Gratitude is one of my favorite things. It is my go to when I’m not feeling the groove and I have fun practicing gratitude daily. But it annoys me on Thanksgiving.

Perhaps because Thanksgiving has a Hallmark holiday tone to it I get slightly irritated with the whole thankful on Thanksgiving thing. Don’t fear, no one would know I have a bit of scrooge in me for Thanksgiving. I pull off a cheerful and very thankful swing.

Today I would like things to be different so I’m going to go rogue with my thankfulness. I’m not going to name all of the things I’m supposed to recite. You know the drill – family, friends, health, home, our business, cartwheels. I don’t take any of it for granted, it’s just that I already acknowledge those incredible blessings and appreciate the abundance in my life on a daily basis. Today needs to be different. Shake shit up.

My purple skirt. God I love this purple skirt. It is a symbol of my hippie spirit. Free People brand (I couldn’t remember so I googled upscale hippie clothing and sure enough…Free People). I got it at a consignment store for $20 (score!) and it is flowy, a bit too short so I need to wear leggings with it but seriously…it is pure love in my closet. I’m so thankful for this item of clothing and I purposely wear it when I need to spice things up in my life. I’m also holds a treasured memory of the night in Tulum, Mexico, with my Sacred Sisters, when Rafael, this amazing shaman, created an evening of magic with his crazy awesome indigenous instruments and I danced to his music under the moon with the ocean crashing nearby. Thank you purple hippie skirt.

My mornings. I’m so grateful for my mornings. I love waking up early, doing my thing before anyone wakes up. I love my morning coffee after guzzling my 20 oz bottle of water (huge appreciation for water!). Writing, reading, meditating, or maybe even a little candy crush (omg right) to start my day. I leave it open and it’s all mine. I love being alive in the morning. It is so quiet outside and the air feels magical. I imagine I can still see the fairy dust outside.

The number 11. I have to give a shout out of gratitude to the Universe and how she loves to play games with me sometimes. This is the best game ever. Every day, at least once, and many times it will happen up to 5 times a day, I will look at the clock and it will be 7:11 or 4:11 or 8:11. Something:11. You get the picture. It happens in my car, on my phone, my computer and once I asked someone what time it was they said 3:11. I was like – what?! Not a big deal perhaps. Possibly it is a coincidence except that it isn’t because I’d have to believe in coincidences for it to be that. And I don’t. Every time I get the secret nod I smile. I feel like someone is out there making sure I’m enjoying the day, staying present in this very moment, this minute, and that I’m loved and cared for.

I appreciate my longing. I long for things, places, experiences. I long to be at the beach. DESIRE. I desire freedom, happiness and the ability to see and explore the world. Daydreaming, discussing, planning and visualizing is like playtime for me. I know they throw me into the future and take me from the present but I like to think of it as being in the present moment of daydreaming. I had to teach my husband about this. On long car rides I want to dream about random adventures or business ideas and he would pepper me with questions about the details or how impossible it sounded to execute. I called him the Dream Killer and we used to get into arguments…him micromanaging the details and me dreaming up some crazy idea. Finally I figured out where the disconnect was; I just wanted to enjoy the dreaming and not bother with the details. We probably weren’t going to pursue the idea anyway, I just want to play with a dream. Now he plays with me and he’s my go to guy when I want to make a longing come true.

I appreciate dancing and specifically car dancing and what it does for me. A good song on the radio can turn any day into a fabulous day as long as I can lose myself in my famous car dancing moves.

I’m also grateful for you and our connection. You are reading a bit of my soul and my heart and I’m deeply appreciative. Thank you!