My very first Thanksgiving-time blog post eleven years ago was less than fifty words in length:
This is “the season” for counting our blessings.
But every day is a good one for remembering that for which we are grateful.
For whom and for what are you grateful?
How will you acknowledge your gratitude?
In what ways can you demonstrate, or act upon, this cultivated gratitude?
This bare-bones statement is something upon which I have built over the past decade-plus. I have not just crafted blog posts and other writings. I have not just made acknowledgments, scribbled gratitude lists, or created acts of gratefulness. I have not just asked myself and others to engage the inquiries above.
I have built a life around these few simple words:
Practices.
Rituals and ceremonies.
Professional offerings.
Spiritual endeavors.
And more.
I have wrapped my body in the breathing body of Earth and found my way to the molten core of gratitude.
Muddy fingers.
The inhaled nectar of sap.
Pollen-stained nose.
Hot belly on cool sand.
Heels in frost, and toes tasting the temperature of foreign seas.
Wind-blown skin, and ears tickled by snow.
Forehead on bark.
Thighs burning with the topography of mountain slopes traversed.
Eyes aglow with countless and continual visual joys.
Heart in awe, open, receptive.
May your own heightened gratitude – yes, even amidst the agonies and obstacles – find a home in the everyday blisses of sunrise, scent-filled air, and the serenades of songbirds.
