When I was a kid, after Christmas, Birthdays, or any other suburban holiday where you receive gifts occurred, my mother made us write our "thank you" notes for presents within two days of such an event occurring. She wanted the world to know she had polite children (and wanted us to be thankful for what we had, I'm sure.) She also required us to speak clearly and concisely and brush our teeth twice a day. Gratitude, correct use of the English language and perfect teeth were all that she asked of us.
As an adult, I have maintained those requests, minus 10 cavities and a penchant for using the f-word and slang phrases like "Where you at?" (But these complications are only due to me eating too much candy and the fact that I'm a fan of the contemporary, be it ridiculous, dialect.)
I do write thank you notes though. For everything. I write them to my friends, my hairstylist, even the ladies at my bank for being so nice to me. I give a written thank you for almost anything I am thankful for that has an address.
After a recent performance by
The Thermals (see my review of the life-changing show
here) I felt so inspired by the band's heaps of great songs and loving stage nature that I decided to write them a
thank you note. I went to their website, found an email address and told Hutch, Kathy, and Westin how grateful it was to have them in my life, and thanked them for playing such a rad show. I didn't expect anything back, because I know how busy bands can be-- but Hutch returned with a
thank you for the
thank you. I was floored.
I'm easily star-struck, so maybe it felt like a bigger deal than it was, but I was floating for the rest of the day. Hutch from The Thermals wrote ME! Me, a girl with a notebook in Denver who had her life changed by a performance bigger than words.
Once my head and heart cleared, I had a realization: we are so connected through the magic of the internet that anything is possible. Any connection to anyone in the world is at our fingertips. But how often to do we use that power of connectivity for good? How often do we use it to just say thank you?
I just wrote to
Vivian Girls under a similar premise. After
their show at the Hi-Dive on Sunday night, I wanted to say thank you. Because I liked it that much. It wasn't the same feeling I had watching The Thermals, but it was worth a megabyte of my gratitude. So I wrote to them to say thanks for playing a really great show.
What would happen if we wrote the bands we loved more often? Nothing planet-shifting, I'm sure. But think about it. How good does it feel when someone thanks you for your time or gives you a compliment? Pretty good, especially when it's a graciousness for something you're proud of. Bands make music everyday, and they put it on record and play it at shows in an effort to make us feel something.
So, email a band you love. Or even better, send them a letter. Let them know that what they do means a lot to you. Wouldn't it be cool if we created a ripple effect with something as simple as gratitude?
Enough hippie shit for today. I have to go find an email address for
Iggy Pop and tell him thank you for writing "
Success." Because it's the theme song to my career as a freelance writer at the moment.
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