Show & Tell: Giving Thanks

This month's edition of Show & Tell is all about recognizing and giving thanks for the good in our lives.    

Best Friends and Blondie

From Lisa:

When I think about what I am most thankful for right now it is the way that I have been able to stay connected with my family and friends without seeing each other in person for months.  From Discord game nights and paint parties, to neverending FB Messenger conversations, and  random text messages in the middle of the night, technology has been vital in letting us stay in touch and feel connected. 

I am also incredibly thankful for my dog, Blondie. Having her has been such a joy this year, I can’t even imagine how different things would have been without her. She keeps me to a regular schedule, I am told very clearly when I get too absorbed in work and dinner is 15 minutes late, lol. And she is always up for snuggling up at my side on the couch and getting the pets and love that are her due.   

Desert Connections

From Luren:

In a year where we all had to be more thoughtful about how we spend our time, I'm grateful for the hiking trails close to my home. Being able to spend time outside with my children taking in everything the Sonoran Desert has to offer, made this challenging year a little bit brighter.

Family

From Torrey:

I am thankful for my family. This year has shown me how much I truly need and appreciate being around my family. I have always loved my family, but this year has really solidified that love.

All the Small Things

From Ami: 

I find that I’m immensely grateful this year for many things that I took for granted in the past. Like many others: health and safety, the ability to pay the bills, and a loving circle of friends and family to get through hard times. But, I found light this year in a place that I spend a lot of time and yet have never appreciated as I do now: online communities.

I recognize how cliche this sounds coming from a Community Manager. Feel free to eye roll. But, honestly, I found niches and spaces this year that helped me feel connected to the world when it was so easy to feel disconnected.

I found support and education in a Covid-19 subreddit in the early anxiety-ridden days of the pandemic. I visited faraway islands and connected with players all over the globe in Animal Crossing (pictured: helping out a Japanese kimono designer with a gift). I found experts in my bank’s member community to help me prepare when it came time to buy my first house over the summer. I found joy in Facebook groups dedicated to a love of coffee, fall, and holiday decorations. Up next, I’m taking part in the Reddit Gifts ornament exchange to share gifts with another random internet soul. It’s all downright wholesome, and it’s only a small handful of the many impactful experiences this year.

The members of these communities are strangers, yet I find myself laughing, celebrating, and yes, even crying with people who care about the same things, are invested in helping each other, and have the same desire to feel a real human connection, even with a screen in between. This year especially, that’s everything. I will always be grateful that if we had to be isolated, it was during a time where there were other ways to stay connected.

Always Grateful

From Corey:

Every morning, as I sip my coffee, I make a gratitude list. Similarly, in our team huddles here at work, we cite one item of “good news” to share with each other. Thanksgiving is a chance to expand on the daily method of gratitude and truly lean in to the meaning. This year is difficult & strange, and yet there is still so much to be thankful for, which is worth acknowledging.

Living 3,000 miles from home, there is a unique pain this year as I am unable to fulfill the tradition of spending time with my Dad. I miss him every day, and this year is particularly difficult. Throw in the pain of not being able to travel anywhere at all, when my partner and I have built a life around consummate exploration, combined with the missing piece of business travel which keeps me connected to our incredible, talented teams and partners, and the pit in my stomach continues to grow. But, we have each other, and we have a plan.

The 2020 gratitude plan is to mix it right into the food. Zoom will connect us to family, and we’ll gobble it down together. Every bite will represent gratitude.

I will express my gratitude for health while preparing the pumpkin pie. I will express my gratitude for family while whipping the potatoes. I will give thanks for work (and our wonderful work family) while stirring the brussels sprouts. As we cook our Tofurkey & vegetarian stuffing, I will be thinking about how grateful I am for the fur babies in our lives. When it’s time to brew the espresso and toast with red wine, we will express gratitude for each other, and the travels we’ve experienced and those ahead of us when the pandemic is over. As we wind down after eating our harvest meal, after disconnecting from Zoom, we will express our gratitude for all of the books, streaming services, board games, and music we have available for us while we sit this year out from travel, and enjoy what’s right in front of us. As the lifelong explorer and traveler, the challenges of a pandemic have highlighted the importance of knowing how to stay where I am, and revel in all of the gratitude I feel; because wherever we go, there we are. See you next year, Dad! And thank you, Zoom, for creating a space where we can enjoy this together and apart.

“Be present in all things and thankful for all things.”

~ Maya Angelou

Now it's your turn what is it that you are giving thanks for this year?