Tonight, the day after Thanksgiving, I sit in my living room and listen to the world going to sleep thinking over the past couple wonderful days to those things I am most thankful for, and I begin to write.

My family. You are amazing. I tell you this whenever I can, but truly, you are the most amazing people, and the fact that I get to call you family makes my heart sing. You taught me all my first lessons, nurtured my first curiosities, and showed me how to quest for the wonderful, and why it was worth looking for. Thank you. I love you.

The Jensen family. This thanksgiving was so special to spend with you. You are my family here, with all your quirks, and funny ways. You have taken me in as a brother, a son, a friend, and you are amazing. I’ve become so close with all of you, and I feel truly lucky to have gotten the chance to rekindle the friendships we started back in Oregon. August, living with you has been the most awesome experience. Our friendship deepens every day. Thank you for learning lessons with me, and teaching me about the world the way you see it. James, I miss you.

My best friends through the years and throughout the world. You are my true world family. You are the people my soul connects with the best. Thank you for being open to letting our lives twist together for a moment or a lifetime. You’ve shown me more about myself and the world than all of my travels and adventures. It saddens me that our life paths stray off in new directions and don’t allow us to connect so often sometimes, but it makes me smile to see where yours is taking you. Amazing things you are doing, incredible places you are going. I look forward to continuing to share throughout life, and all our future connections.

Boulder, thank you for being a places to cultivate dreams. You are so full of energy and possibilities, that you spill over with desire to make connections happen. These last 5 years have been the most empowering of my life, and have taught me more than anything else, that the world is wonderful, open, full of magic, and ready to help me create a paradise.

My roommates, Thank you for teaching me about community, about living with people in a happy, healthy, fantastic household. These lessons in diplomacy, organization, respect, have been some of the most powerful I’ve learned the last 8 years. You’ve made the “daily grind” so great, with a smile, a hug, a hello, goodbye, goodnight, goodmorning. Thank you, for always caring, for being real, and for teaching me so much.

Momentary sparks, connections, smiles, discussions every day, since arrival in this universe. You who have taken a moment to connect, to be in the moment and say “how are you?” and really mean it. You have taught the the value of pause, the value of the moment, and the value of human connection. A days that is going by slowly, painfully, is so easily changed to sunny wonderfulness with a smile and connection with a real soul. You are beautiful and you make this great world magnificent with your diverse and caring beings.

My body, thank you for always being ready and eager to embark on the next adventure. You make it possible to do anything in this world. You are powerful, beautiful, and full of healthy brilliance. Thank you for sending me messages to keep my life on track, and to warn me of dangers, and thank you for understanding when I need to ignore the message and do it anyway, because it feeds a greater purpose.

Love and intimacy, thank you for breaking down my walls, for reminding me of the value of the inside beauty, and for repeatedly opening my heart to the raw emotions that take me on the most wonderfully terrifying flight the brilliance of the universe can share. And thank you lover, for being the key to that door, the guide in the darkness, and the one holding my hand at the scary amazingness of each new experience. Every crush, every love, every head-over-heels twitterpation has been the gift that brings so much. I hope you are feeling loved, happy, and thankful wherever you are.

BES, you are a family has taught me about myself, about how to help the world, and why it is so important to do so. You make my ears perk up when a siren goes off, you have given me the tools to save lives, and act quickly and responsibly in an emergency. But you are also fun, wonderful people, who inspire me with your dedication to life, both your own, and everyone else’s. Thank you for making adrenaline a healthy part of my life, and giving me the opportunity to help the world, and in doing so bring meaning to mine.

Ball and JWST, thank you for giving the the opportunity to be a rocket scientist, to work on the most incredible optical-anything to ever go into space. You rock! It has been the most rewarding and fantastic job I’ve ever had. Thank you for being flexible, feeding my passion, and really caring about me as a person. I am honored to be a part of the team, and amazed every day.

And thank YOU for reading this. You give me more reason to write, and to share transformations, goals, understands, questions, and dreams. You help me process events and changes in my life by giving me the opportunity to take the mass of thoughts floating around in my head and turn them into something coherent and then share it.

What are you thankful for?