Close
Close

Receive “Word for the Day” each day in your inbox

See our Privacy Policy

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Menu Gratefulness Donate

Gratitude Lounge

Welcome! We are glad you are here. This is an open space where everyone belongs, and everyone is welcome. Please introduce yourself as you feel comfortable and join in sharing your experience of grateful living. To get started you might reflect upon questions such as these: What am I grateful for? What is grateful living inspiring me to do? What are some blessings in my life (including ones in disguise)? How am I being supported right now? What connects me to wonder, awe, or a sense of the sacred? You are welcome to include images and links for videos to illustrate your reflections.

  • Palm

    Thank you for the beautiful posts, it’s lovely to come here. Sending Prayer Tuesday blessings to all. Thinking of Mary, I hope you are safe, dear Mary.

  • Holly in Ohio

    Wishing everyone healing and safety on this lovely Tuesday.

    Even
    After
    All this time
    The Sun never says
    To the Earth
    “You owe me.”
    Look what happens
    With a love like that,
    It lights the
    Whole
    Sky.

    – Hafiz (sometimes attributed to Rumi)

    • Mica

      Thank you, Holly! Warm wishes and prayers for you and all :)💓❤💟
      Thank you for posting – I’m off to coffee at 3Bees with my friend and I remembered it was Tuesday – your wonderful post says it all 💓💟

  • Mike S

    Good morning everyone. We live in Beaufort South Carolina on the coast, and expect rain and moderate winds from hurricane Ian to arrive sometime this Friday. Shouldn’t be too bad though.

    • Holly in Ohio

      It is amazing to think that this storm will grow, yet grow gentler. Here in Northeastern Ohio, we will be getting rain from it on Sunday. It will be warm, soft, and welcomed rain. Best wishes to all in Florida.

  • Anna

    For our Prayer Tuesday, my friends.
    I hope it works, it is a hymn by John Rutter

    • Holly in Ohio

      Wow, Anna! This morning this was the very first thing I heard, and so delightful! Such an uplifting sound to start the day. Such a wonderful choir! Thank you, deeply. ❤

  • Rabbit

    Baby bunnies.

    • Mica

      What fun to have bunny babies, Rabbit! 🐇🐰🐰🐇

    • Holly in Ohio

      Lovely! I discovered a bunny nest once when I was gardening and cleaning up a bed – I uncovered them by accident. I think I took some photos but the photos did not turn out well and I didn’t want to upset mommy, so I put the leaves back. Your photos are fabulous! 😃

  • Rabbit

    It would not let me post a picture of the trees of Arcadia but maybe this will work so you can see them: http://www.upnorthtrails.org/trails/arcadia-dunes-the-cs-mott-preserve.html You have to arrow right to the fourth picture.

    • Mica

      Beautiful! Thanks, Rabbit 🙂

    • Holly in Ohio

      Yes! I got that and very worth going to that site!
      Yes, I have also been finding that those moving or slide projector type photos can’t be readily shared. Lovely forest! Thank you, Rabbit. Forests are so relaxing, aren’t they?

      • Rabbit

        They are. If you want to read about forests I have a couple books to recommend. They are novels.

        • Mica

          Thanks, Rabbit – I think my son liked The Overstory but was disappointed that the ending didn’t resolve things or something. Thanks for recommending Harry’s Trees – I’ve downloaded it to my kindle 🙂 and thanks for the rabbit pics 🙂
          🐇🐰🐰🐇

          • Rabbit
            Let me know what you think please. So far everyone that I recommended it to said they loved it. I remembered The Overstory at the end indicating the planet will be fine when we are no longer here. My husband I remember that often. I think the author did try to be a bit encouraging a the end but the world seems to be in a precarious place. But then I remember it has been before too. We don't seem to learn too much from history. Willa Cather a classic author I like said technology goes in a st...

            Let me know what you think please. So far everyone that I recommended it to said they loved it.

            I remembered The Overstory at the end indicating the planet will be fine when we are no longer here. My husband I remember that often. I think the author did try to be a bit encouraging a the end but the world seems to be in a precarious place. But then I remember it has been before too. We don’t seem to learn too much from history. Willa Cather a classic author I like said technology goes in a straight line forward but human events turn in a circle. Observation seems to show this to be true.

            Read More
        • Mica

          Isn’t there one called ‘understory’ or something like that, Rabbit??

          • Rabbit

            Yes, The Overstory which won the Pulitzer Prize. You have to work at it. He introduces the characters one by one and then brings them together at the end. If I was reading it for the first time again, I would write down one thing about each character that would help me remember them when they come back in the story. I had to flip back and forth through the pages. The other book is Harry’s Trees by Jon Cohen. It was fun and distracting in a good way. Have you read anything good lately?

        • Holly in Ohio

          😂 I think there is a long cue of books for my reading at the moment, but thank you, anyway.

  • Holly in Ohio
    Self care sometimes means making a little effort to get out. I filled a box with some craft supplies I was willing to let go, packed up my knitting project and a dish of brownies and went with a neighbor to a gathering of knitters, crocheters, spinners, and weavers. This group is usually small, sometimes only about six ladies. This time we were a larger, merry group. We had a wonderful time talking about many things. We ooed and awed over each other’s creative projects and talked about ideas f...

    Self care sometimes means making a little effort to get out. I filled a box with some craft supplies I was willing to let go, packed up my knitting project and a dish of brownies and went with a neighbor to a gathering of knitters, crocheters, spinners, and weavers. This group is usually small, sometimes only about six ladies. This time we were a larger, merry group. We had a wonderful time talking about many things. We ooed and awed over each other’s creative projects and talked about ideas for holiday gifts, sheep sheering, politics, health, and other things. It was lovely! “Of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings” from Lewis Carrol, The Walrus and the Carpenter

    Read More
    • Mica

      That’s wonderful, Holly! Better than my morning’s event: “Adult Craft Sew a Cute Kitten”. One of my kids thought it didn’t seem very adult. I think these events at the library were designed for mentally handicapped adults but that didn’t seem to be coming together, so they opened it to all of us. Anyway, I’ll give the kitten to my cat Rudi 😺😻😽And thanks for the wonderful knitting cartoon! 🙂

      • Holly in Ohio

        Our library is small, and I think they are happy when people approach them with lecture and workshop proposals. I’m not sure they refuse many proposals, Lol. I’m always surprised by some of the topics. We just had a bio-chem professor do a presentation on invasive plant species in our town, and what we can all do to help prevent the spread of these plants. I should probably think of a presentation or workshop I can offer there. Do we get to see your crafted kitty?

    • Rabbit

      Sounds like a lovely time. I have knitted and crocheted just a little.

  • Rabbit

    More Arcadia pictures

    • Holly in Ohio

      WOW! Stunning! I especially like that beach scene on the right. ❤

      • Rabbit

        The west coast of Michigan but quite a bit north of us. You had to hike to the lake from the trail head where we entered and it was pretty difficult. That is as close as we got. We didn’t risk going down the hill and then having to climb back up. There were some incredible trees where you enter from the trail head but we didn’t get any pictures. I guess you would have to take them from a distance. They were all around us and that is what I remember most when I think about that visit.

        • Holly in Ohio

          It reminds me of a campground we stayed at with our kids… it may have been Michigan, come to think of it. I can’t remember exactly which campgrounds but I remember the dunes, the lake, the beaches, the cliff, and a wetland where their was a scientific study taking place. It was lovely!

  • Rabbit

    These pictures relate to the Question of the Day.

  • Holly in Ohio

    Happy International Rabbit Day! (photo credit Julian Rad, of Austria)

    • Rabbit

      A beautiful photo of an adorable creature. There is something about them that just speaks to me. Thank you.

      Did you ever read Watership Down?

      • Mica

        Fun – Watership Down is back in my dim memory. Rabbits, as I recall – or, am guessing.. 🐇🐰

        • Rabbit

          Definitely rabbits. Remember Hazel, Fiver, and General Woundwart? Spelling of the General may be off but since he is the bad guy we don’t care. I think there are people on a page or two. The movie was intended for kids but I recently listened to the sound track. That was fun too. After we read it and saw a rabbit in the neighborhood we would say who it was. Hey, there is Hazel.

          Richard Adams was asked once if it was metaphorical but he said, “I was just creating a story for my kids.”

      • Holly in Ohio

        Yeessssssss! 🙂

    • Mica

      Thanks for the wonderful photo, Holly, and the Day – it’s Save your Photos Day on my calendar. 🙂 there are many for every day

  • Mike S

    For kitty lovers here is our cat Panya. he is about eight months old in this picture and it’s now four. he is such a beloved member of our family..

  • Mike S

    Good morning. Just wondering if anyone is using Snapchat. I just downloaded it and I’m setting it up.

    • Michele

      I use it all the time:)

    • Holly in Ohio

      I have not used it but I’m willing to try. I can’t today, though. I will be popping in and out of the Lounge today, but I need to get some work done. My kids use SnapChat… it sounds fun!

  • dragonfly

    Canadian PoeTree display

    • Mica

      Wonderful, dragonfly – what’s a PoeTree? 🙂

      • dragonfly

        The display is about Canadian Poetry. What is not in the photo are the books displayed on the left and right. And also, the “fruits” of the tree are copies of covers of poetry books and the leaves are old book pages made into maple leaves. The poe-try was made into a poe-tree. I’m glad you liked the tree, Mica. It took some time to make. I have made other displays with tree(s) but this took the most effort and time. 🙂

        • Rabbit

          I had the same question, thank you for elaborating on it. It is great. I am going to show my librarians. I enjoy and find meaning in poetry too. There is a poetry class on gratefulness.org. I started it but got distracted. Hope to get back to it.

          I wish we could click on it to see it bigger.

          • dragonfly

            Just in case your librarians want to know: It is made of crumpled brown packing paper. The smaller branches are twisted. The main body is glued to poster board for stability.

    • Anna

      I love it dragonfly!

    • Holly in Ohio

      That’s lovely!

  • Carol

    Between today’s quote from Anne Lamont and Richard Rohr’s daily meditation for today ( https://cac.org/daily-meditations/becoming-a-grand-parent-2022-09-23/ ) I am filled with peace!

    • Rabbit

      I like Anne Lamont too. I wonder if she has anything new. Will check it out.

    • Mica

      Thanks, Carol – I missed yesterday’s meditation but an a fan of Anne Lamont. Maybe that’ll teach me not to skip days here 😐

    • Anna

      Dear Carol, I have not read cac meditation, but surely Anne Lamott’s quote fits with many circumstances in my life…when people think to be “salvator mundi…”🌸

  • Mica

    Brother David and others in new gratitude movie!
    https://gratituderevealed.com/joinus/

  • Carol
    Translation of the Lord’s Prayer from Aramaic by Neil Douglas-Klotz Abwoon d’bwashmaya O Birther! Father-Mother of the Cosmos/ you create all that moves in light. Nethqadash shmakh Focus your light within us–make it useful: as the rays of a beacon show the way. Teytey malkuthakh Create your reign of unity now–through our firey hearts and willing hands. Nehwey sebyanach aykanna d’bwashmaya aph b’arha. Your one desire then acts with ours, as in all light, so in all forms. Hab...

    Translation of the Lord’s Prayer from Aramaic by Neil Douglas-Klotz
    Abwoon d’bwashmaya
    O Birther! Father-Mother of the Cosmos/ you create all that moves in light.
    Nethqadash shmakh
    Focus your light within us–make it useful: as the rays of a beacon show the way.
    Teytey malkuthakh
    Create your reign of unity now–through our firey hearts and willing hands.
    Nehwey sebyanach aykanna d’bwashmaya aph b’arha.
    Your one desire then acts with ours, as in all light, so in all forms.
    Habwlan lachma d’sunqanan yaomana.
    Grant what we need each day in bread and insight:
    subsistence for the call of growing life.
    Washboqlan khaubayn (wakhtahayn)
    aykana daph khnan shbwoqan l’khayyabayn.
    Loose the cords of mistakes binding us,
    as we release the strands we hold of others’ guilt.
    Wela tahlan l’nesyuna
    Don’t let us enter forgetfulness
    Ela patzan min bisha.
    But free us from unripeness
    Metol dilakhie malkutha wahayla wateshbukhta l’ahlam almin.
    From you is born all ruling will, the power and the life to do,
    the song that beautifies all, from age to age it renews.
    Ameyn.
    Truly–power to these statements–
    may they be the source from which all my actions grow.

    Read More
  • Holly in Ohio

    I’m very excited for this blessing. A few times in the last couple of weeks I thought I heard an owl and night. Tonight there was no mistaking it. It must have been perched close to the house and I listened to it for about half an hour. It is a Barred Owl. I texted my next door neighbor, who is a professional nature photographer. He is excited, too!

    • Rabbit

      Is this the one? Amazing photo. Makes me want to go to our bird sanctuary that isn’t too far away.

    • Yram

      This is lovely. Thank you!

  • Drew Blanton

    Today at Thrive Upstate we had something that might be called a gratefulness gathering. There was a little tree on the wall, and each of us had to write something we were grateful for on leaves of paper. “Friends” was the word I wrote. A friend put it on the tree.

  • Laura

    Thank you for the post from CAC, Carol. I highly recommend the book that CAC excerpted — “The Grace in Aging” by Kathleen Dowling Singh.

  • Avril

    We made it to a new season. Happy Fall! It’s miraculous.

This site is brought to you by A Network for Grateful Living, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. All donations are fully tax deductible in the U.S.A.

DONATE https://gratefulness.org/content/uploads/2015/03/GX-Gold-Participant-L.png

© 2000 - 2022, A Network for Grateful Living

Website by Briteweb

0

Your Cart