Thankful on Thanksgiving.

I have kept this blog going over the years to acknowledge and publicly thank the people who inspire me. They should know that they matter, that what they do matters.

This Thanksgiving, I want to say thank you. Thank you for living out your dreams. Pushing through the hard days, beyond what's been done before, and past what other people say just can't be done. Thank you for teaching me to pivot, and for encouraging me to live out my own dreams:)

My list of people to thank is long and varied. But the person I want to want to thank on Thanksgiving is the one who always thanks everyone else. That's Hunter Hayes.

There's no doubt that Hunter is an extraordinarily gifted and hardworking musician. He got his first instrument at the age of two and a half, when his grandmother gave him a plastic accordion. He has been writing, recording, and producing his own music in his self-built studio since he was a kid. But my favorite videos of Hunter aren't music-related, or even the videos he makes for, and shares with his fans. My favorites are his "thank you" videos.

Hunter uploaded this to YouTube after winning Choice Male Country Artist at the 2012 Teen Choice Awards:


He Tweeted and posted this message and photo to Facebook, from backstage at the 2012 Country Music Awards after he won New Artist of the Year:

"Guys, I cannot believe this... I'm like speechless. Thank you thank you thank you! All the love going out to you all tonight!!!"

(You can watch his acceptance speech here.)

Hunter emailed this out on Thanksgiving eve:


(You can watch his Winter Holidays 2011 thank you video here.)

Thank you, Hunter for bringing me along on the journey, for the thanks, and for inspiring me to live my own dreams.

Happy Thanksgiving, all.