For USA readers, yesterday was Thanksgiving – I spent the day with family, being thankful for so much. For the international readers, I hope you joined in yesterday, or perhaps will join me in some thankfulness today.
Front and center on my list of things to be thankful for are: health, family, and community. Health makes the whole thing possible; family–immediate and extended–gives me the daily dose of what love really means, as well as the strength to live a full life; and community–my friends, my amazing staff, co-collaborators, and you–make it all so exciting, rich, and inspirational beyond my wildest dreams. All these things are wonderful and worthwhile things to celebrate.
Within the always-humbling, sometimes-overwhelming presence that this community has in my life, I draw an immeasurable amount of inspiration and motivation. It’s continually shocking for those times when I receive your thanks or kind words, because in my head, our roles are reversed – I feel like the one who clearly derives the most benefit from your participation in this constantly growing community. Words here cannot extend a big enough thanks to you.
Let me take a moment to thank a small handful of friends, collaborators, organizations that have for some reason or another recently made an (another?) impression on me. This is not an exhaustive list, but rather a short one that is present for me at the moment. They are all, in some unexpected ways, not to be missed:
NON PROFIT ORGS
4Culture.org
Blue Earth Alliance
Help-Portrait
MUSIC
Head Like A Kite
Victor Shade
Say Hi
Fences
Shabazz Palaces
GOOD PEOPLE
The Superformula
Ace Hotel
Vince Klimek.
Matt’s In The Market.
Foodista
Small-Lot Wines
Mike Horn
Build LLC
Theo Chocolate
Lastly. If you feel inclined to, please share in the comments section below something you’re thankful for. Anything sincere–and this is not just for the USA folks. It might be a USA holiday, but gratitude is worldwide. I’ll select a handful of comments and send you a signed book or something else to show my thanks for your sharing.
Oh, and I always love this reminder: “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” – William Arthur Ward Have a great weekend.
I am thankful for so much, and i am very grateful for having my family and friends with me every day. I also want to thank you Chase for inspiering me to grab my camera, take on my shoes and go out enjoying photography. I look up your videos daily and watch them over and over again. You are a great person, and even though i havent met you or know much about you, you seem like a person with a happy life. And you are a great icon for me, and you inspire me so much! At the age of 15, all my friends have pop stars, move celeberties and soccerplayers as their icons, but you are mine and i really enjoy what you do! I cant thank you enough!
Greetings from Norway
I am thankful for all of the love in my life.
Chase,
Thank you for sharing your well composed thoughts. I will reply in a familiar format.
I am thankful for
My partner of 22 years and our two chilren
Good health
Friends near or far, close or acquaintances.
Family
My work with Special needs children
Ben Folds
Creative freedom
Creative expression
IPhone
BEST CAM
iPhone photography Aapplications
Bono
U2
R.E.M.
The Posies
Jon Auer
Molly Moon
Frye, Henry and SAM
Benaroya Hall
EMP
Wallingford, Greenlake Fremont Capitol Hill
The Troll
JP Patches..,.
Potential
Growth
ADHD
DID I MENTION BEST CAM!?!?!
I love your work, I love this beautiful post.
I am so thankful for being able to recover from Hodgkins Lymphoma. I was diagnosed on 7/6/09.
I am 38 and have 4 beautiful children ages 16 all the way down to 2 yrs. old. I am thankful for al of them. Without them this whole cancer business would have been a thousand times harder to deal with. I love them.
I am thankful for discovering my love for photography this summer. I am thankful for being able to see through things. Too take in what life has to offer each and every second.
I am thankful that I have been married for over 16 years without no regrets.
I am thankful for my life.
I am so very thankful.
I am sorry for my typing errors!!! Signs of a very good Thanksgiving perhaps 😉 ?
I am thankful that my 5 year old (now 6) nephew was diagnosed with stage IV cancer in April and has (as of 2 weeks ago) been given the all clear! That’s definitely something to be thankful for.