Thankfulness Thursday IV - Happy Thanksgiving!

Thursday, November 26, 2020


Happy Thanksgiving, friends! 

We all know that today's a weird one, but I so hope that you're able to hold on to as many pieces of "normal" today as possible. I don't think anyone is having a completely normal day, but I hope that yours is still special. That it's still warm. That you find moments of joy. 

It's a quiet one over here, quieter than usual, but still good. As I'm writing this, we're curled up at home with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We'll do lunch at home, and then this afternoon we're going over to my grandparents' for social-distanced dessert. :-) Trying to find the balance of traditions + safety is always tricky, but hey - we're all figuring it out together these days, eh? 

Over the past month or so, I've been on a major Come From Away kick. The show itself tells an often untold story of 9/11 - of the planes that were forced to land in Gander, Newfoundland and the relationships and connections that stemmed from that tragedy between the Newfoundlanders and "the plane people".  There's a refrain throughout the show that has been running through my mind over and over again lately - 


"You are here, at the start of a moment, on the edge of the world,

where the river meets the sea.

Here, on the edge of the Atlantic, on an island in between

there and here."


At this point in the story, everyone from the emergency-landed planes is stuck on this tiny island in the middle of nowhere, many of them with no idea what's happening back home or if their families are okay. They're just stuck, not knowing what's going to happen next or what life will look like when their world starts spinning again. 

And to me, that's been the perfect picture of how this whole year has felt. Stuck on an isolated island, staring out from the edge of the world hovered between two points in a tangled-up liminal space of sorts. How do you navigate a point on the map that you can't locate - not really feeling as though you're here or there or anywhere? The old is a distant memory, the next step feels light years away, and you don't know where "here" is. 

This year more than ever, I'm trying to learn how to land on gratitude in the middle of the in-between. 2020 isn't one that I would say I'm necessarily thankful for, and I don't know if you would, either. But I'm trying to find the gifts in the mess. In the middle of the pain, I'm trying to find the good. 

In a year that's shattered anything that I would have hoped for it to look like, I'm trying to flip it upside down and inside out and find the gratitude. 

So this year I'm thankful for rest, even when it was the last thing that I wanted. Going from running running running to stillness isn't something that's come naturally to me, and it still doesn't, eight or nine months later. But I'm grateful for quiet, and for learning to go a bit more slowly.

When it suddenly became impossible to do any of the things that previously filled life to the brim, I'm grateful to have been reminded just how dearly I love the things that I do. This year, if anything, I think, has shown me exactly what I care most about. In not doing something, you go one of two ways - you become indifferent to it, realizing that you didn't really need it, or you realize just how much it truly filled you. So I'm grateful for the reminders of the things that truly fill, even if I don't know how or when or if they'll become rhythms again. 

I'm grateful for connection and community, because this year it has become more evident than ever how deeply we all need it. We've had to fight for it and figure out creative ways to bring it to life, but I'm grateful for it all the same - even more, I think, for how scarce it's been at times. My people are the most beautiful part of life, and I'm so grateful for each and every one of them. You know. 

I'm grateful for art, because if anything (aside from Jesus + my people) has gotten me through this year, it's that. For stories and color and music and all of the things that make the world more beautiful. The world would be a pretty miserable place without art, and throughout this year, I think we've all seen just how desperately we need it to keep us afloat.

I'm grateful for a God who never leaves, even when the world feels upside down. Who keeps orchestrating the story and who has a plan for it all, even when I feel lost in the dark.

I'm grateful for home, and for family, and for health. I'm grateful that we're all here - because at the end of the day, that's all that really matters. The world's still spinning. We're all here. And that's enough. 

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Happy Thanksgiving, friends. Thanks for sticking around for another year of Thankfulness Thursdays - they've been a joy. Grateful for each and every one of you every day. 

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Thankfulness Thursday Friends 

2 comments:

  1. Wishing you and yours a Blessed and Happy Thanksgiving.
    Joan,Marion and Marilyn

    ReplyDelete
  2. Amen amen. Here’s to theatre lyrics for saying exactly what we’re (both!) feeling, and to all the little-big things that make each day more bearable.
    This series has been a highlight of my November.
    Thank you for hosting! YOU are a joy.
    until next year.
    k.

    ReplyDelete

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