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Today someone asked the question "what's the difference between feeling happy and feeling thankful?"
There are lots of people that I owe thanks. Some of them gave me an opportunity to express myself in ways I hadn't done so before. Others work the grind to keep the infrastructure in place that makes it possible for me to see, to say, and to do the things that keep me alive and well. There are some who did me a good turn in the past, when I needed it. There are others who did me a good turn when I didn't need it.
I think about these people a lot. I don't talk about some of them a lot, though. Mostly it's because I have nothing nice to say. Some of them turned out to be reprehensible milkshake-ducks. Others didn't start that way, but became that way. There's more than one that I discovered who were just as willing to do good turns for people as they were to do bad things — it was all timing, opportunity, and whatever other factors were at work at the time.
But that doesn't change that I wouldn't be where I am if someone hadn't given me a hand when I needed it. To pretend such a thing never happened is disingenuous at best. I may not like the giants I stand on, but that doesn't change that they bore my weight. As the kids say, we live in a society.
Giving people thanks, when they deserve thanks, even if you're not happy about it, is called "grace". We could use more of that.
A forced meme about "NPCs" was pushed into the discourse, about how "other people aren't real" and really, that would justify any horrible thing one does to not-real people. There are an alarming number of people who would make themselves happy and prosperous at the expense of others whom they would never acknowledge, nor ever think to do so.
Being happy, but not thanking the people that got you to this state of happiness, is called "being an ass". And we could use a lot less of that.
I often think about a scene from "Indie Game: The Movie". Phil Fish, the creator of the darling game Fez, is having an emotional moment on camera. "I just want to make games," he says.
And that's the cause of his unhappiness, right there. Because he didn't just want to make games, he wanted to make games that were popular with other people. He wanted to be some brash egomaniac braying on social media about his own skill, craft, and genius, while tearing other people down. Up to and including his own fans. He wanted to be happy while being incredibly graceless about it.
At a base level, an artist has to be thankful to their audience, even just for being their audience. Art is to be shared, it's a collective experience. If an artist can't be graceful to their public, then what's the point?
Let's avoid reducto ad absurdum here. It's not that an artist has to accept whatever hell they're given. Heaven knows, there are enough people who put their own selfish happiness above thankfulness, these days, as they remove signatures from cartoons and "boycott" products by stealing them. But these aren't people who deserve thanks, anyway. People who came to uplift, to engage, to share, to enjoy — those are the ones we show our thanks.
As we get older, we transform into different people. We may no longer be the person that made you happy. We may no longer be the person whom you would give your gratitude. Let us not erase our history but let us not repeat the same mistakes.
You cannot step twice into the same river, but we should all take time to contemplate this might river that washes over us. Let us be happy for the slaking of our thirst and for the refreshment of our souls. And let us be grateful for the for the bearing of our burdens, and for the cleansing of our pain. And let our grace bring us a modicum of joy.
There are lots of people that I owe thanks. Some of them gave me an opportunity to express myself in ways I hadn't done so before. Others work the grind to keep the infrastructure in place that makes it possible for me to see, to say, and to do the things that keep me alive and well. There are some who did me a good turn in the past, when I needed it. There are others who did me a good turn when I didn't need it.
I think about these people a lot. I don't talk about some of them a lot, though. Mostly it's because I have nothing nice to say. Some of them turned out to be reprehensible milkshake-ducks. Others didn't start that way, but became that way. There's more than one that I discovered who were just as willing to do good turns for people as they were to do bad things — it was all timing, opportunity, and whatever other factors were at work at the time.
But that doesn't change that I wouldn't be where I am if someone hadn't given me a hand when I needed it. To pretend such a thing never happened is disingenuous at best. I may not like the giants I stand on, but that doesn't change that they bore my weight. As the kids say, we live in a society.
Giving people thanks, when they deserve thanks, even if you're not happy about it, is called "grace". We could use more of that.
A forced meme about "NPCs" was pushed into the discourse, about how "other people aren't real" and really, that would justify any horrible thing one does to not-real people. There are an alarming number of people who would make themselves happy and prosperous at the expense of others whom they would never acknowledge, nor ever think to do so.
Being happy, but not thanking the people that got you to this state of happiness, is called "being an ass". And we could use a lot less of that.
I often think about a scene from "Indie Game: The Movie". Phil Fish, the creator of the darling game Fez, is having an emotional moment on camera. "I just want to make games," he says.
And that's the cause of his unhappiness, right there. Because he didn't just want to make games, he wanted to make games that were popular with other people. He wanted to be some brash egomaniac braying on social media about his own skill, craft, and genius, while tearing other people down. Up to and including his own fans. He wanted to be happy while being incredibly graceless about it.
At a base level, an artist has to be thankful to their audience, even just for being their audience. Art is to be shared, it's a collective experience. If an artist can't be graceful to their public, then what's the point?
Let's avoid reducto ad absurdum here. It's not that an artist has to accept whatever hell they're given. Heaven knows, there are enough people who put their own selfish happiness above thankfulness, these days, as they remove signatures from cartoons and "boycott" products by stealing them. But these aren't people who deserve thanks, anyway. People who came to uplift, to engage, to share, to enjoy — those are the ones we show our thanks.
As we get older, we transform into different people. We may no longer be the person that made you happy. We may no longer be the person whom you would give your gratitude. Let us not erase our history but let us not repeat the same mistakes.
You cannot step twice into the same river, but we should all take time to contemplate this might river that washes over us. Let us be happy for the slaking of our thirst and for the refreshment of our souls. And let us be grateful for the for the bearing of our burdens, and for the cleansing of our pain. And let our grace bring us a modicum of joy.
