Giving Thanks

Today is Thanksgiving in the United States – a day of family and too much food and sometimes, hopefully, a bit of reflection on what brings value and meaning to our lives. To that end:

I give thanks for my health, my wonderful families – both blood and chosen. For my freedom and fortune to be able to pursue my dreams. For everyone who has encouraged and supported these pursuits, no matter their own personal interests.

I give thanks that the world is filled with so much beauty and grandeur. That there are beautiful cities to explore, cultures to learn, culinary delights to savor, music to lift the heart and move the feet.

I give thanks for love – both the immense amount of love I am surrounded with now and always, and the wonderful powerful magical people who allow me to share my love with them. Love is what it’s all about, people. Never forget that.

I give thanks to many brave people – in the streets and parks across the United States, in Egypt and Syria and Yemen, in numerous countries in Europe – struggling to make the world a more free, just and equitable place for all, with their lives and their beliefs and their voices.

I give thanks for sunrises and sunsets and wind and rain and dust, for this wonderful earth in all its glory, sustaining us despite such gross mistreatment.

I give thanks for art and science and the fantastic intersections between the two.

I give thanks for today, for this moment right now, for my heart beating and my chest rising and falling with breath.

I give thanks for you, who have taken the time to read this. I love you.