Last night I went to bed and fell asleep right away, so I did not get my post up. Tonight’s post is for yesterday and today.

I am thankful for social media. A lot is said about the negative sides of social media, but I have found there is a lot of good if we choose to fill our feed with good. We can have uplifting, inspiring quotes, scriptures, comedy that just makes us laugh each day, things that are just beautiful, and things that inspire us. If what you see in your feed doesn’t do that, you can unfollow it.

The more I see of beauty, and the more projects that people share, the more I am in awe of people everywhere. I love that others share their ideas with us so that we can do the same or something similar in our own homes. I love that social media has made me look at each new person I meet and wonder what hidden talents that person has, because now I have seen little glimpses into the worlds of others, and I realize that people are amazing. I have started to ask people not what they do for work, but what excites them and inspires them. This has made for much more interesting conversations with those I meet.

What I am especially thankful for is the chance to make friendships with people who share common interests with me who live in other places, be it across the country or across the world. So often we don’t know anyone near us who has the same passion for the things that resonate with us–but social media teaches us that there are tens of thousands of people who love the same things that we love! Maybe they speak another language and live in another country, but maybe, if we’re lucky, we can speak in a language that both of us know, and therefore make friends with people who want to talk about whatever it is that we also like.

I know it works that way here. Someone recently wrote in the comments here how nice it is to be able to talk with someone else about the price of eggs and butter! Yes, it is!

The wonderful thing, too, is that as we talk about common interests, we also get the chance to talk about differences in culture, countries, religion, and personal preferences. We learn more about others, and in so doing, have the chance to become more caring and compassionate for people from places far from us. In this way, we can come to love all mankind.

What are you thankful for today?

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35 Comments

  1. Wonderful post, Brandy!

    I am thankful for the much needed rain we are receiving this weekend. It is desperately needed!

  2. What lovely words Brandy. I am thankful for you and the positive community you enable to communicate through your blog.

  3. You know, even before I read your post I was going to write that today I am thankful for WhatsApp. I am away with our eldest at the moment (visiting my 95-year-old grandmother – I should remember to be thankful for her too!) and miss the girls, but my husband has sent me little videos of them chattering away to themselves and each other and it’s so lovely to be able to “see” them from miles away. The baby has learned some new words in the few days we’ve been away and I love to be able to hear about them.

  4. Today I’m thankful for the opportunity to have visited my youngest daughter for two weeks. Also thankful that she is happy in her new life as a farmer. Quite a change from 7 years working in the media.
    I continue to be thankful for your posts, which inspire and encourage.

  5. Well said, Brandy! Today is Remembrance Day in Canada. I am thankful for the sacrifices made by those who served in WWI and WWII and subsequent conflicts. Some sacrificed their physical lives but many were injured psychologically. Their trauma has been passed down through generations.
    I personally am grateful that my father and grandfathers survived for otherwise I would not be here. I remember my great uncle, a most beloved husband, father of a then-one-year old, grandfather and uncle who was killed in action at Argonne-La Meuse in France, WW I. Lest We Forget.

  6. I am thankful for the honor of being a Lunch Lady yesterday, as our church served the Thanksgiving meal for students and parents at the elementary school across the street from our church. Our church has adopted their school and regularly provides snacks and drinks for teachers and staff, Christmas gifts for children in need, and food packs for the children for Spring Break, in addition to addressing prayer requests of children and staff. What a blessing to be a part of this school ministry. Yesterday the real Lunch Ladies were so friendly and appreciative of our clumsy assistance. They made it so very fun and helped things go smoothly. I seldom have the opportunity to do volunteer work, so it was a joyful blessing to me!

    1. What a lovely thing to do! I think inspired by a series of Lunch Lady books by Jarrett Krosoczka, National School Lunch Hero Day is an annual event on the first Friday in May.

  7. I agree with what you have said, Brandy! It does open up the world in good ways if we show discretion! I find such encouragement with like minded folks, wherever they live!
    I am thankful for a quick trip to the foothills of NC for my annual fall apple trip. It has expanded to onions( 50#) bags and sweet potatoes. Just driving into the little hole in the wall places makes my heart sing to find great deals and lovely proprietars! I took a friend who is battling chronic mental illness and this is the third year we have gone together. We talked up and back, mostly me answering her questions but was blessed to have her agree to go, when all she wants to do is stay in bed! Today is rainy and windy, so we went in the nick of time!

  8. That’s an especially good post today. It says it all. Do you want peace on Earth? There it is. If we all could follow and behave in ways you have mentioned, we would all be able to live on the same planet in peace. I am thankful for people who believe and act as you do and who already do make the world a better place to live in.

    1. Thank you for your wonderful comment. I was thinking that we could all have charity–but as you point out, if we would all do this, there would be peace on earth.

  9. Beautifully said, Brandy. and I agree. I was a very late participant in any social media and still use very little and not very often. It’s just too overwhelming for me. We didn’t even have a television until about 4 years ago. However, I have learned to navigate it to find information that is useful and enriches my life and can leave it at that. I think that is one of the greatest modern skills to learn – how to be discerning in our quest for information. It is too easy to become a person who just absorbs information and never does anything with it. We have access to so much practical knowledge but we need to put it to good use. That is the beauty of this blog – so many people sharing very practical, doable, advice and (the best part) encouragement to just try things. And I am grateful for that week after week.

  10. I am thankful for curbside trash and recycling pickup.
    I’m thankful for the opportunity to visit with grandchildren today.

  11. How true about social media! I’ve even found a few like-minded souls via social media that do live locally, and I am thankful for that. We are currently working on getting a craft club going, spawning it off of a group of people that met through a neighborhood Buy Nothing group on Facebook.

  12. What a thoughtful post! Thank you– I agree.
    I am thankful that through my life, I have found more people who are good and kind and wish to help than otherwise.

  13. I am really thankful for having a comfortable bed . It is a traditional Egyptian bed having two mattresses,one cotton bedsheet and a quilt. The pillows are traditional filled with cotton.The bed has served me well for over two decades and l am not planning to change it . It is the first time for me to leave a
    comment

  14. I am thankful today for the many boxes of Christmas decorations that I will begin unpacking, sorting and organizing this weekend. I find such joy in this season and I am grateful that we have the chance to decorate and create traditions for our son that he will remember for the rest of his life. This is an important piece of homemaking and although I am a working Mom, it is the role of Mom & Wife that I cherish the most and the opportunities that I have each day to love on the people I treasure most in this world.

  15. Thankful for modern medicine that gives hope to my child after miscarriages and fertility issues that she may still have a dream of growing her family. I think of all the families in the past who did not have this opportunity and the sadness associated with this loss.

    I am thankful for the tenacity of a refugee group I am associated with to never give up but always work for the plight of the voiceless.

  16. I am grateful for the internet that gives me access to information at my fingertips to repair items, make a new recipe, read an interesting article, find a beautiful photo, help my memory when I can’t quite remember, connect to friends on email, attach documents, listen to music or podcasts, watch a tutorial, pay my bills… it’s practically endless.

    And I, too, am grateful to find likeminded people who want to make the world a better place through sharing of information and the good that is in the world.

  17. I am thankful for veterans who served to keep our nation free on this Veterans Day. Also for an opportunity this weekend for my daughter to volunteer at our church. Thankful for you, Brandy, and your blog which reminds me to be thankful this time of year!

  18. I am grateful for the opportunity of a colonoscopy even thought it is an uncomfortable prep and over all blicky! Still a healthy result is a beautiful thing.

  19. I am thankful for the opportunity to vote and for those who defend my right with their lives. May we always have and value these privileges.

  20. That was such a lovely post, Brandy. Thank you. I’m grateful for the ability to riff a bit with recipes. My granddaughter wanted muffins this morning. I zested the last, lingering orange in the fridge, squeezed out all the juice, soaked craisins in the juice and made cranberry orange muffins from my standard blueberry recipe. She loved them! Her Grandpa thought they were excellent as well!

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