Thanks-Giving

Tom Chiarella might be sizing as my 'favorite non-fiction writer from the magazine world'. Not that he has much competition- Domino and Everyday Foods don't really count as writing, do they? Anyways, he was featured on DNTO this past weekend as they looked into the many meanings of 'thanks'. He undertook a great project: looking at all his daily interactions and acting on the urge to give thanks. The project changed his life:

So I decided to get serious with my thank-yous, taking a month to let no kindness pass. I went to the stationery store, bought a hundred cards and a decent pen, and took a month to write thank-yous for everything that happened to me, to everyone who did anything for me. This time it wasn't so much about what this would get me or how this would bend the world in my favor. I was adopting a karmic ritual, which, over time, might actually benefit all parties.

Read the full article here. And read his Skills for Men here. Okay, here's an excerpt (it should be published as a bible- seriously)


Every Man Should be Able to:
19. Approach a woman out of his league. Ever have a shoeshine from a guy you really admire? He works hard enough that he doesn't have to tell stupid jokes; he doesn't stare at your legs; he knows things you don't, but he doesn't talk about them every minute; he doesn't scrape or apologize for his status or his job or the way he is dressed; he does his job confidently and with a quiet relish. That stuff is wildly inviting. Act like that guy.

You can also peruse the rest of his repertoire here. And you can thank Sook-Yin Lee. Listen to all the DNTO podcasts here.