more than a turkey

Today I am grateful for my thumbs. When language escapes me, my thumbs are there to pick up the slack. I am grateful for disposable contacts that allow me to see every day. Without them, I’d be left wandering around with my thumbs in the air.

I’m grateful for sweat and the perpetual cleansing my body is able to achieve, day in and day out, despite me eating foods which are often not ideal for human consumption. Sweating reminds me, “Hey girl, guess what?! You get a do-over!”

I am grateful for the little dog who sits three feet from me. And while he doesn’t know me, he is looking at me like I am the most important being in the universe. Granted, he may also think I look like a giant hot dog, so it’s with a grain of salt I take his admiration. But hey, I’ll take it.

I am grateful for the red balloon flying high in the sky above me. It ‘s upward trajectory reminds me to look up and see that there is so much above me, including something rare and precious in Los Angeles: rain. And as it falls onto my eyelashes, burning said contact lenses, I appreciate the moisture, no matter what chemicals it may contain.

I am grateful for heartache and heartburn. The first reminds me, despite the searing pain of rejection that crumples me inside like a discarded valentine, I still have the capacity to love and should never stop doing it. The second reminds me I don’t need to shovel my weight in food, into my mouth-hole on this unusual and arbitrary day that we are assigned to “give thanks”. Rather, what I can do, is slowly chew on and digest how many little miracles I experience every day from waking up to singing for joy, to doing push-ups (yay new biceps!), to knowing that anything is possible if I simply remind myself.

I am grateful for you. And you. And you. And you. And you. And you. And you. And you. And all the spaces in between us. 

Today if you are with family or friends, or alone and separated from those you care about, or long for the care from others you don’t yet have. Know that you aren’t alone. We’re all just little balloons floating upwards and there are more miracles and love out there for us, even if we can’t always see it.

Namaste.