Thanksgiving is almost here!
Various types of potatoes! Pies! Hugs! Family!
Hooray!
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year. I'm excited to spend time with my folks, my siblings, my sweetheart, the whole gang. We've decided to make a traditional Swedish dinner (instead of a turkey) because we're rebellious like that.
Questions include:
- What was the best part of your day so far?
- Have you ever won an award? What was it for?
- What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received?
- If social media didn’t exist, how would your life be different?
- If you could have tea with one fictional character, who would it be?
- If you had an extra $100 to spend on yourself every week, what would you do?
- If you could enroll in a PhD program with your tuition paid in full by a
mysterious benefactor, what would you study—and why?
- And lots more.
Every year, I print out these 100
questions, I cut them up into strips, and then I put the strips into a bowl in the center of our Thanksgiving table.
My family usually groans at first ("Noooo, not the questions again!") but pretty soon, everyone is pulling questions and answering them. It's so fun! We always
learn surprising details about one another. Stories come tumbling out. Debates ensue. I hope you enjoy the list of questions... and maybe they'll become a new tradition for your family,
too.
Have a beautiful week. Be kind to yourself and others. I'm sending a big hug in your direction...
-Alex
PS. The photos at the top of this email are me (as a little kid) plus a bunch of my wonderfully insane family members. My dad always says, "Let's keep the ZEN in Franzen." Well, I will certainly try.
PPS. Remember this song? It popped onto the radio the other day and instantly put me into a good mood. I had to pull my car over and park so I could figure out the name of the song and write it down! "Na na na na, every day..."
PPPS. This article—written by a man who decided to try out Ruth Bader Ginsburg's fitness routine—is one of the funniest things I've read all year long.
PPPPS. Heads up: I'm teaching a free class called Stop Waiting, Start Writing on December 5th. You can participate online from anywhere in the world. You can register here. I will share some inspiring true stories about friends of mine—plus tips on how to create space in your life for creative projects instead of always saying, "Oh, maybe later..." See you there!
