Nothing like stating the obvious, but 2020 has been a tough year, and a very long one, it feels. It truly is a year never to be forgotten, a year that will mark history and one that we wish to leave behind asap. This has been a year when we saw the best, and the worst of humanity, a year that brought us face to face with our inaction and inability to handle certain things. It forced us to pause and think and to really look for a silver lining. It reminded us how important it is to think of and care for others.

I hope that Thanksgiving looks different for most of us this year; I hope people choose to forgo the annual family and friends gatherings and choose to do so online, or at the very least, at a safe distance, for the sake of themselves and those around them. I hope… However, if you’re struggling with that idea, please reach out to someone about it - don’t allow yourself to feel lonely.

Giving thanks may feel like a difficult task this year, yet we have more to be thankful for than ever before. We have millions of selfless people who choose to fight this pandemic every day in different ways: our nurses, our doctors, our first responders, our grocery store workers, our farmers, our food-industry workers, our factory and supply chain workers, our delivery workers, our retail workers… the list goes on and on. We have them to thank. We have to thank the people who decided to take action this year by voting in record numbers, the people who decided that a change is needed - we have to thank them. And we need to thank ourselves this year - for powering through it, for coping with it, and for giving ourselves and others grace when needed.

On a personal level, I am thankful for the same things each year, and I am grateful that those things are constants in my life. I am grateful I get to celebrate another Thanksgiving with my husband - just the two of us, cozy and thankful for one another.

And if you’re wondering, yes, this is my planned outfit - a pair of cozy linen pants, and my husband’s linen shirt that I “stole” as mine, worn with a smile on my makeup-free face.

As I end my thoughts here, I want to challenge you this week to find at least 3 things you’re grateful for each day. It would be ideal if we made this our daily mantra as a reminder of how lucky we are.

Happy Thanksgiving friends! Take care and be safe.

xoxo,

Em