At its heart, Thanksgiving is a harvest celebration—a time to gather and give thanks for what has grown, what has been cultivated, and what we’ve been able to bring to fruition through patience, care, and community effort.

According to Peter Giuliano in his post, “The Hidden Secret of Thanksgiving That is Actually Pretty Amazing” in Pax Culinaria, “Feasting on Thanksgiving turkeys echoes the Aztec ritual sacrifice of the huehxōlōtl—so it is about as close as we get to a harvest celebration.”

While our American Thanksgiving tradition represents a time to gather and give thanks, we also pause to acknowledge the complicated history of this holiday and the Indigenous peoples whose land we occupy without recourse. We’re also grateful for the opportunity to take some time away from the workweek to celebrate the harvests that we have planted individually and collectively.

Just as a harvest requires tending—planting seeds, nurturing growth, weathering storms, and celebrating the bounty—here at VIDA we recognize that much work goes into this process, and we know that ours has flourished because of how we show up for each other.

We’re embracing this spirit of abundance by celebrating what we’ve cultivated together: a thriving coworking community rooted in our VIDA Values.

Our VIDA Values: The Foundation of Our Community

We Take Care of the details, of each other, and of doing the right thing.

We’re Exceedingly Helpful and we go above and beyond to bring joy and to Make Life/Work.

Everyone Wins when we’re solution-driven, because we know that when one member succeeds, we all do.

We Deliver Excellence not for perfection’s sake, but because we all deserve nothing less.

These values didn’t come from a corporate handbook—they grew from thinking about what is most important to us in creating a space and community that we want to be a part of, and how we believe we can achieve our mission to help Make Life/Work. They’re the bounty of what we’ve cultivated together in our coworking community.

Gratitude for Our VIDA Community

So this Thanksgiving, first and foremost: THANK YOU. Thank you for choosing VIDA Coworking, for showing up, for being part of this experiment in making work feel more human. We couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve become together and the values that we share.

Everyone on #TeamVIDA feels honored to be part of your daily lives, to witness your wins, and to support you through the challenges. We’re grateful for the community we’ve created together at our Northeast Portland and Beaverton locations—and we’re excited to keep growing it and to continue reaping the bounty of future seasons together.

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at VIDA Coworking. 🧡

P.S: Want to try making a Harvest Cake this holiday season? Check out this great recipe from The Kitchn.