Everyone and their uncle are writing thank you posts and sending out newsletters telling about how grateful they are today.
Don't get me wrong,this is a good thing--I'm all for gratitude, especially now that I've figured out being grateful doesn't mean settling. (This is generally where I get hung up on my spiritual journey, misunderstanding the basic tenets of it.)
The only problem I have today is how to say something original about being thankful and full of gratitude. It is not yet even Thanksgiving, and I've read a gazillion posts and emails and newsletters that say essentially the same thing: we're so grateful for you, our customer reader, its all about me you, I'm going to give you something that costs a lot of money if you read the fine print free, etc., etc., blah, blah, blah.
All these people are well-meaning, even if some of their emails are thinly veiled sales pitches. But from a writer's point of view, they tend to repeat the same old platitudes. And let's face it, even the sweetest among us get tired of platitudes after awhile. I'm not in the least bit sweet, and I get damned sick of them really fast.
But before you accuse me of massive curmudgeon-hood, hold up a minute. Because I have lots and lots of things I am grateful and thankful for, not the least of which is you, my wonderful loyal readers. But I'm not going to say that because everyone else already has and I need to be original. But if I were going to say it, I would truly, deeply mean it because I do so appreciate every one of you.
What I am going to talk about being grateful for is the fact that I am a writer. How I had the great, good fortune to get a career that is centered not only around words, but on pulling words up from the deepest levels of self to share. A career that is about making meaning of life through story. A career that enables me to spend my days doing what I love most--putting words on paper. And, let us not forget, once in awhile I get to go out in the world and share my love of writing with you, and I love that, too.
Sometimes, even after all these years of doing this, I sit at my computer working away and the thought overtakes me: I'm writing. I'm writing and it is the best thing ever. I know people who write for a living and hate it (I'm not naming any names, you know who you are) and the thought is simply unfathomable to me. Just as the thought of being alive and not writing in a journal is unthinkable to me, or not coming up with fifty million ideas for novels I'll never have time to write.
I've recently had the wonderful experience of someone coming up to me and saying, "I want to be you." And in general, when I stop to think about it, I'm pretty happy being me--because I get to write. So besides the fact that I'm grateful for my family, my friends, many of whom truly are family, and so much else in the world this Thanksgiving, I want to state again, how grateful I am to be a writer.
It is a privilege, an honor, and a thrill. I hope that all of you out there think of it the same way, no matter where you are with your writing, a beginner or an old pro. And don't forget to give thanks for it.
