Post 100: Generosity, Gratitude and Rosie’s Book Review Team

This is my 100th post on my blog, and I’d like to make it special, especially because my readers are special, and I also feel special and honoured to be able to write this post with all of you in mind.

A short time ago, I discovered a Rosie Amber’s Blog through a comment she made on Noelle Granger’s Blog, and I was very impressed.

Have a look because it includes book reviews, guest authors, resources for writers, and her amazing ‘Doing Good Deeds’ personal initiative, which is in its second year.

I asked to join her book review team  and am thrilled to be part of this wonderful group of readers, some of who are also writers, who generously (in their own time with no material reward) and gratefully (because they love reading) read and review books.

I feel privileged to be part of this generous and grateful group of bloggers and reviewers, and am pleased to include my first review, as part of this group, in my next post.

Generosity and Gratitude are two wonderful words which I don’t want to glide over, as if they were simple concepts, because, on the contrary, they are very complex and essential aspects to making this world a better place.

Those of you who read my blog know that I’m an enthusiast of ‘playing it forward’, and generosity is the simplest way to do this. Giving someone your time, which is something we will never recover, we are being immensely generous. Listening to someone as well as hearing what they say, reviewing a book thoughtfully, as well as reading it, commenting on a post, as well as skimming through it, speaking to someone, as well as chatting, helping someone, instead of ignoring them, asking, instead of walking by, advising someone instead of watching them act thoughtlessly, are all generous acts we do every day, and may not even realize how valuable they are.

Make no mistake: without generosity we would be an indifferent and uncaring society.

On the other hand, the most beautiful word in the dictionary has to be ‘gratitude’. According to Margaret Mazzantini, Italian writer and actress, in her novel, Don’t Move ( Non ti muovere),  the most beautiful word is ‘grazie’ or ‘thank you’. By using this word, we accept and acknowledge our need of others. Gratitude is always directed to another person who has helped us or given us something we value, and we therefore show our appreciation.

Make no mistake: without gratitude, we would be a solitary and selfish society.

I’d like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all my readers and to all the blogs I follow. I may not always have enough time to comment and drop by, especially during my present (waning) holiday period, but I love reading your posts, full of advice, information, reflections, poems, flash fiction, short stories, photographs, travels, and personal anecdotes, etc.

It has taken me about 10 months to write 100 posts, although I started at a slow pace, and have been writing more consistently in the last four months. At this rate, I should be celebrating my 200th post in the New Year 2015! Let’s see!

In the meantime, please keep generously reading my posts and writing your own, which I will be reading expectantly, and gratefully, as often as I can. 🙂