It's been a tough year.
I wrote that sentence and just stared at it for about 10 minutes. Nothing else came to mind to follow those words. Because the state the world is in makes it a bit tough to be thankful right now.
But on the eve of a new year comes the promise of new times. Different times. More of a symbolic kind of thing, of course, January 1st is just another day, but we have to have something to look forward to.
So today, while waiting for the food to be ready, let's just spend the day trying to come up with at least 5 things to be thankful for today.
I'll start.
This year, I moved into my own apartment. With that, came my first experience living with my boyfriend, something we'd been fighting for this whole last year. That's one.
Having to work all through the pandemic gave me a chance to get a promotion. Even though it has been very overwhelming and I don't know if I truly like it, it's a challenge and I'm learning more skills that could help me in the job I really want. There's two.
This year, I got a new cat: Arlo. And even though he's usually incredibly annoying and doesn't stop biting as his "game", there's some special moments where he loves to be cuddled up and given love. Getting home is special, because he's waiting for us at the door and wants to be picked up for a while. I also got a chance to take my old cat, Mía, back home with me. And her love for me has not diminished as she cuddles up to me every night and refuses to leave my side. I guess the attitude she had towards me was because when I left my mother's house, I kept leaving her behind. Sorry, Mía.... but there's #3
The dreams I had for the future are slowly becoming more concrete. On a moment of uncertainty, like this year has been, making plans and appointments and payments toward a future makes it all so much more real. I have something real to be excited about instead of having dreams that seem out of my reach. It may seem small, but reason number 4 warms my heart.
Last, but certainly not least, I found a love for writing again. And even though the reality of doing it consistently has gotten the better of me, I refuse to give up on it. Even if it takes a month to write, I have to sit down and do it. So I'm thankful for the opportunity to do so.
So I invite you all to take a moment and just think, among all the negative that's happened this year: what good happened this year? What are we going to be thankful for today? I'll be reading the comments!
Remember to be safe and if you can avoid getting together with the whole family, do so. We'll hopefully be able to do it next year, friends. But I want you safe and healthy and shining next year.
Happy Indigenous People day!