Every Thanksgiving's we reflect on things that we're grateful for. Having spent nearly two years in a country that is both familiar and foreign, away from the places I called 'home', the things that I'm truly grateful for are being refined and I wanted to share them. Of course things like family, friends and my current good health are among them; today I wanted to take a moment to dig a little deeper to the essence of why I'm particularly grateful lately.
I'm grateful for family. Number one on my list, always. Aside from holiday visits and short stays, I have been away from my family since I left for college and the entirety of my adulthood. There were periods when I felt detached from the rest of my family because I was away building a life for myself doing what I enjoyed in a new environment that became my second home. Now I feel closer to them than ever before--which is ironic because distance wise I'm further away than I've ever been. I'm so grateful to my family because in the past two years they've helped expand what 'home' means to me: It's not a place, it's a feeling; It's not a singlular location, it's a state of mind that projects from the heart and can take shape in infinite ways. When someone from my family visits me in Japan, the time spent together becomes home. The family group chat is home. We can share the same room via video calls. When we're connected we're always home.
I'm grateful for my friend. Since moving to Japan I've had chances to reconnect in-person with a number of old friends that I've lost contact with for years, a decade, some longer than that. In the age of livestream friendships, it's hard to put into words just how meaningful those reunions are. There's something magical about sharing a moment face to face with a friend from the past that you lost touch with. The phrase 'stay in touch' says a lot about friendship. A hand shake, fist bump, an embrace, shared warmth; those things sustain friendships no matter how much time passes. I'm incredibly grateful I have that in abundance.
I'm grateful for my health. Health is something that's constantly on my mind as a cancer survivor, especially with the encroaching two year milestone in a couple weeks. I'm grateful that I continue to be healthy after all that but, in all honesty, I struggle with how I carry this aspect of my life moving forward. (I don't want to get into that right now, maybe next month after my check up.) Still, I'm grateful for the lessons my body has taught me as time passes by, like the interconnectedness of the mind, body and soul and that you're only truly healthy when all three are aligned.
I hope everyone is full, happy, and spending quality time with loved ones.
Happy Giving Thanks Day.
