… and write something you love, something to live for. — Ray Bradbury
… with a smile on your face and show the world all the love in your heart. — Carole King
… with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction. — George Horace Lorimer
The wind chimes are playing their random melody so loudly I hear it clearly through the window, so it must be cold and windy this morning. I haven’t paid attention to them in a while, and it shows in the flaccid coolness in my heart. When I listen, when I actually hear them, the chimes soothe the savage, as does almost any tuneful vessel.
Sometimes I will sit feeling empty, sure that I’m missing something, and I’ll put on some music and realize, “Yes. That was it. This is what I need.”
Music says what needs to be said when there are no words. It celebrates a grand universe where melody describes order — or, in the case of the wind chimes, it describes tones of peace so deep that order is not necessary. Wind can be a harsh, vicious force or a gentle breeze, but the chimes bring beauty with every beat, every collision.
Words are blunt instruments. Set to music, the edge softens and the hope snuggles in.
This is the day, here in the U.S. of A., where people spend some time talking and writing about how thankful they are, and a few million turkeys are consumed in a grand spirit of gratitude.
I’ve seen several social media friends get caught up in a challenge to write something they’re grateful for for 10 consecutive days or more, notwithstanding that it’s not the fourth Thursday in November.
It’s a healthy thing to be thankful. It’s a healthy thing to express gratitude. Scientific studies show that thankful people live longer and have cuter puppies. Or something like that.
I don’t know whether the scientific thing is real, but I do know I feel much better when I turn my thoughts toward reasons to be thankful, as opposed to thinking about reasons to be resentful or angry or sad or discouraged.
In a world where The Powers That Be seem hellbent on making people scared and unhappy and resentful, I am thankful that growing numbers of people see through the silliness and decide they’re going to be thankful and love their neighbors anyway.
I am grateful to be alive in this amazing era where I can make a few clicks with a keyboard and reach people thousands of miles away. I am thankful that there is a person and non-human family members within reach as I type this. I am grateful to be on this amazing world full of life. I am thankful to be able to look up in the sky at night and see a universe.
Life is too precious, and life is too short, to spend so much time being anything but awestruck.
