“Sitting at my desk at two minutes past five on a Friday afternoon, deep in the season of darkness.” (Landscape orientation) The perspective of a person sitting at a desk, closely enough that the nearest edge of the muted-toffee top does not show.”
I borrowed this quote from fellow blogger and writer Clark because it perfectly illustrates one unique perspective, a snapshot of one person’s place and time, their own, individual experience.
But the world is full of about 7 billion more, give or take. Thankfulness works best when you are aware of how lucky you are, though then I risk feeling like I am bragging, to someone, about just how good I indeed have things.
Listening to the news is a double-edged sword for me, but I strive to always be aware of the world around me still, never to become a prisoner of my personal life’s circumstance.
Want to be happy? Be grateful.
And so my thankfuls are all tied to the stories of the day/week.
I am thankful Canada celebrates Thanksgiving, the way we do, and in October.
http://www.macleans.ca/opinion/the-odd-complicated-history-of-canadian-thanksgiving/
This thankful exercise, here at the TToT, it teaches me to be thankful all year, but I do have a lot of issue with this one holiday, telling me to be thankful, while not being begun or continued in the right way.
I am thankful for real stories of pain and assault getting their chance to be heard.
This has gone unacknowledged for far too long. I don’t blame those who’ve experienced it for wanting not to put up with it any longer.
I am thankful for free speech…sigh.
I am not on one side or the other of this matter. I wouldn’t be able to even choose a side for the purposes of a protest. I often wonder if that means I am someone who is unable to take a stand. In the meantime, I just stand there, on the sidelines.
I am a blind woman who sometimes has sensitivities toward ablism and then, in the next breath, wonder if I am being over sensitive. I am also someone who knows the luxury of being born in a country like Canada. I do think free speech can go too far, when it is coming from a place of fear or hate.
I am thankful Canada’s PM Justin Trudeau understands the value of apologizing.
To show awareness of someone else’s suffering goes a long way and shows empathy. It is an acknowledgement. It is an affirmation.
Of course he won’t satisfy everyone, but he’s making an effort anyway. The gesture is not a hollow one.
I am thankful for a stable government.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-42071488
You might not be sure, sometimes can’t tell, and I have my doubts when I happen to catch a clip of government proceedings, but Canada is not ruled by self-interested or even brutal dictators.
I don’t know the uncertainty of such a thing.
I am thankful for having a safe place to live and that, maybe, more of Canada will soon have the same.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-election-2015-justin-trudeau-affordable-housing-1.3220479
My privilege showing again, with this one, but the following words are from someone with a vastly different set of life experiences.
All the time, I’m aware when I speak of Canada, that we must admit and be proud of our vulnerability and our ability to want to do better.
Race. Class. It affects real people. Privilege is real.
I am thankful I don’t have an unstable workplace to go to.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/883375/argentina-submarine-us-navy-plane-object
I have had relatives who’ve had to work in a mine, but a submarine…oh boy.
Both scare the wits out of me, being trapped like that, and so far from and cut off from the rest of the world, in this case, being unable to get back.
I love the ocean, but being in a submarine is near the bottom of the list of places I’d like to be. And, yes, I do see the irony and the pun in this statement.
I am thankful for a fairy tale prince and his family.
I admit it…I have imagined myself in her place, a time or two, though I realize the challenges that must exist.
I do think there is a hype that probably goes too far, but I think any romance in the world is a plus. I need stories like these. Sometimes I wonder if all is how it seems, but I really do get swept up in all the excitement, in spite of myself.
I am thankful for the kick-in-the-butt NaNoWriMo November has given me.
https://nanowrimo.org/pep-talks/roxane-gay
Okay, so I barely reached more than a few thousand words, nowhere near fifty thousand, but it got me to at least start something I’d been talking and thinking about for a long while.
I may have met the goal of National Novel Writing Month when I first attempted it, back in 2013, but once that month was over I never went back to it, to finishing anything. This time, all that matters is that I started it and will keep at it.
And so now there is no turning back on this novel I was born, in a way, to write.
I am thankful to avoid any and all Black Friday or Cyber Monday mania.
https://passport2017.ca/articles/canada-black-friday-bandwagon
I choose to focus on the parts of the holidays that make me the happiest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDGo72bdKdU
Happy start to the holiday season. I love what Lindsey Stirling does with her violin in this one.
Enjoy.
Her Headache 
Thank you for the links. I found them to be very interesting. I especially enjoyed the ones from Macleans.
I wouldn’t ever want to work in a mine. There have just been so many tragic accidents that have occurred in mines.
Ted talks are so informative. I love listening to them.
Glad you enjoyed them Pat. I like to share when I find interesting things, to even keep record for myself to look back on at a later date.
submarines… ayiiee!
I toured two submarines, the USS Nautilus in CT and a WWII sub in MA and I cannot imagine how they tolerate the conditions. Heck, not only being underwater, but, in the case of the WWII sub, they had people actively trying to kill them.
No, thank you.
Speaking of thank you, thanks for putting (the description) from the Doctrine in your post. It’s an odd (and very positive) feeling to see your words in a setting different from where they started.
Which I imagine you totally know the feeling, what with the increasing numbers of articles being published and in print.
The ‘I knew her before…’ effect is very beneficial. It’s one thing to read about successful, published authors, but its easy to think, of course, they’re successful, look at their books thing.
Knowing a real person who has worked very hard at acquiring the skills (and talent too, of course) very encouraging to the rest of us.
(I trust this is not the 37th copy of my comment, my computer is fighting me tonight lol)
No Thanks is right Clark. Thanks for the encouragement and the kind thoughts and words.
“never to become a prisoner of my personal life’s circumstance”
For this quote, I thank you for the reminder. What a challenge not to indulge in feelings that, while valid, serve no purpose for a clark except to weigh us down. I know how that sounds but I’ve a feeling you know what I mean.
When I read your posts, the first thing that comes to mind is “practice makes perfect”. I was around for when you considered, then began, learning to play the violin.That spoke volumes to me as I’ve been an on again off again aspiring musician my own self. I know you will continue 🙂
You don’t have to tell me about “unfinished”. I am queen of the “begun, but never completed” projects! I’ve a feeling you’ve got this current NaNoWriMo thing under control 😀
Good post Kerry. Thank you for continuing to write and share.
Offering encouraging words is the best thing I’ve found from this TToT and visiting each other’s blogs thing. Thank you for always supporting me here.
I really like Clark’s quote, too. That little glimpse says so much, doesn’t it? Good for you on starting Nanowrimo. I signed up but didn’t do anything with it this year. I need to somehow motivate myself to write this book already (or give up on it if there’s a reason I’m not writing it, if that makes sense). I love that you feel you were born to write the novel you’re writing. Maybe that’s my problem. I should explore that thought more and see if there’s something I’m leaving out or whatever that could be hindering my progress.
A stable government is a big one to be thankful for. Something I’ve never questioned until this government, here, now. Sigh.