A THANK YOU FOR A THANK YOU

 Because Debbted left a comment asking if I had created the stunning graphic I used in my previous entry, I added a note at the bottom of the page saying who had created the gorgeous picture...and it certainly was not I!

The woman, Simone, who has such talent and makes these beautiful images (the one above is yet another example of her creativity) lives in Bolivia. She makes these graphics for people to use as Incredimail stationery. They are not intended for use in the manner in which I use them. I had to ask her permission.

When I originally asked her if I could place one in my journal, she held off giving me a definitive answer. She wanted the link to my journal; she wanted to see what and how I wrote. I gave it to her, and I kept my fingers crossed that she would approve. I have such a mix of entries. Sometimes totally serious, sometimes silly, sometimes off-color. They are very much me. A combination of all that makes me ME. I was not certain how she would take to my style...or lack of.

I awaited her response. It came. She gave me carte blanche to use her stationery (stats for short) in my journal whenever I wished. I was elated. Yes, ELATED. Anything as beautiful as her creations thrills me. I wrote her a thank you. She wrote back to let me know she was happy I liked them. She told me how people "rip" her stats without her permission. (Similar to a copyright infringement.) It disturbed her. Some even claim them as their own. Knowing the time she invests in making them, I could not help but feel bad for her.

I like talking to her. She speaks broken English, which I find endearing. She is kind, which I find refreshing. While I do not know her well, I can see she is a diverse individual through the wide variety of images she creates. I now have well over 100 of her stats. Each strikes a different chord within me.

It had been a good while since she gave me the green light to display her pictures, so I felt I should write her to make sure it was still okay to post them in my blog. I again thanked her, gave her the link to see the latest image I had used in here, and I told her how sometimes her pictures inspire the words I write or how they convey the feelings I wish to express.

A wide smile grew on my face while I was reading her response. She thanked ME. Imagine that. She thanked me for using her graphics in such an "awesome" way. I shook my head in amazement. She is the one who gives my entries a loveliness they would not have without her "mark" on them. Yet, she was grateful to me. Incredible.

And she is the perfect example of why I will probably think until the day I die that there are more goodhearted and kind people in this world than there are nasty and mean people. Maybe the malcontents are a lot noisier, so they get noticed more. Or maybe society in general devotes entirely too much publicity to those who are always looking for an excuse to be up in arms about something or in someone's face. Just maybe the quieter ones, the less arrogant ones, the ones who daydream as they go about their business could not care less about being noticed by scores of people. They seem to have found a place inside themselves where they are far too content to need to be in the spotlight. And so their numbers cannot be counted.

Yes, I do believe THOSE are the people in the majority. And Simone? Thank you for reinforcing that belief.

"A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all other virtues." ~ Cicero