Anchors
Reflection on gratitude.
When discussing what I’m thankful for this year with my wife, I instantly came up with the many traditional responses: family, friends, teammates, colleagues, mentors, mentees, writers, and readers - the countless people that have directly and indirectly impacted my life.
To consolidate my response, I said my anchors - the people throughout my life that have provided various forms of support, perspective, and purpose.
People can be anchors as they offer ways to gradually connect us to the world and our function within it. These anchors may only temporarily enter our lives, maybe even for one interaction. Each time support is offered, however, the perceptual tethers we possess can be strengthened. Stability and security are enhanced by the collective mass of our anchors. Confidence to endure our metaphorical storms can be derived from knowing we have resources to utilize as necessary.
I am firmly grounded in my life thanks to the anchors who remind me I’m not alone. This wisdom encourages me to keep sailing regardless of known or unknown conditions on the horizon.
See below for the spread my wife created for our family. Cooking at scale isn’t easy and this year she did it while keeping everything gluten and egg free. For countless reasons, I couldn’t have dreamed of a better anchor in my life than my wife.
Wishing you a happy holiday season and a resilient new year.





I feel like you're the anchor of Substack. Always piping in with a kind word, always promoting what should be seen. I often tell myself...I should be more like Kyle while I'm on here. Thanks for being you.
I appreciate your writing as an anchor.