EDITOR'S NOTE
DID YOU KNOW that the Your Words column, featuring readers’ responses to a question we post on social media, is one of the most popular in the magazine? It’s always near the top when we ask folks to rank which articles they most read and enjoyed. I like to think that’s because our audience is more than an audience—it’s a community of like-minded superfans from all backgrounds who dig our content and, consequently, one another. That last part is key: We’re respectful and mutually appreciative, and we enjoy exchanging opinions about cleaning and organizing and, y’know, life.
We got a ton of great responses to this month’s question: “What oddly specific thing are you thankful for this year?” We tend to see loads of brilliant, thoughtful lines in the comments, but for this one, the floodgates opened. Find a handful of answers (as many as we could fit!) on page 12.
We asked that question because, if you live here and you’re reading this magazine, odds are you have a lot to be thankful for. And regularly giving voice to that gratitude is good for the universe and good for your soul. (Check out page 64 for the latest research on that. It’s a major hack for making yourself happy!) Our readers have clearly nailed the habit.
A few oddly specific things I’m grateful for? My 8-year-old’s “bear sunset” drawings, which are just what they sound like—a setting sun with a bear face. Watching my teenager haul a rowing shell onto her shoulder in tandem with her teammates as they head out for practice. That my sisters can give excellent life advice entirely through Simpsons references. Prince’s expression as his fingers dance across the strings during “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” at that Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony (Google it). The way our mutt, Rusty, grunts when I rub his face. Pretty much every story in this magazine.
And I’m grateful for millions of readers who care about one another, their families, their homes, their country, other countries, the planet, and all the things that matter. And are thankful, every day, for every bit of it.
Lauren Iannotti
EDITOR IN CHIEF
LET’S CONNECT!
Follow me on Instagram at @laureniannotti.
Photograph by Felix Wong
STYLING BY LIZZY ROSENBERG; HAIR BY CLAY NIELSEN USING LEONOR GREYL; MAKEUP BY DEBORAH ALTIZIO FOR CREATIVE MANAGEMENT USING GLOSSIER; MAKEUP ASSISTED BY ALYSSA ZABAWA