In 2011 I designed some letterpress cards bearing this haiku:
all heroism
is a matter of sharing
what we’ve been given
From the moment I scribbled those words, I was convinced of the truth that being a hero doesn’t require anything magical or superhuman. It only requires us to share what we have. Looking at it that way, I started to see gratitude as something worth sharing as well.
So I started using these cards to write my own thank-you notes.
My eventual goal is to thank as many of those people as I possibly can. It will take many years. If I were to thank every single contributor to my life, the task would certainly never end, and I will definitely run out of cards at some point. Yet however woefully short I fall, I hope all the overlooked (yet deserving) folks will understand.
That said, if you receive one of these thank-you notes, I hope it helps you to see how much even the smallest gesture or sliver of kindness has the potential to inspire and improve someone’s life. And in case there are things you’ve forgotten to express gratitude for, maybe it will remind you to pass the same sentiment along to someone else (I’ll even share a card or two for you to use, if I can).
Whether I ever get around to that handwritten note for you, I want to thank you for reading this message.
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