deeper friendship that has evolved as a result of the daily running/walking also!

I’m grateful for my health. This is a huge one. When I think about all the people struggling with health issues (both covid and non covid related) this is one I think we all take for granted. As I breathe in and breathe out and feel pretty darn good most of the time (running injury aside), I’m so grateful.

I’m grateful for the incredible weather we have had in the south. We had one of the longest most beautiful springs I have ever experienced here - which was important, because we were just getting used to quarantine and it was important to be able to go outside without weather concerns. We had a mild (for Georgia) summer and the fall has been spectacular. (I could certainly deal with fewer hurricanes and fires across the country…. but that’s another topic all together)

I’m grateful for my home. With the money I haven’t spent on travel during the pandemic, I have channeled into making my space more beautiful; redecorating my “woman cave” - my loft area for reading and relaxing. I’m grateful to be able to do this and to have a space that I love to retreat to when I need alone time or for coffee in the morning or just to curl up with a great book or magazine.

I’m certainly grateful for coffee!! How else would I even wake up and do all the things?

I’m so very grateful for music! (live music is one of the things I desperately miss). I have been able to attend one socially distanced outdoor jazz performance (thank you Callanwolde)…it made my heart so happy. Grateful for Spotify where I have curated so many playlists, shared so many tunes with others, and discovered beautiful new music. I’m grateful for the friends that routinely send me new music! Music NEVER disappoints. Music ALWAYS lifts my spirits. Here’s a playlist I made in honor of Thanksgiving. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1jN07GiBwt9Ecpr7BbmqoZ?si=z99QLOCqQpyKBoC7YjmxUg. And, as an added bonus - a utube video of one of my favorites, Leah Song from Rising Appalachia singing “Thank you very much”. https://youtu.be/PKFed9LCong

You see how this goes….one expression of gratitude leads to another leads to another. It really is a domino effect. The same is true with negative thinking….one negative thought begets another begets another. I choose gratitude. I choose positivity. It is a choice we all get to make, REGARDLESS of circumstances, REGARDLESS of all the stuff swirling around us. We can’t deny that bad things happen, that sometimes life is damn hard, but, at the end of the day, if we can swing things back around to gratitude, we are reminded that the world is a beautiful place and that life is beautiful.

I’m grateful for this outlet of writing. About six years ago I committed to writing every day, and with the exception of a day or two, I have done it. Be it just journal writing, blog post writing, poetry writing, short story writing, whatever - it has been an incredible way to express myself, share my thoughts, and just vomit my brain onto paper; actually, onto a screen as I do it digitally. Grateful for my computer!!

No matter what my frame of mind or mood, the second I start focusing on gratitude, it shifts. I remind myself of all the good in the world. I remind myself of all the good in my life. It’s undeniable; the practice of gratitude will change your life. It is a practice, it doesn’t always come naturally. It is like exercise - you feel soooo much better after it’s done. I challenge anyone reading this today to start a gratitude journal. Every day as part of my writing, I write down 10 things I’m grateful for - they then circle throughout my brain for the rest of the day, reminding me to focus on the good. Today, Thanksgiving, is a great day to start. What are you grateful for?