I Give Thanks

World,

I give thanks to you today for life.

I give thanks for letting me be me.  I don’t know why I am me or anything is what it is.  But I know that I enjoy being whoever I am and much of what appears to be part of this world with me.

I give thanks for being able to come home for my first Thanksgiving with my family since 2009, which is coincidentally the last time I had Thanksgiving at home before I began going on journeys.

I give thanks for all of the people in my life: my family, my friends, my acquaintances, my teachers, my heroes, and my wrang-wrang’s (this is a term from a Vonnegut book that means people who steer you away from a life path by reducing it to an absurdity through their own example.)

I give thanks for my health, my mind, my imagination, my knowledge, my wisdom through experience, my creativity, my physical body’s abilities, my heart’s ability to feel love, appreciate beauty, sense humor and usually enjoy what life constantly offers to most everybody.

I give thanks for my wisdom of age and my current youth (still in my 20’s!).

I give thanks for all of the food I have been able to eat, both for values relating to deliciousness and health.  I especially give thanks that my tastes have finally developed so that I have the ability to enjoy and discipline to pursue healthier food choices.

I give thanks for all of the athletic games I have been taught how to play and have fun playing, especially basketball, which has recently re-entered my life (still undefeated in the state of New Jersey after two Monday’s of pick-up games!)

I give thanks for all of the amazing music I have heard, seen performed live and have almost constant access to whenever I want to hear the joy and inspiration.  I give thanks for the portable mp3 player, which has made it possible for life to have more beautiful moments in beautiful places that were previously unattainable.

I give thanks for all of the beautiful diverse places I have been able to see, experience and enjoy.  I give thanks for the many journeys I have been free to pursue the past four years, and all of the challenges they have presented to me to help me grow in body and soul and develop character.

I give thanks for all of the books and movies which have taught me, entertained me, inspired me and enhanced my abilities to understand this world and imagine possible experiences within it.

I give thanks for the many places I have been able to receive shelter where I could be safe, sleep in a comfortable place, store my food and clothing and give me some sense of stability, no matter how many times it has changed in the past year.  I give thanks to the people who have let me stay for free or agreed to let me sublet or lease rooms in houses during the past year.

I give thanks for the teaching jobs I have been given in the past year, both in California and New York, so that I could support myself, learn my language better and interact with humans from various cultures around the world.

I give thanks for all of the jobs I have had in my life to teach me, feed me and develop my strength, intellect, character and ability to work with others.

I give thanks for all of the education I have had to do the same.

I give thanks for my family which has always provided me with an atmosphere that has encouraged learning, achievement, curiosity, understanding, creativity, kindness, compassion, empathy, humor and love.

I give thanks that I was able to live the dream of being in California for a year.

I give thanks that I was able to move back to New York City with minimal financial sacrifice and instability before landing on my feet with a new job.  I give thanks that I have been able to reconnect with so many friends.

I give thanks that I had a free day Saturday to walk around the city for nine straight hours and become reacquainted with many places I used to know over the course of 12 miles of walking:

I give thanks that the muse has inspired me to write more this year than ever before.

I give thanks that there have been challenges that have motivated me to dig deeper into life, find the lessons and sometimes the poetry, and to express them.

I give thanks that people have taken the time to read what I have shared.  I give thanks for those who have given me feedback and/or thanked me for taking the time to share what I had to say.

I give thanks that I live in a country that gives me the right to freely express what I think and imagine without fear of legal retribution, and I give thanks that this freedom exists in many other countries in the world so that I don’t have to feel beholden to this one just because it thought of a basic human right earlier than most others did.

I give thanks that I have been able to learn from so many other cultures.

I give thanks that I have been able to learn and experience so much of my own country.

I give thanks for the stars and moon and sun which shine the light of the divine all the time.

I give thanks for the trees and the bodies of water and the leaves and the grass.

I give thanks for the mountains and canyons and deserts and concrete cityscapes with dazzling bright lights.

I give thanks for the poetry and wonder and magic and mystery.

I give thanks for the love and kindness and truth and connection.

I give thanks for the games and ideas and discussions and activities.

I give thanks for the pieces of the life fabric that can enhance the mind to experience the divine creative imagination through new forms of exaltation, and I give thanks for experiencing many of them safely and joyously despite their legal status within my nation.  I give thanks that I haven’t gotten into trouble or gotten hurt because of any of my experiences.  I give thanks that I am perfectly happy to be sober and induced mind-expansion free when I want to be, including currently, not counting occasional enjoyment of alcohol socially, although the frequency of dependency by those around me is slightly depressing for me, since so many studies are finding that it is the number one contributor to making men unhealthy and unhappy within the grand scheme of their life’s symphony.  I give thanks that this hasn’t happened to me, and that life has shown me that everyone’s life is different and makes us do things and make mistakes and do what we think it takes to enjoy this opportunity to be, and that it truly is a luxury to enjoy the gift of be without needing some kind of enhancing chemical compound consistently, and even more of a gift to enjoy such things when one wants to and then walk away from them or turn them down easily.

I give thanks that I am still alive, and that you are still alive.

I give thanks for the wondrous possibilities of the future. (1161)

I give thanks that I lived in San Francisco, an amazing city, and that I live in New York, a much bigger amazing city.

I give thanks that I am now close to Cambridge and Lake Champlain again.

I am thankful that my neighbor, whom I have never met, lit a bonfire as soon as I got on the water to celebrate my safe return to New York after a six day journey from California.

I am also very thankful that he started playing Springsteen's "Born to Run" on acoustic guitar and singing unexpectedly while I floated peacefully on the water.

I give thanks that my car didn’t break down during the 3700 mile six day journey across America, and I give thanks that it is still running, and that I even have a car to begin with.

I give thanks that I have a canoe to enjoy when I want to, a joy most humans know nothing about.

I give thanks that I was able to see Kings Canyon and the largest tree on Earth, Yosemite National Park and Pyramid Lake this year.

I give thanks that I was able to go to my cousin’s wedding in Mexico and that my aunt helped pay for my stay in my first swanky resort so I could be with them.

I give thanks that I got to visit home in August and move home in October.

I give thanks that I got to see my favorite artist/musician Hiromi play four shows in San Francisco this year, and that she released an amazing new album called MOVE this year.

I give thanks that I was finally able to see Sigur Ros for the first time.

I give thanks that I was able to produce at least 800 pages of web writing this year, and that I am very prepared to complete my first real book, and that I actually know people in the publishing industry who can help me connect to the necessary distribution channels such as agents once I have my completed art project prepared.

I give thanks that I have something unique to contribute to the world.

I give thanks that whenever I forget that or feel the confidence dropping, that another human somewhere else, whoever they are, whether or not I know them, inspires me somehow through their own demonstration of the human spirit's eternal ability to conquer adversity and achieve what appears to be impossible.

I give thanks that the world is so beautifully diverse, complex, organized, mysterious, challenging, peaceful, chaotic, energetic, innovative, industrious, sexual, poetic, scientific, religious, questioning, faithful and endlessly imaginative, and that I may enjoy this journey on the magic spin ball with you all.

Love,

Ben

MUPPET wandered into our yard seventeen years ago