November is traditionally a season of thanksgiving, especially here in the U.S. So I’m reflecting on what I’m thankful for. It’s a season of gratitude.
I don’t have to tell you that 2020 has been a strange year. Unless you’re a time traveler who jumped here from 5 years ago, you know how weird it has been. But since this is a season of gratitude, I’m taking a minute to think about what I’m thankful for.
I’ll be honest: gratitude isn’t my strongest trait, since I don’t often slow down enough to think about what I’m grateful for. I’m constantly moving to the next thing without pausing to celebrate or show my thanks. The thing about gratitude is that it teaches you humility. It removes you from the equation to a certain degree. You’re still the recipient of the things you appreciate, but you’re not the cause of any of them.

Brad Blackman, “Morning Mist.” Acrylic on canvas, 20 x 24 inches
So to that end, here are a few of the things I’m thankful for in 2020:
- Time at home with my family.
- The ability to work from home.
- Flexible hours.
- New hearing aid technology.
- Time to work on home improvement projects.
I don’t know how unusual I am in what I am thankful for this year, but I am certainly grateful for these things. It feels like a lot of people I know are experiencing these same things, so I know I’m not alone. But I know my attitude toward them is important.
Time at home with family
This is huge. We’ve never spent this much time together, ever. It’s such a blessing to be able to spend so much time watching my kids grow up. It’s also been very trying, as we have some strong personalities in our family! We are all in each other’s space. My prayer is that we will look back on this as a period where we grew stronger as a family. We’ve gotten a lot of projects done around the house that I don’t think we would have gotten done otherwise. We decided to homeschool this year, and it’s been a challenge for sure. It’s an opportunity to teach the kids so much about the things we value while encouraging them to discover their own values.
Working from home
My painting studio is at home, and I can do my graphic design work from anywhere. So while my wife took over my desk in the bonus room, I found an unused antique table in the garage and made that my desk in the den so I can be close by while my kids work on their schoolwork during the day. The isolation doesn’t really bother me as I’m an introvert and being around too many people too much drains me, it works just fine for me. (The problem is, there are other people in the house who need attention sometimes!) I do miss just grabbing my laptop and heading to the coffee shop to get some work done.
Flexible hours
Since I work for myself, my hours are flexible. I try to be available for my freelance design clients in the afternoons, but I often find myself working on projects into the night after the kids have gone to bed. The weird hours suit me since I’ve never been a fan of the 9-to-5. Lately, my hours tend to be 11-to-4, then 8-to-10.
New hearing aids
If you’re new here, you may not know that I’m deaf. I’ve worn hearing aids all my life. I got some new ones this year that have some pretty slick tech, and I’m pretty happy with them. Having music or voice streamed straight into my ears via Bluetooth is pretty nice. It’s something I tend to take for granted. My last pair of hearing aids had this in a limited sense with a third-party device, but when that broke, I was without this for about a year. Now I can listen to podcasts while I do projects around the house again.
Home improvement projects
At the beginning of the pandemic, when it looked like we were going to be home for two weeks, my wife and I went and bought supplies to paint the kitchen. It took us six months to finally get around to it, but we got it done, and the entire downstairs of our house has been transformed. We were able to cross many long-overdue projects off our list. Our house no longer looks like it’s from the 90s, when it was built.
It’s all about attitude
This was a nice little exercise that helps me reframe my attitude into one of thankfulness. An “attitude of gratitude” is a cliche, but there’s so much truth to it. When you live with that perspective, you realize how little control you have, and it is actually quite freeing. It teaches you humility. Am I privileged? Yes. Is that something to be ashamed of? No. I see it as a responsibility to share and to teach my children to do the same. And while I worry that I’m doing a terrible job of everything, I am grateful for the opportunity.
So how about you?
What are you thankful for this season? Let me know in the comments!