Today is Thanksgiving, just one of many in an endless stream of holidays celebrated the world over that I either don't notice or notice but don't observe, since they're not my holiday.

This year, though, I feel that I can't let the occasion pass without marking it with at least a few words, even if there's no actual celebration.

This year, today, I'm feeling happier and more inclined to the giving of thanks than I have done in a long while. This is because, for the first time in a long while, I'm working towards a goal that is something that I genuinely deep-down want. I want to go study at Smith. I want to go live in Northampton. I want these things because I believe that they will allow me to be who I want to be, unashamedly, unabashedly, and unapologetically. This is the American Dream. Sure, it's not it's traditional manifestation, but there it is.

So forgive me this once if I get a little caught up in the moment and observe a holiday that isn't my own. I feel justified. And maybe, just maybe, this time next year, I'll be able to say that it is my holiday and will be celebrating it from the opposite side of the Atlantic.

Of course, maybe I won't. Maybe the whole thing will fall through. Maybe I won't get accepted, or I won't be able to sort out financing, or I won't get a visa, or I'll have a huge relapse of depression and not be able to get out of bed for 6 months. If these things happen then these things happen. But for now, I'm happy and I'm hopeful, and I'm thankful for that.