Thanksgiving Weekend

Thoughts on time, everyday life and change.

Happy Thanksgiving, dear readers! I hope your hearts (and bellies) are full from Thursday's festivities surrounded by your family, friends, and loved ones. I'd like to say thank you to two Carina’s in my life–one, purchased a collage art print and the other became a paid subscriber. Thank you also to Jeanne who bought my book, The Butterfly Diaries. Your support means so much to me!

I'd also like to express my gratitude to all of you. Thanks for sticking with me so far! I hope to keep inspiring you with words, pictures, and collages and encouraging you through this newsletter as we all navigate through this messy thing called life.

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Ducks in the fog. Thanksgiving Day, 2017. Photograph by Stella Kalaw

As soon as Thanksgiving arrives, I start to marvel at how time flew by. It seems to move faster as I get older. There's something about being in my 50s that makes me conscious of it. If we're lucky to reach the ripe age of 80, our life span is equal to 4,000 weeks according to Oliver Burkeman. 

How sobering is it to read that sentence? 

With this sentiment, appreciating our simple everyday life has been my focus since losing my job shortly after the lockdowns in 2020. I've been taking it day by day, moment by moment. I've been leaning on my faith and trusting the Lord for his direction and timing. "God made a way last time. He will do it again," – a quote I've pasted on the lock screen of my iPhone. I know, deep down in my spirit, a door, or many doors will open soon. When? I don’t know. Only He knows.

The lock screen of my iPhone.

While I’m in this season of waiting and the doors have remained shut on the job front, I’ve kept myself occupied by creating collages

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, writing in my journal, spending time with my family

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, and listening and being present with others

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. As a result, I’ve managed to stave off feelings of pity for my situation. I do allow myself to dwell on it once in a while but I never let it linger for days on end.

Our Thanksgiving meal this year was homemade vegan gluten-free pizza, black beans and butternut squash taco casserole, and baked apple crisp with coconut non-dairy ice cream. The pizza crust was more like a flatbread— less pliable but crispy, a much better result than the soggy store-bought ones we had in the past. I cooked the right amount of food and we finished everything in two days. I was pleased!

This morning, we went to Target to buy a bag of frozen blueberries, paper towels, and a pack of toilet paper. This particular branch had been hit by burglary and looting in the last few years. Right at the entrance, a gentleman stood wearing dark sunglasses and a lime-colored vest with the back emblazoned with the words asset protection. A two-way radio was clipped on his belt with a wire to his ear. “Good Morning!” he greeted us. As we made our way toward the back of the store, I noticed some products such as over-the-counter medications, toothpaste, and liquid laundry detergents were stored in locked cabinets. What a world we live in today, I thought. A store clerk needed to be flagged to unlock a cabinet just to purchase toothpaste— something unthinkable in the past.

Driving home, The sun was out and fall foliage had arrived in our small town. The red maple trees were in full bloom in front of the National Holistic Institute on Doyle Street, as well as pockets of yellow maple trees along Horton and Hollis. It brought joy to my spirit!

As we pulled into our garage, a large moving van was parked outside our next neighbor’s unit. Just last week, the couple across our building also moved out. 

A professor once wrote on the blackboard in big bold letters, “the one thing constant in life is change.” He underlined the word change twice.

I never forgot it.

1. Groundlessness

2. Back Home

3. The Gift of Presence