“A ruddy drop of manly blood
The surging sea outweighs,
The world uncertain comes and goes,
The lover rooted stays.”
— Friendship, by Ralph Waldo Emerson
There’s no such thing as too many thank you’s.
And though the wanna-be-grunge-but-still-completely-preppy kid version of me from the mid-90’s might spit if he heard such a thing, more and more I believe that the root of our freedom is found in gratitude.
Gratefulness is truly liberating: gratitude invites instant relief from burdens and woes, worries and fears.
Gratitude is “shoulder-melting,” as I like to say.
For every heartache there are a thousand more pieces of gratitude that stitch our hearts and mend our love back together. From every bruise and woe, a friend to carry you. For every tear, ten more laughs and smiles. That’s what friends, new and old — and strangers alike — do for us human beings. Its our friends that help make this moment, right here — whatever is happening, no matter what you may be dealing with — true places of magic, gratitude and lightness.
So, thank you, friend — for who you are and what you do.
Thank you for shining your light. For believing. For the good fight you fight and for the values you maintain when this sometimes-crazy world tempts you to let them go.
Thank you for you.
I am grateful for you.
And with complete gratitude on this Wednesday, I want to thank some friends who have been so kind as to share some of my words with their own friends across the globe.
Thank you to…
Radio Enso with Gregory Berg
Radio Enso #69 – Dave Ursillo Returns!
I met my friend Gregory Berg, who is an incredible guy with a huge heart and deep passion for service, in Portland Oregon nearly two years ago. The podcast interview we shared this past Monday was our first since the summer of 2011 and it was truly an enlightening and fun experience to reflect back on what has changed and how since then. We discussed the Literati, poetry, universal consciousness, the power of creativity and writing, and much more.
Thank you, Greg.
The Ripple Effect with Carolyn Rubenstein
A Candid Chat with Dave Ursillo about the Literati
Carolyn Rubenstein is the type of soul you gravitate towards for the light she shines. It seems so natural, so effortless, and so magnetic that you want to become a part of it. She is also an absolutely brilliant mind and a truly generous spirit. Her kindness is one I almost feel undeserving of. In this text interview from last week, Carolyn and I examine the psychological roots of the identity-title “writer,” leadership and connecting to other human beings through the art of writing.
Thank you, Carolyn.
Hannah Marcotti on HannahMarcotti.com
Story Whispers with Dave Ursillo
Hannah Marcotti is a luminous personality with a deep, deep capacity for giving. She makes the art of human connection through her writing seem like a simple task. And, lucky for me, Hannah is a local in Rhode Island, which gives us the opportunity to connect for coffee or tea on an almost-weekly basis.
In our interview from earlier this January, I attempt to paint a picture in words on what story means from the writer and reader’s human perspectives; why writing matters at all; and how the lives we lead are all about the journeys, themselves.
Hannah also generously gave away (without my knowledge) a three-month membership to the Literati to one of her readers. Thank you, Hannah.
Create as Folk with Laura Simms
The Illuminated Purposepreneur: Dave Ursillo
Laura Simms possesses this quiet confidence and enthusiasm that radiate positivity without a whisper. That’s always the impression I’ve gotten in our conversations — in spite of her amazing background as an actress, improv comedienne and voice-actor. These days, she’s a magnetic life-coach and career-coach who helps creatives custom-fit the entrepreneurial lifestyle to their personal values, wants and needs so they can succeed brilliantly — in a truly beautiful way.
In our text interview on Create as Folk, Laura and I discuss important questions on “making it” as a creative entrepreneur, from myths on making money from doing what you love, and the tough road of “going from passion to profit.”
Thank you, Laura.
Living for Monday with Barrett Brooks *
On Writing, Quiet Leadership, and Bouncing Back from Missteps
Barrett Brooks is a stand-up guy: an aspirational thinker, totally honest personality and positively entrepreneurial-minded. He’s the type of person you encounter and you know from the get-go that he’s poised to do great work over his life, just from his mindset alone: a giver with a deep interest in service, leadership, creating change and living a meaningful life.
In our interview, we discuss the implication of 9/11 upon a rising generation, Generation Y; why writing is important and valuable as a skill; and how we lead by example in our lives through not only the stories that we share, but the very lives that we lead every day.
Thank you, Barrett.
* Note: I totally spaced out and forgot the amazing interview I had with Barrett on his great podcast in the first edition of this post. An omission, not for lack of gratitude!
And I owe a hundred more thanks…
…to my family and all of my friends, customers, clients and peers online and off who have helped make this January such an incredible way to kick off 2013. But we’d be here all day, I think.
And the words might not be enough to truly encapsulate the depths of my gratitude. But, in the end, words are all I’ve really got to give. And besides, there are never too many thank you’s.
So, thank you.
You know who you are.
And, a final quote, from Emerson once more:
“We have a great deal more kindness than is ever spoken. Maugre all the selfishness that chills like east winds the world, the whole human family is bathed with an element of love like a fine ether. How many persons we meet in houses, whom we scarcely speak to, whom yet we honor, and who honor us! How many we see in the street, or sit with in church, whom, though silently, we warmly rejoice to be with! Read the language of these wandering eye-beams. The heart knoweth.”
The heart knoweth.
Indeed.
P.S. – Tomorrow is the last day to join the Literati writers’ group — we’re +25 writers in 2013 and have loads of exciting stuff coming up in the next few months. You next chance to join won’t be until May 2013!
Flickr photo credit: BroGuggs