more grateful postcards...

It's wonderful to see a few more postcards trickling in!  Many thanks to those who take the time to share their inspiring words of gratitude...

gratefully yours,
jag

celebrating lives greatly full :: traci mclean...

Traci McLean is one of those women whose smile and eyes grab you from the get-go.  And that voice... sigh. I first met her in 2009.  She was the "new girlfriend" at a family gathering and, having gone through that same experience many (many!) years ago, I was drawn to her immediately. We bonded over that shared experience and have gone on to discover that we have so much more in common.  She is a talented writer and professional vocalist based in Toronto, Ontario.

Traci has been so supportive of *the gratitude project: dare to be grateful* and our conversations over the past year hinted at a deeply felt gratitude of her own.  And so, when I invited her to share that gratitude in this space, she enthusiastically agreed. 

I feel blessed to have her in my life.  Wish you lived closer, my friend...

What Personal Quality Are You Most Grateful For and Why?

In some ways, I’ve been a late bloomer my whole life. It’s not something I’ve ever taken much note of, except in grade 8 when I got teased for still climbing trees and not wearing makeup. Hey… I had multiple flavours of “Lip Smackers” on the go (Mom said clear lip gloss only) and I still climb trees. I just no longer care if people find it strange. The joy of sitting in a tree far outweighs the opinions of others.

I also think I’ve been slow to fully acknowledge my true strengths.  As I looked at what qualities I appreciate about myself, I became grateful for the exercise of answering this question.

I discovered I’m grateful for:

my courage:  I was repeatedly tossed into some very dark places for over a decade and despite fears that I’d lost myself at times, in the end, I emerged stronger than ever – with deep gratitude for the family and friends who stood by me

my playfulness:  I love to play, to laugh, to explore, create, adventure, be silly, go on all the rides, try new things and a beautiful carousel will make me cry.  I’m grateful for the people in my life who love the kid in me and join me in play.

my determination:  I don’t give up easily. I possess a tenacity of mind/heart over matter for which I owe great gratitude to the teachers and mentors who I trained with spiritually, in meditation/communication practice.

my love:  I love my family, friends  and pets deeply and fiercely with an “I’ve got your back” type of honour. I am so grateful to my beautiful parents for teaching me this type of love and demonstrating it so very well. 

my optimism:  I’ve been affectionately teased my whole life about my rose-coloured glasses, my silver lining, my boundless, eternal optimism. My Mom says I was just born like that and my nephew is the same. I am beyond grateful for this quality. In itself, it has been the silver lining during the darkest of days.

But then… as I wound my way through these grateful moments trying to pick  one,  I realized that, most of all, I’m grateful for the way that I’ve grown - to be willing to openly share what I like about me. To share just as it is, without fear about the opinions of others and the societal need to place people in an appropriate box. I don’t fit in a box… and I’m happy with the awkward, wandering parts that make it so.

Though this path to acceptance of self has been lit by a lifetime of experiences, wonderful friends and family I must share that it was greatly accelerated when I met the love of my life, 5 years ago. Late bloomer, remember? He sees me for who I am. He sees me in ways that surprise me sometimes. Being loved and celebrated by him at my best and at my worst has been a true catalyst that allows me to more safely step forward into fully being who I am.  

Gratitude overload reached… signing off now.

Namaste.

the gratitude project assignment :: lily... noah...

Our ongoing series of essays from Grade 8 students from Broadview Public School here in Ottawa.  I had the pleasure of meeting with Ms. Viner and Ms. Krochmalnek's classes just before our Canadian Thanksgiving, to talk to them about *the gratitude project: dare to be grateful*. (Read more about that here.) Students were then given an assignment to interview a friend or family member about what they were grateful for, and to submit a short essay based on that interview.   I will be publishing a selection of these essays here on the blog over the next couple of weeks.  You will want to read these.  Seriously. These kids rock.

(Read Julia's essay here, Minseong and Judy's essays here, O'Dane and Evan's essays here,Dylan's essay here and Selina's essay here.)

Allow me to now introduce these two great essays by Lily and Noah...

The Gratitude Project   By: Lily

 
Hello there! I’m Lily and this is an interview of my mom. We recently sat down by the Ottawa river and discussed what we were grateful for, she talked about her favourite creative outlet:

Her topic has a lot to do about our cultural background, making Ukrainian Easter eggs (a.k.a. Pysanky)! Every year, around a month before Ukrainian Easter (usually 1 to 5 weeks after the Easter most of us know). When the time rolls around, we get out all our tools, a lot of them from when my grandma was still around (I love you Babcha!). We try to coax and drag our family to our dinning room table to at least make one egg, and when we are settled, we start to talk…
 
The great thing about making these eggs is that it is very meticulous work, so we kinda’ lose ourselves in our stream of consciousness. We talk about stuff that usually wouldn’t be spoken in a normal, straight as a board conversation. It’s a great way to get to know each other better, to bring us closer. 

Making Easter eggs is also quite extraordinary because it brings us back 100s (if not 1000s) of years of tradition. It liberates us from fast paced society nowadays. With all the technology and problems of today, it’s not hard to get whisked away. Getting together every year like this helps ground us, keep us together.
 
I really agree with my mom. With all that’s going on today, it’s hard to sit down and really think about our pasts (whether it’s 100 years ago or maybe what you did that day). Holding a wooden stick with a fine metal tip and drawing on an egg with it, the smell of beeswax and candle smoke heavy in the air, is sort of a relief. And the final product is also something to be grateful for as well!    ~Lily

 

The Gratitude Project   By: Noah

For the gratitude project I decided to interview my mom Tessa. I asked her “what person are you most grateful for” and after maybe a minute of thinking she chose to talk about her grandmother. 

She had been so grateful for her grandmother many reasons but she decided to pick these 3 examples. One reason that she was so thankful was because she taught her how to cook delicious hungarian dinners from scratch such as goulash and snitzel. That would be great because my mom told me she had always been at the cottage and her grandmother showed her many, many ways to stay fed with a delicious meal. 

This had taken up a lot of her choices so I had pry out what other reasons for being grateful for her grandmother. Finally I had gotten "business" as one of her most grateful parts from her grandmother and I'm sure her grandmother would have been very helpful in that specific area because her job was finding and selling antiques. She taught her business in a way that showed her how to make the most of the resources she had.

The final reason she had chosen her grandmother was to show her cottaging with skills she had not known such as pie making and enjoying the cottage I know this does not sound like a very important subject but when I listened to her talk about it I noticed enjoying the cottage is a very important part in life, for example if she never new cottaging she would never be good in flipping houses for more money and profit witch has helped her very much in life.

After sitting down with her for so long I can now believe why she had choisen her grandmother. If she had not ever met her grandmother she would have never learned how to flip houses make delicious meals and enjoy life as it is! 

the gratitude project assignment :: selina...

Our ongoing series of essays from Grade 8 students from Broadview Public School here in Ottawa.  I had the pleasure of meeting with Ms. Viner and Ms. Krochmalnek's classes just before our Canadian Thanksgiving, to talk to them about *the gratitude project: dare to be grateful*. (Read more about that here.) Students were then given an assignment to interview a friend or family member about what they were grateful for, and to submit a short essay based on that interview.   I will be publishing a selection of these essays here on the blog over the next couple of weeks.  You will want to read these.  Seriously. These kids rock.

(Read Julia's essay here, Minseong and Judy's essays here, O'Dane and Evan's essays here and Dylan's essay here.)

Allow me to now introduce this inspiring essay from Selina!

Name: Jake M.

photo provided by Selina

Biography: I have known Jake for about 4 years now, and he is one of the kindest person I know. He is very inspiring and I look up to him as a role model. I met Jake through dance and that's how I continue to see him everyday. I chose to interview him because he is never negative about anything and always appreciative of everyone and everything. Since he has a very positive attitude towards life, I thought he was the perfect person to interview. Some fun facts about Jake is that he can do a headstand for more than 3 minutes, he has red hair, and he is a male dancer.

Question: What life experience are you most grateful for?

The first experience he was grateful for was a national competition in Hollywood, Florida 2012. This inspiring experience made him truly realize he wanted to be a dancer. During the competition he realized that when you love what you do, you can, and will do anything to achieve what you want to achieve. He thought that maybe if he were devote everything he had into one thing, and maybe if he were to be as dedicated as all the amazing dancers he had seen, that possibly something amazing would come out of it. And thats exactly what happened.

Another experience Jake was grateful for was winning the title of Hamilton’s 2013 teen male dancer of the year. He had his mind set of doing the best that he could, not thinking about winning, but thinking of the experience he was going to have. All Jake wanted was to have the best run of his solo and make his teachers, family, and friends proud. When they called his name saying that he won, the emotion and shock he felt was so special no words could describe it. It showed him that all the hard work he had been doing had payed off and proved to everyone that anything is possible if you set your mind to it.

The last experience is he is very grateful for, is my favourite. He figured out that if he wanted to take dance seriously, being 185 pounds wasn’t going to get him anywhere. Jake used to not think before he ate which caused him the problem. He first started with an intense dieting of absolutely no exceptions of unhealthy junk. Then made up a routine where he would do 300 crunches, 40 push ups, and run 2k every day. Within only 2 months, he lost an astonishing total of 40 pounds, and eventually gained 5 pounds of muscle. Jake is especially grateful for this experience because it has made him truly appreciate the taste of fruits and vegetables and what they are doing for your body. Now he can live a healthy lifestyle of 150 pounds for a 15 year old boy. : )

Conclusion: Upon reflection I think that Jake is someone who many people are grateful for and who has an very inspiring aspect on life. He has been able to choose dance over football already knowing how tough it is to be a male dancer with all the bullying and has been the one that wins in the end. He is very grateful and appreciative for what he has and I hope you can see that too. ; )

celebrating lives greatly full :: shulamit day berlevtov

I first met Shulamit Berlevtov several years ago through mutual friends.  From the beginning, I knew she was a seeker and a healer - someone who wasn't afraid to do the work set before her on her spiritual path, and willing to share her experience with others.  She continues to carve her place in this world through her counseling services. She works as a psychotherapist in private practice who offers classes and one-to-one sessions in person in the Kemptville and Smiths Falls area.  Interestingly, she’ll be facilitating Explorations in Gratitude starting January 2014.   

Although we do not see each other often, we keep abreast of each other's lives through the magic of social media.  I am so pleased she agreed to share her most recent intentional practice: gratitude.  I am grateful for YOU Shula! 

What am I grateful for?

I am grateful for formal gratitude practice.

I post a statement about what I am grateful for to my Facebook status every night before bed. I remember the times when I had tried gratitude in the past. When I was feeling low, I’d make a list of “good” things in my life, things for which I should be grateful, and then I’d tell myself, “Look, you should be grateful!” and then berate myself for not feeling any better.

http://goldeneaglescoaching.com/life/benefits-gratitude-infographic/

My current approach started when I was having trouble sleeping. I'd seen this infographic and thought I’d experiment to see if gratitude practice before bed would help my sleep. I started by finding one thing each day that had made me smile. I’d recall what happened and smile. Then I’d pay attention to the feel of the smile, and to what other body sensations came along with smiling and the memory of the event. I’d sit with that for a while, savouring the sensations and resting in the memory. Then I would convey the experience by writing down a gratitude statement.

After some time practicing, as the hours move toward bedtime, thoughts of gratitude have started coming on their own. Sometimes they show up at random during the day. Feelings and sensations come with them that make the experience more vivid. When something happens in the moment and I’m grateful for it, the sense of it comes more fully.

Now that I’m awake to all that, spontaneous expressions of gratitude arise for me to share with people in the moment. The quality of my days and of my experience of living have changed. More joy, pleasure, ease and appreciation flow through me, even in the midst of difficult happenings. I feel low less often, and when I do, I can pause, place a gentle hand on my heart, and feel grateful for the ability to do just that. After all, that’s what I need when I’m feeling low! (I have yet to see an effect on my sleep, but at this point, who cares??!!)

Expressing gratitude directly to someone about something they have done is easy for me. I'm giving them feedback about how they have contributed to making life more wonderful for me. The effect my gratitude practice has had on others surprised me. I started doing it via social media because I wanted accountability. But what I offered to myself has become a giving. I still feel shy about acknowledging that. Accepting that this thing I do for myself is of benefit to others is the next frontier of my practice. I’m sitting with the shyness, and grateful for it.

the gratitude project assignment :: dylan...

Our ongoing series of essays from Grade 8 students from Broadview Public School here in Ottawa.  I had the pleasure of meeting with Ms. Viner and Ms. Krochmalnek's classes just before our Canadian Thanksgiving, to talk to them about *the gratitude project: dare to be grateful*. (Read more about that here.) Students were then given an assignment to interview a friend or family member about what they were grateful for, and to submit a short essay based on that interview.   I will be publishing a selection of these essays here on the blog over the next couple of weeks.  You will want to read these.  Seriously. These kids rock.

(Read Julia's essay here, Minseong and Judy's essays here and O'Dane and Evan's essays here.)

Now, let's see what Dylan learned on his assignment...

Interviewer:  Dylan

Interviewee: Steacy

Brief Biography:

My Mom is very close to me and we have had lots of experiences together. From some of these experiences, I've noticed that she has to make a lot of tough decisions like when she decided to go to teachers college and become a teacher even though she would have to work much more often. I thought about it and I knew that she had to have made some decisions that she’s really grateful for. That is why I chose my Mom for this project.

Question:

What decision are you most grateful for?

 
1.      My Mom's first decision that she is really grateful for is her decision to join the purification challenge when she was young. This was a group of kids that had to run a certain amount of distance every week. By doing this challenge, my Mom figured out that she was a good runner and she joined cross country and had a lot of fun. She stills enjoys running now and it is one of the reasons she can stay fit.

2.      Another decision that my Mom is grateful for is her decision to work when she was in university. She is grateful for this decision because this helped her pay for school. She is also grateful for this because it helped her organize herself so she wouldn't just party with her friends every night.

3.      The last decision that my Mom is really grateful for is her decision to go to Europe with her sister for 2 weeks in 2010. My Mom is grateful for that decision because even though she was away from her family for 2 weeks and it cost a lot of money, she was really glad because it was very interesting seeing all the foreign countries and exploring the world.  She also had a lot of fun.

Conclusion:

Upon reflection, I think that my Mom was really thinking deeply about my questions and taking them seriously.  My Mom wasn't very resistive of my questions and answered them without any pushing. I think that my Mom was running out of answers by the last example but I do think she was grateful for the decision.

 

I can connect with her first decision, since my soccer team has to run 3 kilometres every practice for the past 2 years. This I am grateful for because now my dad, Mom and I go for after dinner runs sometimes for fun.  If I hadn't been running, I wouldn't have learned to enjoy it and would be missing the great family talks we have on our runs.

a grateful anthem...

This song by Nimo Patel and Daniel Nahmod may very well become my new anthem. 

All that I am.

All that I see.

All that I've been,

and all that I'll ever be,

is a blessing.

It's so amazing.

And I'm grateful for it all.

 

gratefully yours,
jag