This is gratitude week. It’s right there in the name — Thanksgiving. The notion of giving thanks. It seems like a better idea to incorporate such a thing into our lives in an ongoing way, but a week (or a day) is a good place to start.
I have a tiny gratitude practice, though it took time and suffering to force me to shut up and think positively for a minute. Each evening, before bed, I do a little gentle yoga and whisper thanks to whatever higher power may be listening. Sometimes it’s a specific thanks, but more often it’s just “thanks.” Thank you — whoever, whatever you are — for *all of this*. Sometimes it feels silly, but I do it anyway. Just in case.
I started a gratitude journal years ago in an attempt to fix myself. It began as a surprisingly difficult daily list of five — thanks for pencils, thanks for soup - and rapidly devolved into a gripe journal. By day 8, it’s about a bad cold and kid concerns. Glass half full is often my default (not unlike this woman), though I’ve been working on it. Trying to shine up my contradictory attitudes — cautious optimism, wary hope.
Each evening, thanks for this reminds me of all the little things that make a life. Blooms and black tea, music and the mute button, food on the table and friends to share it, hopes and plans for a world without plague. It’s true that a gratitude practice has made me a little less sour. Remembering the tiny lights, even in a dark day (maybe especially in a dark day), gives me perspective and grounds me a bit.
So, I am sending thanks to all of you for allowing me into your mailboxes. I’m so grateful for each of you joining me here for whatever this is. Not sure exactly what it is yet, but it’s fun and the connection with you has been brilliant. I have ideas and even plans — the new year will hopefully see me create and collaborate in ways that will be worth it for all of us.
I may take a short break (unless I’m suddenly inspired — you never know). Running south to see family, then welcoming the crew home for Christmas. It’s going to be a season of rush and bluster, but also food and family. All the things I’m grateful for.
I’m off to make a cranberry lemon tart and the boys are making everything else. Also grateful for that!
Thanks again and Happy Thanksgiving!
Lisa
I covered thanks in my class this week. Asked the kids to write 5 things they were thankful for. One little boy wrote: toilet paper 😂 And oh was I thankful for the laugh that gave me!