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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.

  • Salma arastu

    Two Wings

    Each morning is new
    New color of skies and water
    New light falling on leaves and plants along the road..
    Mystery and beauty unfold as I walk along the bay each day…
    I feel renewed as I return home
    Two wings of trust and hope
    Love for God and creativity
    Spread out under my arms as a magic…
    And I come flying above the thorns and stones on the way
    With a smile on my face and gratitude in the heart…

  • Holly in Ohio

    Days of cicadas
    They rattle Ode to Sunshine
    As summer slows down
    Like a wide, wide river.

    ~h. w.

  • Mike S

    From Rumi

    Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
    There is a field. I’ll meet you there.When the soul lies down in that grass,
    The world is too full to talk about.
    Ideas, language, even the phrase each other doesn’t make any sense.

  • Mica

    Today’s quote reminds me of nuns I read about, who believed their suffering helped to relieve the suffering of others. Maybe that’s true – who knows?
    “To know someone’s pain is to share in it. And to share in it is to relieve some of it.” NNEDI OKORAFOR
    She’s a Nigerian-American sci fi and fantasy writer. Maybe I’ll check out her writings 🙂
    Warm wishes to all –

  • Mike S

    I love the quote from Rumi. If you’re interested in non-dual teaching from a contemporary, check out Rupert Spira.

    • Mica

      Thanks, Mike – and Adyashanti! I followed him for quite a while 🙂

  • Holly in Ohio

    Sometimes it is challenging just to stay in the present long enough to enjoy the day.

    • Mica

      You certainly follow that advice, don’t you, Holly? And vegetables, too 🙂

      • Holly in Ohio

        ha ha… I try to. I think I do much better at planting a garden literally than figuratively. I was thinking about that quote today, It is a wonderful sort of “self care” type of quote. It made me ask myself, “How can I decorate my soul today?” 😊

        I think I’ve been starting to feel the empty nest!

        • Mica

          Interesting point about clean kitchen – my friend of course didn’t compliment me about the ‘[sort of] clean kitchen.’ It’s an interesting distinction – cleaning the kitchen because I want it clean [too much effort] vs cleaning it so as not to embarrass myself when my friend visited 🙂

          • Holly in Ohio
            Cobwebs can embarrass me, yep, but when someone is going to come over, I'm just thinking about them having a pleasant experperience. It is sort of fun getting ready for others! I have two memories of visiting friends overnight that stick out in my mind in contrast; one where we were led to a bedroom where there were literally clothes left on the bed we were to sleep in (and the floor), and another where a friend tried to make the room like a little B&B and put chocolates on the pillow! 😂 ...

            Cobwebs can embarrass me, yep, but when someone is going to come over, I’m just thinking about them having a pleasant experperience. It is sort of fun getting ready for others! I have two memories of visiting friends overnight that stick out in my mind in contrast; one where we were led to a bedroom where there were literally clothes left on the bed we were to sleep in (and the floor), and another where a friend tried to make the room like a little B&B and put chocolates on the pillow! 😂 Some of the best meals I’ve had with friends have been in messy houses, but it was cleaned now and again and had a great, homey, “feel.” So I think we notice our own cobwebs more than others do. What memories do you have of visiting others?

            Read More
        • Mica
          Bummer about the empty nest, Holly! I can identify, in the sense that I cleaned my kitchen counters on account of my friend's visit - to see Rudi - even though their dirtiness had been bothering me. At least you have your husband to maybe give you some incentive to clean your kitchen counters - or maybe you're like my cleaning woman Lupe who automatically wipes up the slightest mess in her kitchen! :) Maybe you can give yourself a 'retreat' at home and just laze around without guilt?! :) I got ...

          Bummer about the empty nest, Holly! I can identify, in the sense that I cleaned my kitchen counters on account of my friend’s visit – to see Rudi – even though their dirtiness had been bothering me. At least you have your husband to maybe give you some incentive to clean your kitchen counters – or maybe you’re like my cleaning woman Lupe who automatically wipes up the slightest mess in her kitchen! 🙂 Maybe you can give yourself a ‘retreat’ at home and just laze around without guilt?! 🙂
          I got a long email from an Earlham classmate wanting me to come to my 55th reunion, and it has reminded me of how I’d wanted to go to Oberlin instead, but maybe it wouldn’t have been a good fit for my socially inept self. ‘Too pink and too academically difficult’ my mother said, but both of those would have been fine 😐

          Read More
          • Holly in Ohio
            You made me laugh! My husband is a complainer by nature and not a complimenter (as some, but not all Scottish men are). We are working on his noticing good things! 😉 But as it is so, when I do something it must be for myself and not for praise... maybe not a bad thing for a people-pleaser... but not as much fun, for sure. Today I tried showing off my painting accomplishment and his response was typical, "You missed a bit." I DO need more socializing. I noticed that this week. I get too ...

            You made me laugh!
            My husband is a complainer by nature and not a complimenter (as some, but not all Scottish men are). We are working on his noticing good things! 😉 But as it is so, when I do something it must be for myself and not for praise… maybe not a bad thing for a people-pleaser… but not as much fun, for sure. Today I tried showing off my painting accomplishment and his response was typical, “You missed a bit.”

            I DO need more socializing. I noticed that this week. I get too inward-thinking without a job or regular social exchange or some kind of structure, and if I’m honest, a bit neurotic. And you are so right… company can be a great excuse to clean house! 😄 I challenged myself today to get moving anyway. I weeded the neighbor’s surprise vegetable patch and I will go back tonight to water and weed a bit more…. it is quite a mess as they let it go this spring. I painted another coat of paint on our livingroom window frames and then cleaned the windows and cleaned my brushes. I checked on my other neighbor’s house… they are also away… to pick up mail and see if I need to water their garden tonight. I am still trying to get rid of 5 things a day in my house. Sometimes I am over, yesterday I was short, tonight I will go through bathroom toiletry things while I watch telly.

            Retreats are more enjoyable when they are a day off from something, and I have no regular days, just a list in my mind of things that need doing. I think I would benefit from a “day of rest” and a work schedule, too, and maybe a reading/study/writing schedule. You know how those deadlines make good motivators! 😁

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        • Mica

          Oh, yes, Holly – HOw could I have forgotten the part about decorating our souls? Have you an answer [yet]? Is your feeling about the empty nest good or not so good? How could I have forgotten gratefulness today? What was I doing? So many questions 🙂 Warm wishes to you 🙂

          • Holly in Ohio

            Empty nest… not so good. After an initial burst of cleaning energy, I’m now feeling adrift, and I’m having trouble making something of my days.

            I think always it is best to return to practicing gratitude. 🕊

  • Courtney

    I got my first coaching job today!! I am so excited to try something new and look forward to learning new skills along with my players.

  • Rabbit

    Summer’s last day lily on a wet day. The name is Atlanta Flame.

  • Drew Blanton

    Something weird happened to my hand. Two of my fingers wouldn’t separate for a couple of days. I was at the lake house when it happened. I said that’s a weird part of getting older. I remember talking, so it wasn’t a stroke.

    • Mica

      Yes! Drew, a few weeks ago I woke up and 1 of my fingers was bent and wouldn’t straighten. I had to pull it to straighten it. Now I try to remember to do finger exercises and shake my fingers. I’ll do it now 🙂

      • Holly in Ohio

        That’s “trigger finger,” Mica, I used to get that on my thumb. It was a nuissance trying to write, because it would lock up.

      • Rabbit

        Just had some surgery on a finger. I have not had that locking experience. Glad you solved it. Thanks Holly for naming it for us.

  • Mike S

    And sharing some fond memories of when Maggie and I we’re on a Viking cruise in the Caribbean.

  • Mica

    Greater Good in Action posted a 5 min exercise: a Fierce Self-Compassion Break – with some scientific evidence, in the pdf, that it’s helpful – https://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/fierce_self_compassion_break?utm_source=Greater+Good+Science+Center&utm_campaign=6c5e39d4f1-GGIA_Newsletter_August_2022&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5ae73e326e-6c5e39d4f1-57450167

    • Rabbit

      Thanks Mica. I read this and saved it for later. It reminded me to be grateful that I am safe in my home. Many are not.

      • Mica

        Me too – I haven’t done it and am grateful not to have any big problems lately 🙂

  • Rabbit

    Some more flowers from Saugatuck.

  • Rabbit

    This hydrangea is from another Michigan lakefront community, Saugatuck.

  • Diane

    Maybe it’s summertime or the BEing outside and breathing humid, rich air, but I’m different somehow now, knowing that it’s a gift and the morning dove is cooing just for me.

  • Rabbit

    Thoughts on hope.

  • Rabbit

    A close up.

  • Rabbit

    The garden tour is back. Hydrangeas can be vastly different in Michigan within a 1 1/2 hour drive. Holland on Lake Michigan has warmer winters than where I live in in the Battle Creek area. Holland’s hydrangeas are always glorious. Ours has matched theirs only once in the past 16 years that I have been paying attention. Here is my glorious year.

    • Mica

      Holland Michigan! My children’s paternal ancestors were Dutch, and we visited there once. I remember one of the signs that was for sale: “Come on, wife, let’s go to bed. The guests want to go home now” 🙂
      We have one of those Friesland names ending in -sma

    • Holly in Ohio

      I know I keep saying these flowers are beautiful… but they ARE!!!
      That color is amazing. It is like a cotton candy bush… but I would rather have the lovely smell of the hydrangea than the sweet of cotton candy!

  • Holly in Ohio
    I am contemplating HOPE today. It is sometimes an awkward thing for me. I have memories of hope and pain mixed together. These days, climate change and the pain that our dear planet is experiencing can be very frightening to me. My usual way of dealing with this is to put my head down and work on what is immediately in front of me, and I to try to make myself smaller, with less of a negative impact on the planet, and to limit my exposure to bad news when it gets too much for me. This works t...

    I am contemplating HOPE today.
    It is sometimes an awkward thing for me. I have memories of hope and pain mixed together.
    These days, climate change and the pain that our dear planet is experiencing can be very frightening to me.
    My usual way of dealing with this is to put my head down and work on what is immediately in front of me, and I to try to make myself smaller, with less of a negative impact on the planet, and to limit my exposure to bad news when it gets too much for me.
    This works to a degree, but leaves me with moments of anxiety and deep sadness. I am looking for a new way of navigating the present and future, and finding peace in this challenging time..

    So this morning I started thinking about Pandors’s Box and what it might mean. There is a reason hope was in the bottom of Pandora’s Box, along with evils, but interpretation varies as to why it was there. Some, like Nietzsche, feel that Hope was another evil, perhaps the worst one, and a torment. Others see Hope as a remedy or solace, and a way of navigating through evils. There are yet other interpretations as to why it was there.
    How do you feel? What do you think about Hope in your own life?

    There is coming up a 5 day practice of Hope at Gratefulness.org that I’m going to participate in, and, “hopefully” figure out my feelings. If you would like to participate, too, I’m going to put the description and registration page here. I “hope” to see some friends on this journey. 🙂❤

    Make Your Heart a Vessel of Hope: A 5-Day Practice

    Read More
    • Mica

      Thank you yet again, Holly! 🙂
      I signed up, too – it’s free and involves 5 daily emails:

      Make Your Heart a Vessel of Hope: A 5-Day Practice


      I recognized Pandora but had forgotten the Hope and am delighted with your educated commentary about it.
      This book led me to hug my old baby doll: Weintrobe, Sally. Psychological Roots of the Climate Crisis

      • Holly in Ohio

        Interesting! Is it a book I should ask about at my library?

        • Mica

          None of my family chose to read it. But none of them seems too stressed out over climate change. What I got out of it was the need to have something that warms your heart, so to speak.

    • Kate
      I’ve signed up, too. I think hope is such a difficult topic. If one hopes too much or too specifically, it can lead to disappointment and disillusionment. I’m trying to focus on each moment. To find pleasure or joy or contentment in watching my dogs play or sleep or try to get away with naughtiness. To enjoy our walks together. To listen to the birds sing in the morning. To receive a phone call or visit from my kids or a friend. To laugh at something silly. To enjoy a good meal with ...

      I’ve signed up, too.
      I think hope is such a difficult topic. If one hopes too much or too specifically, it can lead to disappointment and disillusionment. I’m trying to focus on each moment. To find pleasure or joy or contentment in watching my dogs play or sleep or try to get away with naughtiness. To enjoy our walks together. To listen to the birds sing in the morning. To receive a phone call or visit from my kids or a friend. To laugh at something silly. To enjoy a good meal with friends. To explore quilting possibilities with a beautiful piece of fabric. I can’t really impact global events, except to add my vote when the time comes or work locally to positively impact others. If I dwell on world negatives, I feel paralyzed. It’s hard sometimes to remain positive.

      Read More
    • Rabbit

      Holly, I agree with every single word of your post. This site and all of you have been hope for me. C.S. Lewis wrote, “We read so we know we are not alone.” I have my husband’s son here today so will try to get back later with another thought on hope.

      • Diane

        I too have my partner’s son here today. Odd you shared that and I’m smiling at the common link.

        • Rabbit

          He and his wife are gone now. Less than a 24 hour visit from Texas but good for my husband to see him. Looking at your picture I am guessing your visitor is a little guy. Jerry’s son has grown kids. Enjoy the time. they grow up fast.

      • Holly in Ohio

        What a lovely quote, Rabbit! 😊

    • Pilgrim
      Holly, for me Hope is the Light. It may be barely a flicker or a glimmer, a light very far away at the end of the tunnel. It may look like the one person's kindness that day (or week), or the one thing that makes me laugh a little after a long time has passed since the last time I laughed. It may show up in the one positive story I read among all the other offerings on CNN or another news outlet. Yesterday what made me smile was that when I went out for the mail, I saw a couple doing the same, w...

      Holly, for me Hope is the Light. It may be barely a flicker or a glimmer, a light very far away at the end of the tunnel. It may look like the one person’s kindness that day (or week), or the one thing that makes me laugh a little after a long time has passed since the last time I laughed. It may show up in the one positive story I read among all the other offerings on CNN or another news outlet. Yesterday what made me smile was that when I went out for the mail, I saw a couple doing the same, with two small and lively dogs and a lovely little girl holding hands in the middle. A small adventure in an ordinary day..

      Read More
      • Holly in Ohio

        😄 Wow. I never imagined yesterday when I posted that I would get such beautiful responses that make me smile! I love that image of the little girl between the grown-ups! It reminds me of when the mail arriving felt like a very big deal! 😊

    • lotus blossom

      thanks, Holly. i signed up. 🧡

  • Yram

    I awoke in a bad mood but the naked lady and shrimp smoothed that feeling. Thanks friends.

  • pkr

    “Naked Ladies”, for all the flower lovers, Rabbit & all here. ❤️🌸

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