Giving Thanks Patrick Style

After 25 years this was the first Thanksgiving I’ve spent without my parents.

It was bit different but ultimately I was with my handsome hubby. We both ran out of vacation time due to our excellent honeymoon.

Our Thanksgiving ended up only us for Patrick Thanksgiving 1.0. It was KP, me and the pups in our new home – relaxing, amazing, and super chill for a holiday that usually has us immersed with family and close friends.

In the past my Thanksgiving began with a run to Starbucks to get lattes and Cranberry Bliss bars with my mom and sister. Then we watch the Macy’s Day parade before Mom begins to cook while Mandy and I lay around in front of the TV watching cute puppies on the National Dog Show. Later we would sit down to our Thanksgiving dinner, stuff ourselves, and then laze around our house for the remainder of the day.

This Thanksgiving was pretty much the same. My awesome hubby took me to Starbucks, we then made fun of the parade cheesy-ness, and later both started preparing our Turkey Feast. Between the two of us we could run Julie and Andy Hagenbush’s concept of a year-round Thanksgiving restaurant.

After KP passed out following our Thanksgiving indulgence, I retreated to my office to work on some blog entries for this week. For inspiration I re-read a column I wrote for The Red & Black about the Thanksgiving traditions I valued as a 20-year old. Five years later things have changed a bit.

The highest virtues in my heart are still love, beauty, truth and freedom. After getting married I believe in those values more than anything else in our world.

Honestly, the only thing that has truly changed is my perception on how work impacts life.

In college we were a bit jaded. Professors and advisors who scared us about the realities of the “real” world lead us to believe we had to obtain sustainable, financially advantageous jobs immediately following college. (Sighs) but this is definitely not the case.

I could have taken bolder risks with my journalism career instead of chasing after a job that would give me a comfortable life. I’m thankful for finding a job that offers both self-satisfaction and a decent income. I realize I’m absolutely privileged in today’s society to be in such a position. This post is about Thanksgiving, right?

What’s frustrating is how we were taught as a society to believe happiness in our jobs equates to blissful lives. A job is a job. What we often forget to remember we can make money any which way.

For the remainder of 2010, I’m going to continue to work hard at my job and continue to explore other avenues of “work” that provide me with bliss. This blog is one medium, my novel is another, and there may even be a short story or two along the way. Ultimately I’d love to make a career out of writing, and one that actually can support my family.

For now, I’m incredible thankful for the life we live. Patrick 1.0 Thanksgiving was awesome. I’m so excited to see where we’re at this time next year.