Gratitude.

This morning, I just want to wish you all a happy Thanksgiving; and talk about the gratitude that I am celebrating today. I hope you are all somewhere warm with your family, whether that means blood relatives, friends you just met, or even furry creatures.

Firstly, I am grateful that I woke up this morning in good health, and did not receive any calls that my loved ones did not make it into today. 

I am grateful for my family, albeit extremely loud and highly dysfunctional. I am grateful to still have my mother. After all she has been through, physically, mentally, and emotionally, it is a miracle that she still walks, never mind stands in the kitchen for hours cooking a holiday meal for her daughters. I am grateful for her kick ass baking, my favorite being her chocolate chip cookies and kourabiedes, even though it means accepting excess that I will have to work hard to shed next week. 

I am grateful for each one of my four younger sisters. I am grateful to know them and witness their beauty and many passionate talents as they blossom into young women. I am grateful for everything I have learned from them on this journey, and for everything I will learn, going forward. 

I am grateful for my grandfather, who, after losing his life partner, still thinks that his life is worth living (at 82!) just to spend it going to the grocery store and walking to the bay with me. 

I am grateful for my uncle, his wife, and their two boys. I'm grateful to watch them grow. I am grateful that I am healthy and active enough to play with them. I am grateful that they want to share their talents with me, and in turn, that I can share my favorite secret spots with them; such as my little hidden dock on the bay through the thick reeds that very few people know about. 

I am grateful for the few close friends I am so fortunate to have. People who know my flaws intimately and still love me deeply. Loyal and dedicated friends who prioritize sharing their time and space with me. People who I could call if I ever were in trouble. People who give me the feeling of being safe and valued. People with whom I can collaborate with, sharing ideas, opinions, and creative energy. I'm so fortunate to have these wildly beautiful souls in my life. 

Despite the many injustices we are facing in our society, I am so grateful to live in a country where I can express myself freely without having to worry about my safety. I am grateful that I live in a time and place that I can express myself as an artist and be treated as a serious professional. Especially in our current political climate, I am grateful to know so many passionate people who contribute their efforts towards improving the quality of their communities, locally and beyond.

I am grateful to be mobile. It is something that I do not take for granted. I have known the limitations of mobility, and the freedom that movement gives is invaluable and irreplaceable. That I can feel all the sensations of being, good and bad, and move my body at will, is an incredible thing. That I can even get into my truck and change my geographical location drastically within several hours is an amazing luxury. 

I am grateful for the ocean. I am grateful for its depth and magnanimity, and its loyalty, still, to the moon. I am grateful for the feeling of freedom it gives me, while also teaching me to humbly understand my smallness in respect to its raw and ruthless strength. I am grateful to experience the smallness of my being as it fits into the ever expanding patterns of nature. I'm grateful to be even a minuscule part of this grand system.

And finally, I am grateful for you. I am grateful to have befriended each and every one of you. I have sincerely appreciated collaborating with so many of you. I have appreciated your mentorship, your words of encouragement as well as your criticisms. I have appreciated getting to know some of you personally, and building powerful works of art with you. I have appreciated your seemingly unconditional support that comes from the most genuine place. I have appreciated sharing some of the most vulnerable pieces of myself with you. Thank you so much, for your boundless love and support. Last but not least, and I cannot stress this enough; Thank you, for not being PATRONIZERS, but true patrons, collaborators, mentors, and friends. I have grown considerably and pulled inconceivable inspiration, strength, guidance, clarity, and most importantly, purpose, from each of you. 

Happy, happy Thanksgiving, to you and yours.

xo