Dear Reader, Thank you!

Gratitude 9 Minutes

Thank you for being here today. Let’s face it. Without readers, this blogging gig might just fizzle out. I’m humbled by those of you who return time and time again, and especially by those who award me with some extra recognition and pass my site along to others. Rhonda, Bryan, Greg, and Brother John Mark, thanks for the support from the bottom of my heart.

Rhonda asked, and I linked a few (okay, a lot) of my answers to previous posts…

  1. You have an opportunity to have a sit down with another writer. Who would it be and why?                                                                                                                              Maya Angelou—click for post.
  2. Who is the most talented Black artist (musician, writer, painter, potter, any type of artist) that you think deserves to be more widely known or appreciated?                See #1.
  3. Who is the funniest person you have ever personally known?                            Denise.
  4. What or who is your spirit animal?                                                                         Butterfly for metamorphosis. A cat for an independent mind.  
  5. What is the biggest mistake you think you’ve made as a blogger?                      Ignoring family and friends.
  6. What one aspect of your life during the pandemic is “for keeps” post Covid-19? Eating at home.
  7. If you were granted the ability to be highly proficient at playing a musical instrument, what would it be and why?                                                                     Maybe viola to play duets with my son, the cellist—or acoustic guitar—or banjo, but only if I could be gifted with a voice to sing.

Bryan wanted to know…

  1. What your favorite book and why?                                                                                         I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
  2. What song do you currently have on repeat?                                                              “Wolf Like Me,” Lera Lynn.
  3. Which season of the year best describes you?                                                                      I love the season changes, and Summer now.
  4. What is you most prize possession?                                                                                    My grandmother’s pearls.
  5. Which historical figure would you like to meet and why?                                        Maya Angelou.
  6. What makes a good blog?                                                                                              Humor and making the specific relatable.
  7. Back to the past or forward to the future?                                                                          In the moment.
  8. Your dream vacation?                                                                                                      Thailand
  9. The greatest movie of all time?                                                                                                 I love Moulin Rouge. Greatest movie? IDK.
  10. Wealth or health?                                                                                                               What is wealth? As a former teacher and current student, I prefer to focus on what’s within my control. My health.
  11. Your proudest moment.                                                                                                    Going back to school.

Greg was curious about…

  1. What is the last book you read?                                                                                       Kafka on the Shore. (This is actually not true, but I did finish this book in July and loved it so much that I blogged about it. The last book I read was Elizabeth McCracken’s An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination, a memoir that I also LOVED and would call a must-read. However, I’m realizing this is also a false statement because in the next couple of days I also finished How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry and Staying Alive, Real Poems for Unreal Times, and I forget in which order. All for summer school).
  2. What is the next book you are going to read?                                                              Black Zodiac by Charles Wright
  3. What are your favorite genres to read?                                                                    Memoir and historical fiction
  4. What is the last song you played on your preferred listening device?               Tainted Love by Imelda May
  5. Who when and where is the last live music concert you attended and where?    Matt and Kim, on my anniversary 11/11/19, in Dallas
  6. You can only take 5 albums with you into quarantine, which ones do you choose?      I just need YouTube.
  7. Once travel restrictions due to COVID-19 allow travel, where is the first place you want to visit?                                                                                                                            My mother in her nursing home back in Oklahoma, but I do have a trip planned to Telluride, CO.
  8. Who is your favorite author?                                                                                           Maya Angelou.
  9. What is your favorite writing instrument to use when not on a digital platform? Mechanical pencil.
  10. Do you believe that cursive handwriting should still be taught in our schools?            No.
  11. What is one life goal you still want/need/hope to accomplish?                                      To finish my master’s degree and my first memoir.   

Brother John Mark asked about my faith…

  1. Who is your favorite character in the Bible aside from Jesus? And why?           David. See post.
  2. How do you develop your relationship with God?                                                           All relationships take time and consistency.
  3. Who is Jesus for you?                                                                                                         Love.
  4. Have you visited historical Churches? If yes, where?                                                    Yes. Venice and Ravenna, Italy; Dubrovnik, Croatia; Nazareth, Galilee, and Jerusalem, Israel; Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt; Kuşadası, Turkey; and Patmos and Athens, Greece.
  5. Do you read the Bible? (Y/N) Yes.
  6. What parable/stories of Jesus in the Gospels touched you most?                             What he says to Peter about forgiveness.
  7. Do you love religious music? Yes.
  8. Can you name one favorite religious song?                                                                      For KING & COUNTRY “Joy”.
  9. What is your favorite verse in the New Testament?                                                      “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). Or “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you (Matthew 7:7).
  10. What is your favorite verse in the Old Testament?                                                         “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).
  11. What day of the week you spend hours in meeting the Lord?                                  More on Sundays, but I try to say a daily thank you.

If you made it to this point, thanks again for reading! If you clicked on any of my links to past posts, I hope you found something that spoke to your heart. If you have extra time, please check out Rhonda, Bryan, Greg, and Brother John Mark.

The Sun Never Says by Hafiz

Even
After
All this time
The Sun never says to the Earth,

“You owe me.”

Look
What happens
With a love like that,
It lights the whole sky.

Published by Crystal Byers

When I was young, my dad would always say, "Crystal, you can choose your attitude." One day I chose to believe him.

Published

48 thoughts on “Dear Reader, Thank you!”

  3. Congrats on your blog and life achievements, Crystal. I always know I will get a good read and a great message, when I see a post from you. Stay well and have a safe trip to Telluride. Allan

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      1. Looks like I’d already read them. I wanted to see your David one. I’m glad I did. It was good to reread it – perfect timing today, when I’ve decided to believe in belief. To believe in hope.
        Sending sunshine and sparkles….

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Yup. That’s what you said. That he was human and acknowledged his mistakes and that’s why you love him. That’s the reason given for the downfall of saul. That he didn’t acknowledge when he was wrong.

        Liked by 2 people

  6. The second half of this post spoke to me Crystal. I probably won’t blog about this. A few nights ago a lovely white haired older lady was smiling at me at the beach. A very nice smile, very warm. This lasted for awhile, and then she came over to talk to us, my wife, son and I. I had taken my hearing aids out for swimming and left them in the car so she spoke mostly to my dear Sue. She told Sue that she had seen my son and I hug when I came out out of the lake, and he held up a towel for me. We hug often. She said she had seen an aura around us and this was an unusual happening and she had been moved. So moved she came to talk to me. Of course Susan shared about my transplant history and I went for another swim. I am self conscious hearing her tell my story which is ironic because I share it unabashedly but only snippets and did so yesterday to a nurse at the hospital. I am digressing.

    Before I left I shared a few bible verses that are my favourites while standing on the beach, I know them from heart. ! John 4: 7,8 and another from first John in which it says God is light and there is no darkness at all. As I carried our chairs etc to the car with my son, a second lady approached me to share that she enjoyed hearing the bible recited at the beach. All in all an unusual evening but it struck a note in me.

    That same note struck again when you shared in the second half of your post today. Thanks!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Good Morning, David! Those little interactions are the stuff of life. Whether you can hear or not, you know good energy when you feel it. And we don’t always know when people are watching or what effect our actions have. The beach is a spiritual place for me anyway, and to hear God’s word there seems like His way of delivering a message to people who need it. Thanks so much for taking time to share!

      Liked by 2 people

  9. Fun post, I enjoyed reading your answers. My first thought about cursive writing is of course it should be taught so kids can read historic documents for themselves and also enjoy the flow of words across a page, so soothing it’s almost like meditation. But then, eh, if they really want to learn cursive they can learn it off YouTube.:-)

    Liked by 1 person

    1. That’s a great point on cursive, Priscilla. In an ideal educational world, I would want to keep it. From a high school teacher’s perspective, I’ve witnessed the losing battle. Even my own handwriting is a hybrid of both. When students take the PSAT/SAT, it requires they sign an oath in cursive that they will not discuss the contents of the test. I kid you not, it takes a classroom a full-five minutes to sign their names. There’s so much that could be said of the ideal educational world. Don’t get me started on standardized tests. 🙄

      Liked by 1 person

  14. Recognition well-deserved, Crystal. Moreover, your stylish writing calls out for more of the same. Get ready for it.

    You asked what blogging would be without people to read it Good point, though some do blog merely as a catharsis, as a vehicle to express their thoughts and to give them structure to make them approachable.

    Good enough. Until, that is, I asked myself if the catharsis itself is drafted, in part, in the hope that someday, someone will read it. Not the public, perhaps, but the “right person.”

    All irrelevancies, of course, as we don’t blog alone. This, what we do here, is our social activity. Sometimes we take the stage; mostly, though, we’re in the audience. Truly a festival without end.

    Thusly, I made an addendum, to an addendum, to an addendum. Have I given this way too much though? Or not nearly enough?

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