only gratitude

You might say I've been going through a tough time lately; graduate school is stressful, living in a foreign country is tough, and everything at home is hardly perfect... which makes being abroad even more challenging. At times, my otherwise optimistic self has been preoccupied with an overwhelming anxiety.

Yesterday though, after a particularly enlightening meeting with my advisor, I decided to walk home. I wanted to enjoy the unseasonably warm evening. And it was along that stroll, passing the holiday markets on the Champs-Élysées, that I was overcome with gratitude. How thankful I am to have legs to carry me through a city with as much ease as they lead me up a volcano. How thankful I am to have the privilege to study what I am passionate about, and to do so in a (more-often-than-not) enchanting place such as Paris. How thankful I am to be a part of a global community that never ceases to provide opportunities for human connection and, better yet, friendship. How thankful I am for the health that makes living this entire experience possible.

And in many ways, how thankful I am to be missing as many people as I do. What love that must mean I have in my life. I have a feeling this morning's arrival of my mom and sister into Paris confirms it. Hope your Thanksgiving--celebrated or not--is just as happy and gratifying. I'm off to have my best weekend yet :).