Now that we have the silly circus/parody post over and done with from two weeks ago, please allow me to introduce the current and possibly-permanent plan for Thursdays:
Thankful Thursdays – Thanksday
THis first official one, THough, will be THanksday. ;)
I am thankful for Tom Hanks <3 To me, it sounds like he connects with anyone and everyone around him. That is beautiful and incredibly underrated IMO. I wish we all worked more to build up that skill better. I am certainly trying my best to work on it as I can, when I can, and where I can, but it is not always an easy thing to do. However…
The best things in life don’t come easy, but those things are the ones worth the sacrifice.
-Adriana Locke
As I learned more about Tom and his life, I realized how much I think he is full of wisdom:
I show up on time, I know the text, and I have an idea.
-Mr. Tom Hanks, “America’s Sweetheart”
IMHO, he’s one of the good ones. The basis of his work ethic reverberates reverently – “we’re all in this together… how can I help you?” Thank you, Mr. Hanks, for reminding me to bring solutions to the table in order to try my best to help resolve any and all problems that I can. Who cares if I am the reason for it in the first place or not? “Not my problem” is such a jaded and lazy response IMO. We can all fix plenty of problems if we give it a try.
As a few sillier highlights of why else I am thankful for Tom Hanks, I think his SNL skits are classics in the archives, and he evidently gifts his acting partners with typewriters as a means of codeveloping their roles via snail mail – typewritten letters back and forth in character. What a thoughtful and immersive experience to engage in with one another!
As I reflect more on an interview that I heard with him recently, another lesson from his life that I think could/should serve as a life lesson for us is that there is no specific order to how you should live your life. IMO, there are best/optimal ways to live life, but you can “figure it out” at any point should you so choose. He was already married and had a kid before I think his light bulb clicked on. It sounds like he was still in a happy-go-lucky, too-cool-to-be-bothered, young, dumb, and invincible phase despite already needing to be responsible for a family. Fortunately for him and those he supported, he clicked quick.
I want to be cheeky here and say “I think I love you, Tom,” but it would not be true. I know I love you, Tom. I think that you are such an incredible individual and that the world is so much better because of you, so THanks :) Maybe it’s wise. Maybe it’s dumb. Time will tell.