The world is not just a little thrill

10 things so LIT about gratitude, including the perfect mashed potatoes

Nov 21, 2023

Expressing gratitude goes against many of our natural tendencies, but our “natural” tendencies toward the negative can be disrupted. I love that about humans. I love that the brain is so capable of forging new and improved neural pathways.

Let’s look, and look again at the healing power of gratitude - validated by science.1

Look, and look again.
This world is not just a little thrill for the eyes.

It’s more than bones.
It’s more than the delicate wrist with its personal pulse.
It’s more than the beating of the single heart.
It’s praising.
It’s giving until the giving feels like receiving.
You have a life—just imagine that!
You have this day, and maybe another, and maybe
still another.
-Mary Oliver2

My gratitude list and some ideas for your thanks-giving week:

Acceptance for what is. Remember that time there was a blizzard on Thanksgiving morning and no power and that one time the toilet overflowed in the middle of the meal, and that wacky moment when … nvrmind. Hey, it’s either a good time or a good story! I’m a little sad that only our youngest of four children is home for Thanksgiving this year, BUT I’m still looking forward to a wonderful meal with who is here. AND, three of our four will be home for Christmas. Yes, we can accept what is, find joy in the present, and also be excited about the future.
Pie. I laughed when Jenny from
Dinner: A Love Story
wrote “the last thing Thanksgiving should ever be is “interesting.” The first thing it should be? Traditional, which is to say consistent and comforting.” I tend to agree, which is why we always have apple, pumpkin, banana cream, and chocolate cream pie. Whipped cream and ice-cream on the side (but ice-cream can’t touch my pie). The one “unusual” side we’re having this year? Macaroni and Cheese.
My husband is the cook. When we were first married and settling into “marital roles,” there was a hot second when I wondered if it was okay? Me being a woman and all. Ha. This thought lasted only a hot second. He always makes the turkey and stuffing and roasted vegetables. We’ll keep on keeping this division of labor. He also knows how to do dishes. Too far?
Mashed potatoes. The perfect mashed potatoes must be cooked until very soft. If you drain the water too soon and the potatoes are even a little firm, you’ll get glue. This is so sad. I mean, SO SAD.
The Corn Kernel game (dang, I spelled “kernels” wrong in my picture):
The Ten Things game:
Use whatever categories you like; expressed gratitude is happiness!
The hard things, turned into…something meaningful :
another great conversation starter
THESE PENS. My daughter wants them for Christmas so I put them in my Amazon cart and noticed they are 45% off - this also makes me HAPPY.
These Butter Fan Rolls, a recipe I make from an old Cook’s Country magazine, which is now flour and food-stained and you’ll have to pry it from my cold, dead hands (yes, it’s also online :). EVERYONE loves these and starts talking about them days in advance.
An “I HAVE” mindset. Before his death, the neurologist Oliver Sacks published a collection of essays that were collected in a book called GRATITUDE:

I cannot pretend I am without fear. But my predominant feeling is one of gratitude. I have loved and been loved; I have been given much and I have given something in return; I have read and travelled and thought and written. I have had an intercourse with the world, the special intercourse of writers and readers. Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure.

Writing from a place of “I HAVE” is acknowledging what we have instead of what we don’t. And that, is a place of gratitude = happier living.

My friend Heide once shared the “silver linings” of life with Eric her husband, after he was diagnosed with ALS. This wove itself into my second book, TEN THOUSAND TRIES, when Golden’s dad has a pretty definitive “3-5” years left of life.

How would life change for the better if we lived “like we were dying”?

Here’s my “I HAVE” list that I wrote on the fly (using my senses):

This would be a fun activity to do with others or to write in a journal.

Gratitude is a fast acting and long lasting spiritual prescription.
-Faith leader Russel M. Nelson

Like you, I also have and carry sadness for things and people lost. But I also have hope that time heals if we keep trying. I have a belief that someday, everything is going to be made right. It will be okay. Do you feel this, too?

What is on your “I HAVE “ list?

I always love to hear from you <3

Amy

And:

A Gratitude Zine:

Austin Kleon

has a chock-full post on the great benefits of gratitude (where I read about Oliver Sacks) with some super fun family activities, including a printable zine. If you don’t know what a zine is, CLICK!!! It’s so fun.

How to Feel Better Fast: Love this from

Tamar Cerafici

and her Blue Book of Happiness.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/giving-thanks-can-make-you-happier#:~:text=In%20positive%20psychology%20research%2C%20gratitude,express%20gratitude%20in%20multiple%20ways.

The poem that Jill J.G. read at Robin’s memorial service yesterday. Our dear friend.