{"id":9530,"date":"2014-11-16T16:14:28","date_gmt":"2014-11-16T21:14:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beginnersheart\/?p=9530"},"modified":"2014-11-16T16:14:28","modified_gmt":"2014-11-16T21:14:28","slug":"day-of-thanksgiving-16-tech-support-and-privilege","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beginnersheart\/2014\/11\/day-of-thanksgiving-16-tech-support-and-privilege.html","title":{"rendered":"day of Thanksgiving #16: tech support (and privilege)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"the<\/a>
the author’s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My computer has been wonky for weeks. By wonky, read: slooow, hanging, programs crashing. A pain, in other words.<\/p>\n

Enter tech support, AKA my beloved. Who often can merely walk into the room<\/em> and broken electronics start working. I’m NOT kidding. He has whatever the electronics equivalent of a green thumb is. I’m good with plants, but he’s GREAT w\/ tech.<\/p>\n

So today, my everyday gratitude (which I try NOT to take for granted!) is that he’s made my computer work more smoothly! As he notes, he just bought me time. But right before the holidays is not<\/em> the best time to buy a computer. Nor is right after sporting us to two new iPads. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

As I’ve listed these past days of gratitude, I’ve noticed a strong thread of connection: I am so very privileged. I’m grateful for the room to have a guest room, the income to have a computer, the extra income to have an iPad on top of that! My privileges include a car that runs safely, a home in a pleasant neighbourhood, money for healthy food and insurances and prescriptions to keep me well.<\/p>\n

\"the<\/a>
the author’s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It’s a sobering thought, that what I think of as everyday pieces of my ordinary life aren’t. That the undercurrent of my life is so much good fortune. ‘Privilege,’ the word of the times is. And I have many. Yesterday’s headband purchases, for instance. Not one, but FOUR headbands (they came in a packet). Do I need<\/em> four headbands? Especially given, as my beloved noted, that I have SEVERAL already. And of course the answer is no, I do not. Which makes them frivolous privileges.<\/p>\n

At any rate, I’m working (hard) to be more observant of the ways in which my life is enriched by so many things I often don’t notice.<\/p>\n

But my beloved? Spending an entire morning fixing my computer I depend on? That I see quite clearly is a gift. And one for which I’m exceptionally grateful for, this month of listing gratitudes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My computer has been wonky for weeks. By wonky, read: slooow, hanging, programs crashing. A pain, in other words. Enter tech support, AKA my beloved. Who often can merely walk into the room and broken electronics start working. I’m NOT kidding. He has whatever the electronics equivalent of a green thumb is. I’m good with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":398,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[270,914,224],"tags":[11,1181,1187,262,1250,1378,426],"class_list":["post-9530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gratitude","category-privilege","category-thanksgiving","tag-beginners-heart","tag-britton-gildersleeve","tag-buddhism","tag-buddhist-blogs","tag-gratitude","tag-privilege","tag-thanksgiving-month"],"yoast_head":"\nday of Thanksgiving #16: tech support (and privilege) - Beginner's Heart<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"My computer has been wonky for weeks. By wonky, read: slooow, hanging, programs crashing. A pain, in other words. Enter tech support, AKA my beloved. 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