hey. it’s been a while. i’m here in detroit. a lot has happened. of course. a lot of stuff i felt like sharing but i didn’t for there was a note that was striking me as important all the way. i somehow couldn’t talk about it, for i felt it represented nuances of my own shadow. shadow in its real meaning. that side of yourself you often see reflected on a pavement at night, that may or may not disturb you. personally it has hardly disturbed me all along, if it wasn’t for its very narrow boundaries. if in analytical psychology the shadow also embodies our darkest fears, how does it reflect itself in life? in this case, that shadow was being reflected in people i have been meeting and it had to do with the idea of saying “thank you”. thankfully (this is the irony of this inked talk), i was raised in a thankful world, england for most of it. if i was often ridiculed at bars in italy for thanking for something i paid for, my point was: “well, you served me, and although i’m paying you, i’m still thanking you for your service. that’s my style.” then i moved to detroit. and that’s when things took a different turn. i was often requesting services and i wasn’t served, let alone being thanked. when i was served, i was in my style thanking, and a mere “you’re welcome” was echoed back. i didn’t pay attention at first. until i realised how important this apparent small gesture of being grateful to whoever you encounter, of just saying “thank you” was having a tremendous effect on me. how? well, we are all human beings. we move around, we struggle, we fight, we dream and we often feel the need of being thanked for what we do. yes, we should not expect it but we naturally feel it. it’s human nature. so why, shouldn’t we thank our friend for a thoughtful gesture? why shouldn’t we thank our boss for our bi-weekly check? why shouldn’t we thank our client for their money? why? is it too hard to be just nice and say THANK YOU? i am now learning to build my relationships around this small but powerful gesture, and if that represents your shadow, i’m suggesting you ask it why? why do i not say thank you? why do i hate saying thank you? why? for fuck sake! you, ungrateful person!