As many of you know I’m Australian but live in LA with my family. One of the great pleasures of living here is the Thanksgiving holiday. Almost every culture has some annual expression of gratitude but every year I’m struck by the shift in peoples’ thinking and behavior for the few days over Thanksgiving. It’s almost like we each got a permission slip to suspend thinking about ourselves and be demonstrably grateful. Not surprisingly everyone ends up happier.

I wanted to thank you for reading my blog, tweeting about it or re-tweeting. I also want to say thanks for all the comments, #FF’s and the negative comments too that challenge my thinking. A few years ago I would not have believed that a community of like-minded people who have not met could become such a tangible part of  my life. That’s the power of social media, I guess. Now I regularly meet people at conferences and in life that I’ve only met through Facebook or Twitter.

In fact just the other day I was at a conference and I asked a woman, “Excuse me, is that chair taken?” and she said, “Hi, Simon” and I had no idea who she was until I looked down to her nametag and saw her avatar and said, “Oh my God, you’re yellow flower!” Many of these people have become good friends in the offline world and my life is richer for it.

So I wish everyone a wonderful weekend of thanksgiving, even if you are outside the U.S., and thanks for the friendship and support this year. Next year will be great with lots of exciting things in the works.

Simon