A Moment Of Recognition
Posted on August 24, 2014 Posted by John Scalzi 14 Comments
It’s a beautiful, sunny August Sunday, I’m in my kitchen, listening to mellow music, just before heading off to do a bit of shopping for my book tour, at which I will get to see a bunch of friends and fans all over the country. My plans for the evening: Spend it with my wife and kid and enjoy being with them, and also maybe get ice cream.
Life is really good. I think it’s worth noting that it is, and that I’m grateful for it.
How to live well :).
Indeed it is; I had lunch with my daughter and her partner, and it was wonderful. Recognising how fortunate I am to love and be loved is the metaphorical equivalent of the ice cream…
You, I hear, be a writer . . . I’m curious about the use of the word “grateful” as opposed to appreciative.
I ask because of a current discussion I’m having regarding that distinction. Who/what are you grateful to? For instance, I really appreciate the life I have . . . not sure who I can be thankful to for my life. Chance? Genetic lottery? Those are not entities.
. . . then again, I only play at being a writer. But I really, really appreciate my life.
Yes – sounds good, Scalzi.
You do that, to charge yourself up for your book tour….
You know, even with the darker(starker) shades that cloud my eyes, at the simpler level of being it’s apparent when life is good. A warm(hot?), lazy, sunny day, in summer, is a good day. Late summer especially, I have had many of those in the past few months.
“I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur
or think at some point, ‘If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.'”
– Kurt Vonnegut
One of the commandments should have been, ‘thou shalt appreciate life’.
Well, this morning’s 6.1 earthquake woke me up (confused, wondering why I was on a train), but did no damage here. So I’m grateful, too.
My only comment’s are love well, feel well and be well….. also be a friend!
To Emilio:
Re grateful versus appreciative:
I think that we can be both but grateful reminds me that my pleasant life requires a lot of others in order to make it pleasant. My family, sure, but also those who keep the power on, those who are working in the stores so I can get what I need without (much) hassle, those who make it, those who grow the food, ….
The list goes on and on. In my case, the women who went before me so I can support myself and my kids without having to stay in an unhealthy marriage. Whether you believe in a greater intelligence or not, we all are the beneficiaries of a lot of people’s hard work and suffering. So grateful reminds me not to get too cocky about “Look what I achieved.”
My wife is getting better from a terrible illness, I went to a movie on the weekend with a friend, and I’m being picked for advanced user training in a critical system as a department specialist. Life is pretty good.
Every day above ground is a good day
RobG: I dunno, I like underground facilities.
Caves are also cool.
OK, you got me on that.