Every day, I try to remember to take a moment to reflect on what I am grateful for. I know this may seem almost quaint—reflecting at all in today's Twittering world, right?—but I often feel like we take for granted all that is wonderful, and all that we should cherish and protect.
Living in NYC, I am incredibly grateful to have clean water. As most of us know, this is and will become a bigger and bigger issue as each year passes. Sure, almost all water sources are not as clean as they could be, but what we have is worth protecting.I am grateful for clothes and a safe, warm place to sleep. This is a luxury most Americans take for granted, but there a lot of homeless people without a consistent place to sleep or even warm clothes. Although there are shelters and places where people can go for free clothing, many homeless people are not mentally stable or able to put two and two together, so they need help even finding out where to go. At the very least, when someone who is homeless on the street asks me for money for food, I at least offer something to eat. It's pretty hard to be insensitive to this most basic need.
I am grateful for being able to work and my teaching job. It is such a luxury to have time to compose, time to learn and wonderful students to teach.
I am also grateful for my beautiful family, and Dylan, our newest member. I am especially grateful that he is healthy and happy.I am grateful for so many other aspects of my life, such as living in a safe environment, and to list them all would take an encyclopedic essay, but I think it's so important to take a moment every day, particularly now that Thanksgiving is approaching, to remember that many of us have so much to be grateful for, and to remember to help everyone we can within our means.