Today is Thanksgiving Monday and after a roller-coaster of first world problems last week I thought it appropriate to give thanks for a few important things:
- My country — as much as I complain about the systems we have in place (political, financial, social…) and how broken they are, we’re still incredibly lucky to be in this country. We are free to complain about our problems and, more importantly, we are free to participate in the systems so that we might effect change.
- The people who surround me — friends & family who have my back and are willing to listen to me whine about things and tell me when it’s time to kick my pity party to the curb. Of course, they are there when we celebrate, too; last Tuesday was our 14th wedding anniversary and we received many, many congratulations, cards, and hugs. Hugs are especially good.
- My job & my union — in an economy where more and more people are unemployed for longer and longer, I am thankful to have a job with benefits where I am not exposed to daily hazards or forced to work unpaid overtime. I am, however, dismayed and annoyed that our governments, at all levels, seem to be openly working to shut down unions’ ability to negotiate fairly — but that takes me back to point number one and that fact that I can’t be fired or disciplined for saying so!
- My health — my biggest issues personally in the past year has been some sinus congestion and a swollen eyelid; I am thankful that when faced with this I have access to medical care, medications, and the ability to take time to heal (see above); I know that were I faced with bigger battles, all of the above would come into play, too.
- My creativity — I am thankful that I am free to be creative and express my creativity in so many different ways. Making things makes me happy and sometimes makes others happy. I am thankful to be able to share my blog posts, plush toys, haiku, LEGO models, apple crumble, and everything else that I make. On Thursday evening, Mike and I attended Pecha Kucha Victoria 7 — a night where others shared their creative ideas, from tattoo art to microfinance — and it’s got me considering what I could present at a future Pecha Kucha…. I have some thoughts.
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One last thing I’m thankful for: my life so far. It’s had ups and downs but there are plenty of memories on which I can draw, some of which are filed carefully away, waiting to be rediscovered. Today, I was reminded of one in particular…
When I was in grade 6, I was in the “chorale” group, in addition to choir — in chorale we sang popular songs, accompanied by guitar (instead of more traditional songs accompanied by piano) and in the spring of that year, drama was also added (pre-Glee!). There were tryouts for two pieces in particular: The Devil Went Down to Georgia, in which we had to air-fiddle, and “Movin’ Right Along” from the Muppet Movie which required us to be, well, muppet-like. The rest of the chorale would do some ensemble songs but only four of us would be singled out for the costumed performances. I was lucky enough to get to sing/play the role of Fozzie bear. Seeing this video on Google+ today reminded me of the whole experience… fun stuff: