3 things I'm thankful for in no particular order
1. Focus. Ignore the cliche metaphor: this is the first year that I've done something professionally that falls into place like a puzzle piece with my strengths and passions. I feel incredibly thankful for having found this at 24. This focus makes the future incredibly brighter and the long days seem just a little bit shorter. I've said it once and I'll say it again: trust your struggle, yo.
2. St. Louis. There's a lot of people in St. Louis who give a shit and they're doing a lot of cool things about it. Just at my workplace, I'm constantly inspired by conversations I have with co-workers, even if they have nothing to do with work. To be surrounded by people who are devoting their life to transforming the city and empowering the people in it while doing it with amazing attitudes? There's nothing better. I was really scared of what the city would turn into once they released the verdict on Darren Wilson's indictment, so I high tailed it back to Chicago. Now, sitting in my childhood bedroom, I wish I was in St. Louis. Not even to engage in conversation, but just listen, because there is a lot of justified, sincere pain that we all need to be listening to. I'm sad that we still need a movement like Black Lives Matter, but I'm so thankful that it exists while we do.
3. Friends. It wasn't until I graduated college that I realized there was an entire world ahead of me, waiting to for me to engage in it, to be myself in it, to keep growing in it. And in that world, there would be new people that can mean just as much to you as those who came before it. Since the day I threw my graduation cap in the air, I've made so many great new friends that now I wonder how I ever got this far without them. They urge me to take risks and support me through those risks like no one else ever has. It has validated me to always keep moving, to keep growing, to never settle in one place too long while I'm young. This year is St. Louis, who knows what next year holds? And the fact that that question excites me and that I'm brave enough to ask it to myself, that means everything to me.
