Giving Thanks

During the month of November I try to think every single day about things I am thankful for. In a writerly way I would like to mention a few of those things I appreciate and express my gratitude towards.

A written form of communication. I am grateful we do not have to rely on the ancient tradition of the story keeper where one person was chosen at a very young age to memorize and retain the history and information of the tribe since written form of communication was not readily available to all of them.

Symbols in the form of numbers and letters that speak to me off of a piece of paper when organized together to create words, phrases, and paragraphs.

Punctuation. It's like road signs that tell us when to stop, be cautious, slow down, speed up, and watch for animals interrupting the journey.

Authors of ages past who have preserved bits and pieces of their eras, their beliefs, their cultural mores, their rules and standards in the things they've written whether it be fiction or nonfiction. This helps me better understand the whys of humanity.

I am amazed that it isn't the generals, the political or religious leaders I look to historically, it's the writers. The writers are the purveyors of our history just as the ancient story keepers did. And I am so grateful they did and still do.

Books...how could I make a list and not include books. I can go anyplace, I can be anybody, I can escape any problem just by turning the pages of some book and allowing myself to jump into the midst of it.

And finally, I am so so thankful for writing paraphernalia, pencils, notebooks, papers, pens, old typewriters, modern computers, and the like that enable all of us to record who we are and what we think about humanity, and thus we all become the story keepers of our time.