Belated Thanksgiving Reflections

You know, a former, jaded and cynical version of me used to turn my nose up at blog posts like these, for the mere fact that they were so expected and trite. Count your blessings on Thanksgiving? Pshaw, everyone does that! Imma be the cool and edgy kid and go against the crowd!

Turns out, just because something is widespread doesn't immediately mean it ought to be denounced. Everyone watches Pixar movies, and it turns out they're pretty damn good. Most people like pizza, but there's no reason you shouldn't too.Pizza is good. Oh, and you know, everyone eats food and drinks water. Go against the grain in that arena and see how well it works out for you.

My point being, is that a thing's popularity isn't a good metric on which you should judge that thing. Now, there's good reason to be skeptical of popular things, because the masses tend to be mouth-breathing idiots, but that's still not the reason for which you should denounce something stupid. Things that are stupid, like Paul Blart: Mall Cop are such because it's bland and insipid, not because the masses bought tickets for it.

And taking a moment to count our stars on Thanksgiving, to take stock of a collection of blessings and to trace the chaotic lineage of events that's connected the dots of who you are today is definitely not stupid. Hell, Thanksgiving, in the personal, introspective sense, should be every day.

With that meandering prelude behind me, I'd like to take a bit to mention what I'm thankful for in my bright and wonderful life.

First off, I'm immensely grateful for my erudite and lofty sage of a mentor Sunchaser, who I ran into after posting a sullen and somewhat brooding blog post about three years ago. From a self-esteem perspective, I was in a bad, bad place, and he delivered onto me potent words of encouragement in a time when I thought I was a worthless, fraudulent impostor (I may be exaggerating just a tish) and took me under his wing when I rather insecurely stated that I needed a mentor to confide in and guide me along. Over the past three years, he's served as a friend I can shoot the breeze with, a savvy intellectual who's enhanced my general understanding of things, and an emotional beacon who's steadied me in moments of uncertainty. His worldview, one of kindness, attentiveness, and understanding is one I lean into heavily, and I have no doubts I would be comparably lackluster in my personal development had I never run into him.

Seriously, it’s mind-blowing that I could have missed out on meeting one of the most influential people in my life if I had decided not to post that blog. The same goes for my good friend Polar (not on fimfiction), who I met on a ponyfic chatroom after I’d moped about my frustration with my (then) current state in my life. He’s another wonderful friend, one who I can be completely open with without fear of judgement, and one I might not have met had I not logged in that night.

The more I think about these chance happenings, the more I’m convinced that the universe can be a kind entity.

On that note, I'm deeply grateful that I, by happenstance, stumbled into this glorious community of pastel pony pontificaters. In my life, I've never met a more diverse, knowledgeable, and compassionate group of people. For the first time in my life, I feel like I've met a group I can really resonate with. Becoming a part of this community has lead to three awesome and raucous Bronycons spent in a whirlwind of chatter, goings-ons, and an all-around good time. In fact, there’s a good chance I wouldn’t even attend Bronycon if I didn’t have such a glorious group of horsefuckers (sorry) to share the experience with. Spending three days with these people is literally the high point of my year.

I’m thankful that I live in a place insulated from a lot of the distrust, scheming, and selfishness you see all too much in today’s society, close to friends and family who love me, support me, and mean the world to me.

(Sunchaser has just told me that North Dakota doesn’t actually exist, so everything I just mentioned is false. My bad!)

I’m glad that I’m in good health, and that I take care of my body and it sees that I spend my time free of general fatigue and ickiness that could distract me from more important endeavors.

I’m glad that I don’t have to worry about money, even while I’m in graduate school, that I’m currently student-loan free, and the only debt to my name is $3500 left of a car loan to repay - which is nothing to stress over, really. Teaching assistantships are a wonderful thing.

Relatedly, I’m thankful that I found an online tutoring service that pays me $20 an hour to teach students introductory statistics and calculus while I dick around on the internet. I’m feeling much more comfortable in my finances and I should definitely be able to make it to my fourth Bronycon next summer during my annual epic roadtrip.

I’m thankful that I have a house of a gaming PC that can run Fallout 4 on ultra.

I’m thankful that Netflix has provided me with hundreds of hours of cheap entertainment in the sanctity of my cozy room.

I’m grateful for the progress I’ve made over the past three years, becoming a more compassionate, wise, and understanding person, worlds ahead of where I was five years ago. There are times when look back on the sort of person I used to be and want to slap myself silly. But I just give him a hug and a pat on the back instead.

And most of all, I’m happy for the simple fact that I exist, and that I have good friends, good family, good health, and a good life.

Thank you for reading, everyone. And don’t forget to count the things that make you so special and precious this holiday season. Just because it’s trite doesn’t mean it’s not important.

Cheers!
-Tayman