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Thank You

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One day back in 2009, I was overcome by gratitude and published a short, gushing post thanking various strangers, teachers, family members and cats for what they had done for me.

I also thanked my small but growing audience for coming here. Raptitude was just over a month old and already it felt quite amazing that there were people I didn’t know who wanted to hear what I had to say.

This blog will be seven years old next month, and I can’t believe I’ve let so much time go by without directly thanking you for reading and sharing Raptitude. I try to tone down the sentimentality on this blog, but I honestly can’t tell you how much it means to me that you come here to read my long-winded reflections about self-defeating habits, existential absurdity, imaginary time travel and human frailty.

I’ve watched the audience grow from a size that could sit around a boardroom table to one that could fill a couple of Greyhounds, then a large high school, then a large concert hall. Today, the subscribers alone couldn’t fit into even the largest NHL arena, and it’s all because so many of you have told your friends about this little corner of the internet. Thank you so much for doing that. 

Camp Calm has just finished. It was one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done, and a lot of campers have said the same thing. It was even more well-received than I had hoped, and now a few more Greyhound-loads of people now have consistent daily meditation practices, which is wonderful to think about. I’ll have a lot to say about it later, but for now I’m enjoying a bit of time in a low-key, offline mode. This weekend I decided to relax and watch the Superbowl with my friends instead of writing a blog post.

To those who didn’t attend the camp, Raptitude will have surely seemed a lot quieter over the last two months. On my end it was the opposite—I’ve never been so busy and involved with it. In any case, Raptitude will return to its regular schedule next week.

Thank you again everybody, and have a great week.

***

BrownVagabonder February 8, 2016 at 2:08 am

No, thank you! :) Your writing has been directly influential not only on my own writing, but on my thinking. Your writing is so clear, crisp and precise, that it crystallizes everything I am thinking, but in a way, I am still a ways from doing. I am glad I discovered your blog and I know that your blog affects thousands. I see chatter about it everywhere – on various other blogs. Thank you again for writing and I can’t wait to see where you go from here. Namaste.

David Cain February 8, 2016 at 11:28 am

Thanks BV. I appreciate your long-time readership and all of your comments.

Zoe February 8, 2016 at 2:20 am

Thank you, David. Your blog has played such a significant part in my life for almost two years now. Reading your articles made me realize that there were other ways to live than in an 8 to 5 depressing office job, and if I planned things well, I could change the situation for the better.
Well I’m happy to say I finally took the plunge last June, and I’ve never looked back!!! I feel like I’m only one step away from my dream job of being a full-time fiction writer (at the moment I write web content for a living, and ghostwrite fiction for other people) and in part it’s thanks to you.
Your writing also helps me strive to be a better person every day. It doesn’t always work, but as long as I keep on trying, I can see small improvements here and there.
So thank you, and please keep on doing what you do.

David Cain February 8, 2016 at 11:31 am

That is awesome! Congrats Zoe! Reading other blogs was a big catalyst in my own taking of the plunge, so I’m glad I could pay that forward. Best of luck with your new career.

Richard Boys February 8, 2016 at 5:41 am

I hope you are contemplating a book of your best posts. I am particularly interested in those posts where you explain a “perceptual shift” idea, such as imagining this place in the future, in the past, or pretending you have died and been allowed to return to this moment, etc. I am compiling a list of those to help me stay in the moment more often. Very useful and stimulating. I wish you the best, and appreciate your efforts.

David Cain February 8, 2016 at 11:33 am

I am super interested in that idea, and I’d like to write more about it. Maybe I’ll do some kind of longer-form content on that, although I don’t know if I could fill a book. But we’ll see, there are a ton of possibilities.

Dragline February 8, 2016 at 5:44 am

Great work! Have a good week and a good year!

David Cain February 8, 2016 at 11:36 am

Thank you Dragline, and thanks for your great contributions to the discussion here. You always have an angle I hadn’t thought of, and I appreciate that.

Burak February 8, 2016 at 5:47 am

Thank you too David for being a shiny part of our limited adventures on this earth.

David Cain February 8, 2016 at 11:36 am

It is truly my pleasure to write for Raptitude! Thank you Burak.

Gabriela Valderrama Vogt February 8, 2016 at 6:01 am

Thank you… your sharing is a little pleasure that makes me stop working and allow myself some unproductive “me time”.

David Cain February 8, 2016 at 11:37 am

That’s why I publish Mondays :)

UR February 8, 2016 at 7:19 am

Thank you, David, for your blog. I look for it, I cheer up when I see it in my inbox, and it pushes me to think more deeply and meaningfully. You inspire me.

David Cain February 8, 2016 at 11:39 am

Thank you UR.

Seo February 8, 2016 at 8:55 am

Thank you for writing! I’ve gotten a lot out of reading your posts over the years :)

David Cain February 8, 2016 at 11:40 am

Thanks Seo. It really has been “years” now. I’ve spent 20% of my life writing for this blog.

Anna February 8, 2016 at 9:33 am

You are the only articles I’ve ever felt compelled enough to send to my Facebook page. I’m really into All the books you write about actually….. But you write about it in such a way…..with no new agey language …. That I dared send it to my Facebook page. I’ve also talked about you on my popclogs page….. I found popclogs because of you actually because you talked about 43things and it just closed down when I got to it and most people moved to popclogs. I get so many goals done now. I think I’ve made some progress on the procrastination front Thanks to your procrastination article. Lots of love to you, keep up the good work,
Anna xx

David Cain February 8, 2016 at 11:43 am

Thanks so much for sharing them Anna. I try to get at some out-there topics in plain language and no new-ageyness, and it makes me feel good that you think I’ve succeeded at that.

Karen J February 8, 2016 at 10:00 am

Blessings to you, David – you are always a part of my Gratitude file!
Sometimes, the prospect of reading (and digesting) your latest post seems daunting, but it’s inevitably a worth-while use of an hour or two (including comments).

David Cain February 8, 2016 at 11:46 am

Thanks Karen! The posts here do get long sometimes, definitely longer than most online content, and the fact that so many of you actually get to the end of them is endlessly gratifying to me. Thank you for all your comments too.

Carl February 8, 2016 at 11:00 am

David – your blog has been an important part of my journey. You inspired me to take an MBSR course at the local hospital and to see the world in a new way, and to start my own blog. I’m in the process of simplifying my life, and trying to figure out how to leave the rat race. There’s much more to life than sitting in an office all day. Thanks for bending my path.

David Cain February 8, 2016 at 11:50 am

That’s great Carl. Mindfulness is a lifelong skill and you will always be able to come back to it. So if I’m the one that inspired you to explore it that means I’ve done something significant in the world. Best of luck with your escape plan, and let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.

Gemma J February 8, 2016 at 12:18 pm

Thank you so much for all the wonderful posts over the years, David, from someone who’s been reading since late 2009-ish!
(And I can’t tell you how worried I was when I saw the title of this one in my inbox. I thought that it might be your last post – very glad it’s not because this is my favourite blog!)

On a similar note, have you ever thought about adding a random post option to the blog? Often I feel like I would like to revisit some of your articles but don’t know where to start. I really like that you’ve been reposting some of the older ones on facebook every now and again, though.

Keep up the awesomeness!

Christine February 8, 2016 at 2:45 pm

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to youuuu!
Happy Birthday Deeeeeeeeear Raptitude
Happy Birthday to youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
:)

With BIG thanks from me!

Hope you had a very relaxing weekend and a great time watching the Superbowl, David. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us!

Eddieographer February 8, 2016 at 7:03 pm

Keep up the good work David.

Very fortunate to have found this blog a couple years ago. I would say that the thing I like the best is your ability to make deep concepts easy to understand.

I understand a lot of stuff from a gut level but have a very hard and frustrating time putting them in words to explain to others. So I often refer to your explanations when I want to discuss a certain topic with friends.

lafleurquirire February 9, 2016 at 11:34 am

you’re welcome. You’ve helped me in many ways and I want to thank you for that. Keep up the good work.

Nate St. Pierre February 9, 2016 at 1:26 pm

7 years, man, congratulations. I’ve loved your work since the beginning, as you know. Glad we’re still walking along as friends, too :)

Dani DiPirro February 10, 2016 at 8:23 am

I’ve been following your site for about 7 years now (which is when I started Positively Present — February 2009), and it’s crazy how time flies! I’ve stopped following so many blogs (and so many disappeared too) that it’s exciting to see those who have stuck around for so long still putting out great work! :)

Juani February 10, 2016 at 2:04 pm

I discovered your blog some years back but started to read it as a monthly basis a couple months back. Like everybody else said, thank you and a lot! It’s not only super interesting, it also makes me think about my life, find comfort in things that sometimes makes me feel awkward (I suffer from anxiety and ocd and some of your articles help) and it also help me with to add/quit some good/bad habits. Please never stop writing :)

Randy Hendrix February 11, 2016 at 4:39 pm

Thank you sir for doing what you do! I like Richard’s idea about a book of your best posts. Better yet…all your posts. I currently keep copies of EVERY Raptitude post in file storage just in case something happens to your website so I would gladly make that purchase if you decided to publish them in a book. Camp Calm was amazing…thank you for that as well…it was great to revisit You Are Here and Making Things Clear while at camp. Keep up the amazing work helping us all get better at being human!

TheHappyPhilosopher February 11, 2016 at 9:19 pm

David,

Your writing is all the thanks I require :)

You are one of the many writers who inspired me to start writing and blogging, but more importantly you taught me how to walk through a parking lot ;)

Namaste.

Doris February 12, 2016 at 12:49 am

Thanks for writing, David. I have not subscribed to your. blog but I follow it all the same.

Peter February 14, 2016 at 3:58 pm

Thanks for writing

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