What Are You Grateful For This Year? Our Readers Answered
Art Direction and Photograph by: Catie Menke. Model: Tishana Richards.
Model: Tishana Richards
Creative Direction by: Catie Menke
“I have a lot to be grateful for, but I’m always most grateful for my sweet, bossy, faithful, fluffy-faced dog that keeps me laughing at his antics. Oh, and the fact that my Suns made it to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1993!”
“I am thankful for family, friends and for a 2nd chance in life to live after having a kidney transplant on (December 11, 2019) at children’s hospital after having to be on dialysis at home from 8 pm to 5 am every night.”
“I am grateful for all the men in my life that CHOSE to be like a father to me in the absence of my own. I am grateful for my teammates at work who challenge me to be my best self and collaborate on how to best serve our community. I am grateful for my students past and present who keep me laughing and on my toes. I am grateful for the pandemic that taught me to slow down and reconnect with old friends.”
“Togetherness. I feel so grateful to be able to surround myself with people who encourage me, lift me up, empower me, and challenge me to pursue the best version of myself. Following the pandemic, I feel more grateful than ever to be able to spend quality time with those that I love.”
“Coming off a year of intense isolation. I was very intentional about getting plugged in with a group of people I share common interests, mindset and goals. Being in community has given me the opportunity to grow. While there is the foundational similarities of common interest to build from, a Community is made up of very unique individuals. This year through community I’m learning how to accept, love and encourage others individuality even better than I thought I already was. I’m learning how to take that same love and encouragement and apply it to myself. If I could sum up one thing to be grateful for in 2021 its community. Because community produces growth and creates a list of even more to be grateful for.”
“I’m so thankful for so many things, this year in particular. This is my first full year of being a single mom and while there have been times that have been very hard, I have also been very blessed. God has provided for my little family beyond measure. I am thankful for my journey and my story because it has taught me strength, resilience, gratitude, a new perspective and ability to help others in similar situations as well. I am thankful for my kids, a cozy home, a good job, amazing friends, family, safety, peace and a heart full of love.”
“2021 has been a year of intensity for me. deep healing. crumbling. patterns falling away that are no longer in alignment to the highest. I am most grateful for my internal sense of stability. grounded presence. unshakable faith. integrity. My partnership is thriving. we are loving, honoring, healing, growing... and growing our family with 2 new fur babies, Gaia and Luna. Purpose. Pleasure. Possibilities. 2021 has paved the way for what’s to come. I am grateful for God’s light shining the way to continue to show up and bring transformation and love to the planet.”
“Connection. Now more than ever, connecting deeper with my “ships” has been so rich and special than ever. To see, hear, and understand each other. I have come to really appreciate the depth and breadth of what it means to have people show up and be their authentic selves.”
“The ability to see the beauty in duality.”
“I’m grateful for all those in this world, who even during times of great suffering and rampant divide, continue to choose empathy over selfishness, kindness over spite, and understanding over fear. You are the example of how to live for all of us, and I look up to you. Thank you.”
“I am grateful for my spirituality and the relationship I have grown with myself and my spirit guides and welcoming my higher self into the game! Learning to show up with love for myself and my world along with my desires has been my game changer this year and I’m so thankful for this part in my journey!”
“All of the people who make Arizona feel like home! ❤️”
“I am grateful for an abundance of health, peace, joy and wealth. To be able to grow in my faith in God and walk as a woman is also very much a blessing. I am eternally happy to be in a place of strength and growing in wisdom every day. I am appreciative of the people that love and support every day of my life whether that be personally and/or creatively. It’s important to acknowledge the people who make life even more sweeter by sharing a piece of their heart and presence with you is truly a gift that I pray to always cherish and never take advantage of. Truly embracing the beauty of family and having quality + like-minded people around is seriously unlike any other.”
“I am grateful for the valuable lesson of perseverance. My goals that I set and worked incredibly hard for, despite doubts, fears and plenty of tears have come true. I’m grateful for my cheering section and support system. I needed to lean on them many times and when I needed to they were there. I would not have made it if I felt alone, or let my fear take over. The fastest way to change my heart to a more positive perspective is gratitude. It can always be found even in the darkest of moments.”
“Still being around to complain about it.”
“I am grateful for getting through the days that I thought I wouldn’t because I was so overwhelmed. There were many of those days this year. I learned to give myself grace. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about. Grace.”
“I’m grateful for my amazing and supportive friends!”
“I’m especially grateful that we’re headed back to a place of normalcy. There truly is a “new normal” but that sense of newness for me has positively impacted the pace of my life. I’m so thankful to be spending more time in the presence of the people I love, while also being appreciative for my renewed awareness and need for rest.”
“2021 has been a beautiful year of blessings. I am grateful to be welcoming a sweet baby girl to our family this year and see my boys become big brothers. I am grateful to continue to be able to be intentional with my time and slow down whenever I need to. I am grateful for the amazing support system of friends and family who have been so great to me and my family this year. I am so grateful that my kids are back in school and that everyone is happy and healthy and full of love. Cheers to an amazing year!”
“My family’s health, success in our business and all the amazing, supportive relationships I have.”
“2021 brought me my second child. I am grateful for my body and the ability to stretch and nourish a human. I am grateful for the healthcare providers that kept me healthy and helped me bring my son into the world. I am grateful for family that have helped me adjust to being a Mom of 2! I am grateful for 2 healthy boys that keep me very busy. I am grateful for a supportive husband!”
“Well, I suppose I’d have to start with the gratitude I have for the people I surrounded myself with. After leaving an eight-year long relationship, I set an intention to purchase my first home - a home I could make entirely my own - one where I could host my family and friends - one where I could feel safe and comforted, and have parties in a failed effort to keep up with the Jones’s (aka, frat houses).
I received this manifestation and so much more - in April, I moved into a four-bedroom home with a beautiful backyard, perfect for the badminton set I never pulled out. I was fortunate enough to host Easter for my family, ripe with an Easter egg hunt and way more food than necessary (hello, leftovers).
A few months after buying my home, I started a business with my best friend, Nadine, strengthened my relationships with like-minded creators, and met my now-boyfriend, who I was eager to keep at a distance because I wasn’t “ready.”
Well, fast forward a few months and it turns out I was ready.
I happily write this on the leather couch I took with me from Arizona to California - Los Angeles, to be specific. Yep, about six months after buying my home, right as I was settling in, I made a trip to visit my best friend in LA, and the moment I stepped off the plane, I just knew.
My boyfriend was intending to go to Texas for work - needless to say, those plans were squashed by his greater desire to pursue his dreams in the entertainment space. And so, it was written - I moved in with my best friend and my boyfriend of a couple months... which, one might say is the perfect recipe for disaster.
Turns out, when you’re living with people who are loving, thoughtful, self-aware, driven, motivated, and on a spiritual journey to unlocking their highest potential, nothing is really that bad, outside of every appliance breaking (can I get a collective groan for the laundry that piled up?).
But what I’m the most grateful for in 2021 is how much I’ve learned about myself (thanks, Joe Dispenza). I’ve become more connected with my body, mind, and spirit, and have a clear sense of purpose unlike ever before, which in and of itself is the greatest gift I could ask for.
Before I close, I want to share a brief story I heard during a creative gathering in the park I attended over the weekend (a creative gathering in the park...?!... I truly love LA) -
”I was making big moves in the music industry, with my wife by my side supporting me every step of the way... and then I got in a car accident, which caused me to lose my memory and my desire to do anything creative,” the man said from the other side of our circle.
We’re often reminded of mortality when loved ones pass, however, the simple power of having something to strive for tends to get lost in the shuffle, doesn’t it? At least for me, it has... and so, this struck a chord, shifting my perspective even more, into simply appreciating what is.
I will take the opportunity to close here by saying I am eternally grateful for my ambition, my dreams, my memories, and for the abundance of love I hold in my heart. I would be remiss not to give a special shout to my naturopath, Dr. Miriam Wheeler, who has healed my gut, though, I haven’t been brave enough to consume a charcuterie board or a bowl of mac and cheese yet... perhaps we wait until 2022 for that swing. Grammy’s spinach dip, though? SIGN ME UP”
“I’m grateful for the small meaningful moments that make an impact and sometimes help slow down our fast paced lives. Be it sharing a laugh over a drink with an old friend. Teaching my kids something they didn’t know. Kissing the forehead of a loved one who rests their head on you.”
“Having a heart that allows me to love and be loved, a healthy body that allows me to do the things I’m most passionate about, family that continues to show up and root for me, and a best friend that continues to inspire me 🤎”
“I am increasingly grateful for the opportunity to be healthy enough to give thanks. I am grateful for the hands that I will hold around the table this thanksgiving holiday and the warm embraces from the people I love most. I am grateful for the bonds that bring us all together, even when it’s been a while, even after all these years, after all we’ve been through.
And then…I am immensely grateful for you.”
“I am now and forever grateful for the time I am gifted on this planet, the health that affords me fun and adventure, and the people to share in all of life’s experiences.”
“Quite simply I’m thankful for: Jesus, my family, my friends, my fiancé, my new baby niece, my health, happiness, football, support system, job, coworkers, new experiences, education, good people, kindness, our military, perspective, traveling, & gratitude 🤍”
“I’m grateful for my group of friends who have been so supportive through the challenges of 2021. I’m also grateful for the numerous opportunities I’ve gotten to see my family this year!”
“For my angel baby.
Because of you, my whole world changed.”
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