A Special Thank You Letter

I've been meaning to write this for ages and only now have I finally sat down to do it.
I'm doing it here because I don't have these people's addresses and it would be crazy trying to send a copy to everyone on the planet.

To cleaners,
Thank you for being so great at your jobs.
I first realized just how important your job is a few months ago when I was staying at a hotel. I realized that while the front desk staff is great and all, the big people who sell a hotel, are the people behind the scenes, the cleaners. (I'm sorry if this is not how you identify yourselves, I don't have another word for it.)
I mean, I wouldn't want to stay in a hotel if the room where messy and disgusting, no matter how nice and hospitable the staff is.
But this is to more than just the hotel/motel cleaners, I would also like to include the dish cleaners. I'm at college now and it's really great that there are staff and students willing to clean up after me. (Of course, they're getting paid but still.) Without them, we'd be eating off the tables, napkins, our hands; it'd be pretty disgusting.
To cleaners around the world, whether you be working at a hotel, in a cafeteria, as a garbage worker, parent, whatever, thank you so much. I think we sometimes take your work for granted which is really sad because we'd all be in trouble without your services.
You are truly heroes in a modern world.
Thank you.
Beryl Brame

And that's it.
It's not long or particularly eloquent but I really don't care.
I do think it's unfortunate though how much we (or, al least, I) take these people for granted. We just look at clean hotel rooms and pick up the clean silverware in the cafeteria and think, "I just want to sleep" or "What are we eating today?"
Where would be be without these cleaning superheroes?
In a dirty, disgusting world, that's where.
We are so lucky to have these people and whether or not they do it because they want to or because it pays the bills, I applaud them. It's not easy, I'm sure.

"When something does not insist on being noticed, when we aren't grabbed by the collar or struck on the skull by a presence or an event, we take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude."

- Cynthia Ozick

Recognize All The Gifts Around You

So a while ago (I guess it was more like a few months ago), I saw this video And I thought, "wow, I take a lot of stuff for granted. Like a lot of stuff."
It's like when you get a paper cut on your thumb and it's tender so you avoid using it and you suddenly realize just how important your thumb is.
Or when the internet isn't connecting and you realize just how much you use the internet on a daily basis. (It's also kind of nice too though, you know, a little time to unplug.)

I'm not the best person at this but I'm trying to be.
And I think it's pretty important too. I mean, there are people out there who do not have what we have and whether they're perfectly fine without it or struggling, we should be super grateful for what we have.
Just looking around me right now, I'm so grateful for bathrooms (those are insanely vital things, you know), toothbrushes and toothpaste, pictures, technology, chapstick, planners, books, post-it notes, the list could go on and on.
And I really don't need all of those things, I mean, I could totally live without post-it notes but life is so much better with them for me, at least, I don't know about you all.

There is so much to be thankful for in this world. There may be so much hate and violence and sorrow and loss but there's also so much light and goodness and smiles and love.
Despite all the tragic and crazy things happening all over the globe, we live in a pretty wonderful world.