nanovivid

I’ve been thinking a lot over the past few days about thankfulness. Maybe it has something to do with this whole Thanksgiving holiday thing. But I was even thinking about it before good ole’ turkey day. It’s just staggering to think of how privileged my life is and how little I’ve done to earn anything I have… and how unfair that is compared to the lives of so many others. I guess humbled would be a good description for how I’ve been left feeling for all the wonderful undeserved goodness that has happened in my life.

Last night, the sky was incredible. I’ve been living on the outskirts of a medium-size city for the past few years, so I had almost forgotten what it was like to see the sky without so much light pollution. It was pretty cold out, so I bundled up and took a short walk out to where I had a good view of the sky. The moon was just coming up and the stars were twinkling like I’ve never seen before. It was breathtaking. The sky looked like it was no more than a couple hundred feet above me. I even saw a few shooting stars. The best word I can find to describe my feelings at the time is intimacy… a closeness to love and beauty… I can’t really explain it. Usually, beautiful nights like that make me lonely, but somehow last night was comforting and beautiful and just a major wow life doesn’t suck ™ moment. Somehow the experience seems to fit perfectly with my recent thoughts of undeserved goodness and beauty.

I think I’ll end this with a short list of things I’m thankful for. Sure, it’s kind of a cliché thing to do, but it’s the most real thing I could think to do. I’m thankful for the little things that make life worth living every day and for the beauty that I keep finding in this mess. I’m thankful for everyone who has been and still is being patient and caring with me as I go through this totally insane thing called life. Most of all, I’m thankful for those who really know me intimately and keep showing me such incredible love (you know who you are). God bless.

On a lighter note, here are a couple of fun Japan-related links to brighten your "black friday." First off, Irrational Exuberance (aka Yatta! - thanks to Mattt for the link) is, well, unique. It’s a bunch of random images and text set to a Japanese pop song. Be forewarned, a) it’s a relatively big download (1.5 megs) and b) it’s not for the easily offended or confused, and it’s probably not good for those prone to narcolepsy. The second link I have for you is Engrish. Engrish is "the humorous English mistakes that appear in Japanese advertising and product design." Enjoy!

♫ Andy Hunter° - Sandstorm Calling