Hashtag not grateful
A reminder from me to you for this week that will inevitably be full of #thankful #grateful posts.
You don't have to be thankful or grateful for anything. You don't owe your gratitude to anyone unless you *actually* are grateful to that person. If you are getting the raw end of the deal right now, feel free to not be grateful. 2017 has been a hell of a year. You're allowed.
You're allowed to have a fucked up family, and to not be grateful for it. You're allowed to love the people that you want to love and that deserve your love, and sometimes, those people are not blood related to you. You're allowed to dread Thanksgiving dinner, you're allowed to stay home and binge Stranger Things 2 if that's going to be better for you than the trauma of dealing with family. There's no medal of honor for anyone who has to suffer through a tumultuous family dinner (believe me, I would know)-- if it's going to trigger your mental health issues, you don't have to go. Even if you love your mom or your dad or your cousin more than life itself and they need you there, trust me, they will (eventually) understand.
You're allowed to not want to celebrate Thanksgiving for cultural reasons, too. Let's be honest, this holiday tends to gloss over important historical events at the expense of a lot of people. You're allowed to not want to be a part of that.
The holidays are tricky--they can be a source of incredible joy and happiness and they can be immensely painful, sometimes simultaneously. You don't have to pretend like everything is awesome, no matter what time of year, but especially during the holidays. Love you, friends. Take care of yourselves.
