Gratitude

grateful + happy

a letter from me

 

Dear ATOD Readers,

Being grateful is more than saying “thank you”. It’s a choice and a mindset.

It’s easy to get a little caught up in the holiday festivities and forget that gratitude comes from a far deeper place within. While most of our lives in America, we spend Thanksgiving sitting around a table gorging on turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie, for some of us, that really isn’t why we celebrate. In fact, if you’re like me, you don’t actually like Thanksgiving dinner.

Rather than spend time perfecting your beautiful dinner, this year I’d encourage you to put that effort into the people you love. Give them compliments, hugs, write a card just to tell them how much they mean to you. Come up with a silly new tradition that takes the holiday a lot less seriously.

Sometimes it’s enough to be grateful to be alive and loved.

I am grateful for my family, my partner, my daughter and the things we’ve made it through this year. It’s been a colorful, challenging, triumphant and exhausting year. Through big ideas and a ton of hard, gritty work, dreams have managed to come together, including growing ATOD Magazine with more incredible writers and photographers around the world, and hosting our annual White Lies + Alibis Dinner.

 

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We have been traveling quite a bit this year and I’m very grateful to have the opportunity to see and experience so much, as well as have our team share their adventures with you!

The world is big and beautiful but most of all? The world connects us all and that is extraordinary.

So while we give into gluttony or scale back and enjoy being with friends and family, I’d love to invite you all to have gratitude for the simple things and make sure to find your happy. Don’t overcomplicate this time of year and instead, bask in the love and goodness that is all around you.

From me to you, Happy Thanksgiving!

To my team: Tram, Art, Vince, Allison, Ruth, Tyler, Lexi, Steve, Cord, Irene, Lauren, Kevin, Matt and our guest contributors – THANK YOU! Thank you for all you do, for your colorful storytelling, intellectual journalism, brilliant photography and huge hearts. I truly adore you …

XO,

Dawn