I hope this finds you with a full belly and a grateful heart on this Saturday after Thanksgiving! Many of you reading are blessed to have abundance and a grateful heart, but some of you might be feeling lonely, uncertain, hopeless, or despair about your personal challenges or the state of our world. The practice of gratitude can give us resilience to be able to face the challenges we are currently navigating or those that lie ahead.
But how do you practice gratitude when you are heart-broken or outraged about what is happening to your world? Author, teacher, and scholar Joanna Macy says that“gratitude is not dependent on external circumstances. It’s like a setting or channel that we can switch to at any moment, no matter what’s going on around us. It helps us connect to our basic right to be here.“
Macy also believes that the practice of gratitude is a radical act because it brings freedom from the industrial-growth and consumer-driven society whose predominant message says: “You’re not good enough, you’re not smart enough, you don’t have enough, etc.” This messaging breeds profound dissatisfaction and fuels consumerism. Joanna explains that the corporate system is like a virus that robs people of their birthright to be happy. “Gratitude is liberating… it helps people realize that they are sufficient, which means they can be free.“
Activist and coach Jessica Serrante echoes this sentiment in her podcast series of interviews with Joanna: “Our gratitude connects us to our love, which connects us to our care, which connects us to our outrage and our drive to protect what we love and care about. And it all happens naturally as long as we don’t stop the flow of feeling and let ourselves feel what’s inside of us.”
How do we let the feelings flow? It can feel scary, as though we might never emerge from the pit of despair, fear, or grief. But in my experience, when I am witnessed in my grief, pain, or outrage, it does eventually subside, and the process helps me reconnect to what I love—and to why I am here. This allows me to discover how I want to live this precious life.
Gratitude is a grounding practice that connects me to the present moment and all the gifts that surround me. I’m not perfect—there are times when I feel frustrated and stressed out and wish things could be different. But when I can find even one little thing to be grateful for, it helps me “change the channel” and through my life with more ease in my body and my spirit.
Joanna Macy’s Work that Reconnects is a transformative framework that helps people address ecological and social challenges through four key stages: Gratitude, Honoring Pain, Seeing with New Eyes, and Going Forth. It focuses on emotional healing, expanding awareness of our connection to the Earth, and empowering individuals to take action.
If you are interested in attending a Work that Reconnects Retreat in Boulder, with my friend Kathleen Rude in early 2025, please click here to learn more and add your name to the mailing list so you will be notified of when we are offering the retreat.
And if you would like some support with finding gratitude and letting your feelings guide you to your inner wisdom, schedule a free Embodied Soul Path Alignment session to explore how somatic coaching can support you in your life.
Wishing you peace, and gratitude in your life,
Laura Rose
P.S. In the spirit of gratitude, thank you for your business this whole year! In October, I donated 10% of my proceeds for the month of October to disaster relief efforts in the Asheville area via Beloved Asheville and to my Thai Massage teacher Picheste’s family’s school in Chiang Mai Thailand.
