Thank you to any of you who are here after receiving our practice email this morning with the incorrect link! A sure opportunity for all of us to respond creatively to unexpected situations. Life will offer these every day, and it is always a deep learning for me to expand my sense of possibility at these times, rather than constrict. Not easy, but worth it. Creative adaptation and resilience in the face of life’s unpredictability – powerful grateful living practices as we navigate life.

Thank you Drew. Indeed, directing our attention – and our bodies – to the beauty and tenaciousness of the natural world is a gift. We are blessed when the weather allows us to meet people outdoors, to walk with birds and clouds and trees and notice their invitations toward peace. Yesterday I saw a family flying a kite in the field down the street and people out walking I had never seen before in my neighborhood. Social distancing can allow us intimacy with aspects of life we have neglected. Bless your reminders. Blessings to you and yours, Drew – K

Hello again Craig – We are sorry you feel the way you do and respect whatever path forward feels right for you. We’re curious why you think there isn’t space for discussion here? We see our commitment to feature different voices on the site as the first layer of discussion. Community member’s responses to articles and resources and to other comments are added layers of that discussion. We’re open to the differing ideas that people may have about gratitude and gratefulness and grateful living, and we firmly believe that no one person has all the answers. We can only offer the perspective we have based on our own experiences in and of the world. We feel we can all be teachers for each other in a way in that we can always learn from each other, even if it is by crystallizing our own ideas in comparison to another’s. We thank you for your own ideas, Craig. We appreciate that you are wrestling with Elizabeth’s take on gratitude and hope it informs and clarifies your own thinking on the subject; we thank you for sharing those thoughts here as perhaps it will inform others as well. Each of our perspectives have value in the domain of shared learning. With grateful care – K

Dear Craig – I have been glad to feel you back here and to have your voice once again in our midst. I appreciate that you are such a thoughtful, seasoned seeker, and your praise for our efforts has been meaningful to me.

I find myself sorry for your upset and while I am aware that I may not speak to your concerns in a way that will change your mind I will at least try to speak into the heart of the matter as I can. We intentionally feature a variety of voices in the chorus of perspectives on grateful living. A diversity of interpretations is meant to enrich consideration and compassion. This author is wrestling with how to hold awareness of separation and suffering with gratitude and celebration simultaneously – something many in our world are struggling with right now. She is seasoned in this struggle and has written about it more personally before: https://gratefulness.org/blog/the-yellow-tree/

The lines drawn in this consideration are very fine – filaments that speak to both small and large distinctions. How the struggles in our lives and world can wake us up to act, and then we hold gratitude for the awakening – this is everywhere in our lives. To seek to find opportunities in the midst of difficulty is not opportunistic. To appreciate and accept that something is true does not mean it is acceptable. To be grateful for having a heart that can crack open in the face of suffering does not condone the suffering itself.

Our intention is to surface the depths and complexities of contemplation that allows for gratitude to attend to the “great fullness” of life as it is. This is not always easy but it is our offering. In this we are ever-humbled. In our shared belonging, Kristi