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My POV
Brian A. Wilson
I'D JUST LIKE TO SAY, "THANKS!"
Today is Thanksgiving, so let's talk about giving thanks, saying thanks and being thankful.
Some people have the attitude that being a screenwriter in Hollywood (or Dime Box, Texas or wherever you may be as you read this) is a thankless job.
I couldn't disagree more.
I love what I do. I can't even call it a job. I've had jobs (welding during a Texas summer, sweeping a football stadium with a damn dinky broom, being a corporate drone in suit and tie-those are jobs), but what I do isn't a job. It's a gift. I feel thankful every day that I get to spend my time creating stories that help people live their lives a little better. My audiences get to laugh. Or they learn something. Or, I like to believe, they're inspired to help someone else in a way I'll never know.
I get ample rewards from all the people I've met since starting this phase of my life. I learn from, work with, talk to and just hang out with some of the brightest, most entertaining people I've ever met in my life: actors, directors, producers, wardrobe people, cinematographers, and of course, fellow writers. I learn from their dogged pursuit of their goals. I am amused by their wit. I am touched by their failures, and cheered by their triumphs.
I am thankful as humanly possible to be pursuing this art.
Are you? Are you thankful for what you get to do? Are you grateful for the gifts you have that allow you to write?
There is one bad habit can make Hollywood feel like a thankless town: Failing to say thank you. Expressing appreciation or gratitude has becomes something of a lost art. It's too easy to just take, take, take from people without making the time to say thank you.
So don't do that!
From now on, if you hear a speaker, write him or her a thank-you note, mentioning something in the speech that touched you. If a fellow writer gives you notes on a script, buy him lunch and say thanks. When I submit scripts, they go in with a $5 Starbucks gift card attached, not because I want to kiss somebody's butt, but because I want to make an out-of-the-ordinary gesture to say that I appreciate the time and consideration being given my work by the person who is going to devote an hour or two to reading my script.
However you say it, take the time to say thanks to people. It'll make Hollywood a nicer place for all of us.
Let me close with some quotes on gratitude.
"Silent gratitude isn't much use to anyone." --Gladys Bronwyn Stern, British writer.
"Abundance is, in large part, an attitude." Sue Patton Thoele, psychotherapist and author.
"Feeling grateful to or appreciative of someone or something in your life actually attracts more of the things that you appreciate and value into your life." Christiane Northurp, MD and author
Thanks very much to each of you who takes time to read my column each week. I appreciate it, and I hope it helps!
Keep writing.
BW
LA
transtexan@hotmail.com
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