On Gratitude

Today I return home after an extended Thanksgiving holiday at my inlaws. We've had a really nice time and I actually haven't written the entire time I've been here, which frankly, after the difficulty of my NaNo project, has been really nice.

A year ago, I had just sold my book. A year from now, my book will be out in the world for sale. I have so many, many things to be grateful for. But today, I am most grateful for things that have nothing to do with FAULT LINE.

1. I am grateful for the Kindness Project. Finding this little pod of people who are out in the world trying to spread kindness has been a really wonderful thing for me. If you aren't following our blog, you should do so. It will do your heart good if nothing else.

2. I am grateful to all the bloggers out there who have stuck with my little rambly blog for so long. There is little rhyme or reason to it, and yet, I am so thankful for all your comments and all your encouragement. I have been more of a quiet blogger these past few months (very busy day job) and I have been commenting on blogs less for many, many reasons (the biggest of which is that I find that I can read more blogs when I don't comment and my comments are almost always "yeah, what they said" since I am frequently delayed in my reading). I have still been reading blogs. I love it actually. It feels like checking in with my people, but I'm generally more passively reading than actively commenting. I'm still here. And I'm so glad you're all still out there with me too.

3. I am grateful for my friends and family. Always this. Always. I'm not the easiest person to deal with. I can be flaky and I talk too much and I have all that awkwardness going on and I get seasonal depression and, and, and... But I am so lucky to have found the people that I have in my life. This includes the people who have become my friends through this crazy online world of writers and publishers. And of course, as I said on Thanksgiving, I am ever so thankful for my kids because Jojo, Biji, and Butter make me feel like I have done three things very right in my life (four if you count being smart enough to marry their dad). They are the legs to my tripod.

4. I am grateful for the Voices and Faces Project. It keeps me passionate about making a difference in the world. It makes me realize that good things can come from terrible things. And it reminds me frequently that though we are so very small, we are never alone.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.