44 Hyper-specific Things I’m Thankful For

Tis the season to be thankful, but it’s that season all year long, isn’t it?

But anyway. I think gratitude lists and gratitude journals are wonderful, but my absolute favorite versions are when people get really granular and specific, and you get to know the niche little tidbits that light them up.

In that vein, here are 44 hyper-specific things I’m thankful for. Why 43? No reason, just because I could have kept going and going and I had to stop somewhere.

The gut-renching pause at minute 2:14 in this amazing song sung by the phenomenal Brian D’arcy James.

The little girl I once saw at Disney World who was sitting on her dad’s shoulders during the fireworks and shouted “This is the BEST. DAY. EVER!” I hope she’s still having best days.

Strawberries.

The black and white Charlie Chaplin canvas I found at Ross for $10.

This sketch comedian on TikTok who has the nichest Grinch quote as her bio.

Jenna Hall, another comedian on TikTok who is killing it.

That time I got to make a pilgrimage to Oxford and pay homage at the street lamp outside C. S. Lewis’ office.

David Mitchell’s rants. All of them, specifically.

Ben Miller’s scene at the hospital at the end of Season 3 of Professor T.

The piano outside Casey’s Corner at Walt Disney World.

The ridiculously tall roofs and doorways and proportions in the animated Cinderella.

Poiret One font. It’s my favorite.

Sunflowers.

Pilot G2 .7 pens.

The Epcot entrance music.

My fluffy cat’s round belly and pretzel resting pose.

The way my cat runs to the door whenever I’m taking the garbage out.

The glowing moss in Animal Crossings: New Horizons.

Stephen Sondheim lyrics, specifically, “The choice may have been mistaken, the choosing was not,” and the entirety of “Being Alive.”

Stephen Schwartz’s incredible gift for internal rhyme, for example: “Helping you in your ascent allows me to feel so parental.”

The harmonies in “The I Love You Song,” from 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and in “Our Children,” from Ragtime.

An empire waistline.

The snow globe my mom bought me from St. Paul’s Cathedral, and the golden bird scizzors my friend bought me from Over The Garden Wall.

Bill Pullman’s face when he sees his dead wife in Casper.

The temples. All of them. How powerful I feel when I come out. The chandeliers.

2 Nephi 2:25: “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.”

The talk about compensating blessings given by Gerald Causse, who was just called to be an apostle.

John Owen Jones’ purest of all pures soaringest of all soars at minute 7:15 in this Phantom medley:

The big “Deliver us!” at the end of the opening song in Prince of Egypt.

Every person who has ever delivered my groceries or DoorDash. I am very specifically grateful for all of them.

Dr. Swineyard, my pediatric endocrinologist when I was young. He told me I could call him Dr. Pigfarm.

The part in Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt where he describes the sound Mrs. Baker makes when she sees her husband again.

Mack Wilbergs arrangements of Come Thou Fount and Come, Come Ye Saints and the tenor solo in Betelehemu.

The Vincent Van Gogh Scene from Doctor Who.

The moon in Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh.

Vincent Van Gogh.

René Magritte, specifically “The Philosopher’s Lamp.”

Marty, starting Ernest Borgnine. Specifically the heel click.

The Hand Flex (TM)

“If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.”

― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

David Ogden Stier’s speeches to Lwaxana Troi in that episode of Star Trek:TNG (“Half a Life,” season 4, episode 22, for those who are interested) and his face in M*A*S*H* when he realizes why the orphanage sold the chocolates he gave them.

The face of the Tibetan Fox.

David Attenborough documentaries, but specifically the part where the lizard escapes the snakes and the other part where baby goslings jump from their nest off a ridiculously tall cliff.

YOU. You specifically.

Your turn!

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Share your own favorite sides in the comments!Teacher’s Table

Some goodies especially for the teachers:

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Everything needed to get your young writers started is here in Tools Not Rules: A Writing Guide for Young Creatives.

Various and free activity sheets up on my Teachers Pay Teachers store! More added all the time, so check back regularly.

I am so, so excited and honored to now be on the roster at the Macmillan Speakers Bureau! For school and other events, you can find my speaker page here!

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