This is a shout out to five people I’ve never met, yet whom I love deeply. But first let me explain the title. Gratitude is one of the most important parts of my happiness. I expect to write a number of posts on gratitude, this being the first.
What I have noticed about gratitude is that it is easy to be grateful when we are receiving an Academy Award or when someone offers us a six figure book deal, but we often forget about gratitude when things don’t seem to be going our way. The secret is that these are the times when we need to be most grateful.
When you premiere the film you just spent the last year making and only 10 people show up–seven of them blood related–this is when you need to bow down and kiss the feet of all ten of those people. Better yet, have them walk down the red carpet with you, arm in arm, thanking God for the wonderful night.
I started this blog a couple of weeks ago because, like Richard Gere in An Officer and a Gentleman, “I got no place else to go.” (Details to come in future posts.) I had no idea if anyone cared about what I had to say or if people did care, how they would find my blog. After a week of posting every other day, I had one follower–myself.
On my home page it said that I had 201 followers, but 200 of those “followers” were facebook friends who weren’t really following me. They were just subjected to FB updates that announced new postings on my blog. Which reminds me, I want to apologize to all my FB friends I want to thank all my FB friends for their patience in being flooded with my blog announcements.
So when five people I had never met before clicked “follow,” I was ecstatic. These five people blessed me with faith and support. It is easy to follow a blogger who has thousands of followers because you already know they must have something valuable to say. But following a blogger who has a following of one is like going to a high school musical–you might be one of the first people to hear a future Mariah Carey sing, or more likely, you might be the last person to hear a future computer science engineer sing.
Here are the five brave souls that have risked their valuable time to hear a future computer science engineer sing.
Patrick Latter at Canadian Hiking Photography. Patrick is an amazing photographer with a huge blog following. What most impresses me about Patrick’s photography isn’t the photos themselves, but the spirit and energy he captures in the photos. I often think one thing when I see one of Patrick’s beautiful photos: “Thank you, Lord.” Muchas Gracias, Patrick.
Evan Sanders from the Better Man Project. Evan is another highly successful blogger and fellow NorCal resident. He is releasing a book soon and is an inspiration for aspiring writers like myself. Domo Arigato, Evan
Dieu from Dieu On The Grass. One word comes to mind when I think about Dieu, “unique.” Dieu is one of a kind. Her poetry is a gift for all of us to share. I reblogged one of her poems that succinctly expresses ideas, emotions, and images that would take me 5 postings to explore. Mahalo, Dieu.
Bethany from Bethany Wakes Up. Bethany is a new blogger like myself. It seems that Bethany, Evan, and I hit some crossroads in our lives, and our blogs explore and express our journey down this new path. I look forward to exploring together. Merci Beaucoup, Bethany.
The Coevas from the Official Coevas website. This is my newest follower, so I haven’t been able to read a lot of their blog, but they have a fascinating story. They collaborated like musicians to create a novel. Their blog in English and Italian is a huge conglomeration of writing, film, and design. They are truly “musicians of words.” Grazie, Coevas.
Thank you for reading, sharing and/or smiling.
Feel free to share gratitude you have for anyone or anything in your lives. I love hearing about gratitude from others. Plus, expressing gratitude in any form, even in a comment, brings good karma! hint, hint, nudge, nudge.
everyday gurus 
Special mention has to go out to my wife. Her unconditional love, selfless support, and undying faith lift me out of the pit, out of the miry clay. And allow me to sing, sing a new song. Terima Kasih, BGH.
What a sweet post, Kozo! Thanks for sharing and I will have to take the time to look at the others you have mentioned here. I first started blogging my poetry in March of this year, not knowing if my poetry was any good, but thinking at least it would be out there even if only a few people read it. Now I find that it has helped me so much, because the motivation I get from hearing from readers like you motivates me to keep writing and getting better. I know you will find that blogging will help you express yourself as we’ll.
Thanks again,
Hugs from Canada.
Dieu 🙂
What a truly lovely post 🙂 annie
Bummer! And I thought I was your finest first follower…. 😆 Just kidding. Bravo to you! 🙂