Thanksgiving feels weird to me this year… I know it’s an American holiday, but I think most of us from the U.S have gotten away from praising Christopher Colombus and his “breaking bread” with Wampanoag people. Thanksgiving is my favourite holiday, probably because it’s just a day to eat as much food as you can and celebrate what you’re thankful for, where the only gift you need to give is your presence. But this year, it feels like we’re still drowning a little, yearning for big parties with our family and friends, going to the cinema, or not having to sit in Starbucks for only an hour. Still, I’ve decided to take a moment to reflect on the things I’m thankful for and urge you to do the same.

First, off I’m thankful for the really cheesy movies Netflix has put out to keep us occupied; I watched “The Holidate” recently, and although I cringed throughout the entire movie, it pulled a couple of laughs out of my flatmates and I. Additionally, because of Megan Smith’s article on “Emily in Paris” and why Emily is frankly super uncultured, I still sat down with a bottle of wine and finished it in a night. Also, thanks to Mhairi Claire, in two days I cried and felt all the emotions of love in HBO’s series “Love Life.” TV shows and movies have brought me so much comfort in the past few months, even though every time I see a huge group gathering in a scene my first thought is “where are their masks???”.

I’m thankful for the music that has come out during this time and for all The Record writers who recommend playlists and songs to bring me good vibes during the long walks I take to get out of the house. I think music has been extremely therapeutic to all of us, even if it’s the controversial song “WAP” that gets me through the day sometimes. I’m thankful for all the artists, especially small songwriters who provide music that we all can relate to. My favourite song has to be “F****2020” by Avenue Beat, which is truly the anthem for this year.

I’m thankful for TikTok more than anything, as ridiculous as that sounds. Truly, that app gives me so much joy and access to endless hours of procrastination. I extend my thanks to the chefs of TikTok because I promise you I have tried and failed so many of your recipes (don’t worry, I got some of them), to Trisha Paytas and the D’Amelio family for giving me DAYS of drama that I could literally recite, to the singers who are so so talented – I like all of your videos – to the random TikToks which tell me what initials my soulmate will have… and to astrology TikTok for confirming that I really am an Aries. I am embarrassed by my screen time and fuming that I have not gone viral; either way, TikTok, I am so thankful for you.

I’m thankful for my flatmates who force me to do work and then five minutes later convince me to stop and watch our 7th rom-com of the week. I’m thankful for my friends from home who are all dealing with the oddness of being a student during a pandemic. I’m thankful that we all find ways to be positive during this time by painting card games that we can play once this is over, for sending me memes and funny videos to provide tiny distractions.

This is such a corny article, but I think it’s important to romanticise the small things in life right now (and to be honest for the rest of our lives). We’ve experienced what it’s like to have our lives turned upside down, and it’s important not to just wait for it to be over but to find the moments within that remind us what to be thankful for. And for that, I leave you with “Happy Thanksgiving”.