In my life, I actually think I have a lot to be thankful for. This is very different than what I would have told you four years ago. As a teenager, I was moody, depressed, and even suicidal. My life was not going so well. It half-way had to do with the fact that I hadn’t grown out into my own person and also had to do with the fact that high schoolers are never the nicest bunch out there. I didn’t have ay support system, and all I had was negativity to destroy whatever positivity I could manage to muster up. My grades were great, but I was lacking in social life or any sort of happiness. Ask me four years ago, and I would have told you that I’d rather be dead.

However, my life has changed a lot sense then. Now I have a lot of things to be thankful for. Of course, one of the biggest things is that I have a partner who supports me. I’m definitely thankful for him. When high school felt like me versus them, my college life feels a lot more loving. While it’s now us versus the stupid-college-population, I now at least have someone to keep me company and make me smile when everything is getting stressful. He keeps the house nice, supports me with my job, helps me with my ridiculously-way-too-hard math homework, organizes sex toys, and cuddles with me on the futon to watch different tv show obsessions. Without him, my life would be missing a hugely important support pillar, and I’d be much more lonely and inefficient.

I’m thankful to discover the sex toy reviewer community. Very thankful. I’ve honestly never had a hobby before, and without any real reason to get out of bed, it’s pretty darn hard to muster the energy to actually do it. Discovering the sex toy community and owning a sex toy review blog has given me a reason to actually get up and do something. It gives me something that makes me feel fulfilled and keeps me busy without making me feel stressed. I love relating to other people in the community, and I love compliments about the blog (and my reviews) that make me realize that I’m helping influence people’s decisions about what adult toys to purchase.

I’m thankful to the BDSM community. Without it, I wouldn’t have any friends at all. BDSM seems to include quite a few of the intelligent people who are open with themselves and their friends, and with such a big college campus, I don’t think I would have found the friends I have without the community. While most college students seem pretty intent on getting drunk all of the time, most of the friends we’ve found through the community takes their schoolwork relatively seriously and is intelligent about their drinking and their personal safety. Plus, it’s nice to have people that I can take back to my apartment without worrying about attempting to hide all of the objects I’ve obtained from the hobby in my above paragraph.

I know. So far, I’ve had some pretty odd places to lay my thanks. I guess I’ll let you have a normal one: I’m also thankful to my parents. They’ve supported me ever since I came out to college, and while they don’t come out to visit much (since my mother dislikes driving), I’m still glad I can call her at any time I’d like, and she’ll offer her advice. I’m thankful for all of the time (and money) they dedicated to me while I was growing up, and while it wasn’t perfect, I wouldn’t be the person I am today without the way that they raised me. I’m glad they raised me with morals, and I’m appreciative that they continue to support me if I ask for anything. While they have their own life now, and I try to let them have their life, I do try to make sure to make regular calls home so they can keep up on what I’m doing here at college.

This sounds a little odd, but I’m also thankful that my college years are almost up. While I’ve heard a lot of other people talk about how much they love college due to the social aspects, I just don’t participate in the social aspects, and the educational aspect takes way too much of my time. It’s fun to be on campus, but at the same time, it takes so much time for me to attend classes, and I’d rather focus that time on my job, my writing, and my hobby here on my sex blog. I’m very happy I should be graduating in less than a year – especially when you consider that it’s a half a semester earlier than I should be graduating. I worked my butt to get to this point, and I’m thankful that I’ve had the resources, time, and support to make it to my final year when so many other people end up dropping out of college.

I’m also thankful for all of the support I have when I choose to try out new paths. Right now, I’m looking into attempting to write erotica on a semi-regular basis for publication and e-books. I’ve had publishers work with me and answer my questions (especially Cleis Press), and I’m glad that I don’t have to feel like the biggest loner out there when I think being published. I’ve had friends look over and give opinions on my drafts, and even if this particular draft isn’t accepted, I always feel like it is still a good piece and worthy of publication. I feel accomplished, and my friends and other publishers have really helped allow me to pursue my love of writing.

This year has been an amazing year – one of the best I’ve actually had so far in my life. There’s been minimal insults, lots of support, and I’ve made a lot of great friends and have been involved with lots of social functions. I’m just really thankful to be alive to have experienced such a great year, and I’m really hoping that the years to come will be even better.