On Grace + Gratitude

Giving Thanks Where Thanks Is (Over)Due

Photo by @ramu_aladdin on Unsplash

With just a few days until Thanksgiving, my thoughts are on what a year it’s been. And on how grateful I am to so many people. For showing me love, patience, and the kind of grace I’m not always the best at giving myself.

Without all the caring and sharing, I don’t know how—or if—I would have made it through this year, especially with the various mental and physical health plot twists 2025 threw my way.

It wasn’t the easiest year. It wasn’t my prettiest either. There were stretches where I felt like I had misplaced my spark, my purpose, or both. There were mornings when getting out of bed felt like an Olympic sport. There were nights when my brain insisted on doing laps around the same worries and wounds, round and round again.

And yet…here I am:

• Still trying.

• Still creating.

• Still becoming.

I’m still here not because I muscled through. Not because I “pushed harder.” I’m here because people held me up when I couldn’t hold myself upright. Friends near and far. Readers. Viewers. Fellow creatives. Folks who checked in, encouraged me, sent love, cracked jokes, shared memes, bought prints, watched videos, and reminded me that I mattered.

Grace comes in many forms. Sometimes it comes when a friend texts “Are you okay?” at the exact moment you need it. Sometimes it comes when someone is sitting across from you at lunch, listening without judgment. Sometimes it comes while listening to a new friend playing a soft song on your ukulele. Sometimes it comes when a stranger leaves a kind comment on a video you didn’t think anyone would watch. Sometimes it comes in the form of a hug. Or even a kiss.

And sometimes grace comes as a gift we give ourselves. It’s permission to slow down. To rest. To be imperfect. To heal at the pace our heart allows.

Slowly and surely, I’m learning that gratitude isn’t a holiday. It’s a practice. A muscle that needs stretching. Gratitude is a gentle way of reminding ourselves of the people, moments, and memories that tether us to the good in the world. Even when the world feels heavy. Especially when the world feels heavy.

So as Thanksgiving approaches, I’m giving thanks where thanks is (over)due:

• To my friends and chosen family, thank you for keeping me afloat.

• To my readers and watchers, thank you for giving my creativity a home.

• To my new neighbors and new routines, thank you for the fresh starts.

• To my old habits and old stories, thank you for the lessons—even the hard ones.

And to all reading this right now, thank you. Truly. You don’t know how much you’ve helped me grow and heal.

I’m not sure what the rest of the year has in store. But I’m walking into these last few weeks of 2025 with a tender heart, a steady breath, and a deep gratitude for all the love, patience, and grace that’s been shared with me thus far.

• Here’s to the helpers.

• Here’s to the healers.

• Here’s to the humans who make the hard days survivable.

And here’s to all of us still trying. Still showing up. Still finding our way.

Happy almost-Thanksgiving, my dears, nears, and/or queers!
Clint 🌈✌️

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FYC = FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

• The Closet Under Capitalism (Pesos & Pixels)

• Connecting With: Ben Greene (Aidan Wharton + Ben Greene)

• Udo Kier, Magnetic Queer Character Actor, Dies at 81 (Matthew Rettenmund)

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ON THIS DAY = NOVEMBER 24

BIRTHDAYS

• 1864 = Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec = French painter and illustrator

• 1868 = Scott Joplin = American composer

• 1881 = Al Christie = Canadian-American filmmaker

• 1885 = Theodor Altermann = Estonian actor, director, and producer

• 1888 = Dale Carnegie = American author and educator

• 1913 = Geraldine Fitzgerald = Irish-American actor

• 1929 = George Moscone = American soldier, lawyer, politician, and 37th Mayor of San Francisco

• 1940 = Arthur Tress = American photographer 🌈

• 1942 = Billy Connolly = Scottish comedian and actor

• 1944 = Candy Darling = American actor and Warhol Superstar 🌈

• 1956 = Ruben Santiago-Hudson = American actor, playwright, and director

• 1956 = Terry Lewis = American producer and songwriter

• 1964 = Garret Dillahunt = American actor

• 1974 = Stephen Merchant = English actor, director, producer, and screenwriter

• 1977 = Colin Hanks = American actor

• 1983 = Gwilym Lee = Welsh actor

EVENTS

• 1859 = Charles Darwin‘s On the Origin of Species is published.

• 1925 = The Forrest Theatre (now the Eugene O’Neill Theatre) opens on Broadway.

• 1950 = Guys and Dolls premieres on Broadway.

• 1962 = That Was the Week That Was premieres on BBC.

• 1967 = The Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop opens in NYC.

• 1971 = During a severe thunderstorm over Washington state, a hijacker calling himself Dan Cooper (aka D. B. Cooper) parachutes from a Northwest Orient Airlines plane with $200,000 in ransom money. He has never been found.

• 1993 = Mrs. Doubtfire is released in theaters.

HOLIDAYS + OBSERVANCES

• Evolution Day

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PORTRAIT + QUOTE OF THE DAY

DALE CARNEGIE

“If you want to conquer fear, don’t sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.”
Dale Carnegie