Thankful to be a writer

Thanksgiving is almost here. For those of you who live outside the U.S., it’s a national holiday during which we gather together with our families, eat ourselves silly and get ready to go hardcore Christmas shopping the next day.

And it’s a time we give thanks for our many blessings.

Now, I expect to see a lot of writers, bloggers and content strategists to post their own Thanksgiving-related content to get some search engine love and that’s fine.

But since this is the first downtime I’ve had in the past few weeks, I’m going to just be honest. And list why I’m thankful to be a writer.

I get to be openly eccentric.

I get to write words that move people.

I get to research interesting topics on a regular basis.

I get to make up stories on my off time.

I get to hang out with other creative people — and I understand what they’re saying.

I get to write personal messages for my loved ones that come straight from my heart; no Hallmark required.

I get to help other people put their feelings into words for their loved ones.

I get to dive into letters and words and punctuation on a daily basis.

I get paid to learn something new every day.

I get to hold my head proudly when people call me a nerd.

I get to correct people’s grammar when they annoy me.

I get to be a guardian of the English language.

I get to make nerdy jokes that only other writers understand.

I get to be any kind of writer I want — all at the same time.

I get to fill blank pages with things that haven’t been written yet.

I get to write wherever I go, any time of day.

I get to write characters just to drop them off a cliff when I’m upset.

I get to take the limits off of my imagination on a daily basis.

I get to wake up every day and look forward to my job.

I get to live my talent.

I get to live my passion for the written word.

I get to make a living doing what I love.

I love being a writer. And I give thanks for it almost every day.

Why are you thankful to be a writer?