🚧 Why? Make a habit of grateful thinking.

This playful practice was created by Br. David Steindl-Rast. He says, "I go through the alphabet and note for each letter the first word that comes to my mind. Then, I try to make a connection between that word and my practice of grateful living. It’s a kind of game I play…"

I appreciate its simplicity and flexibility. It could be played anywhere, with anyone, and at any level. Pick simple words in the car with your 5-year old, pick nostalgic words a walk with your spouse, or abstract/existential words around the campfire with a group of friends.

🚧 When & Where? 2 options.

I am finding us a few locations. If you know a place that can host us, please email me at hamraduncan@gmail.com.

Thursday the 13th, from ______ at __________.

or

Friday the 14th, from ______ at __________.

🚧 Who? 26 grateful neighbors.

Anyone is welcome to join! Anyone old enough to write will be able to get involved.

🚧 What? Journal, share, connect.

1. 5min - Introduction.
2. 10min - Journal
3. 10min - Big group check-in
4. 15min - Journal‍
5. 10min - Big group check-in‍
6. Porch time! A chance to connect with other participants on your way out the door.

From the Grateful.org website:

"One practice that I use sometimes – say, in my dentist’s waiting-room – I call The ABCs of Grateful Living: I go through the alphabet and note for each letter the first word that comes to my mind. Then, I try to make a connection between that word and my practice of grateful living. It’s a kind of game I play with myself…

A – AMAZEMENT
I mean that vibrant sense of wonder that triggers gratefulness. Mary Oliver expressed it so well:
“When it’s over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.”

B – BEAUTY
Not prettiness, but beauty as of a thunderstorm gripping my heart with a sense of mystery – this is the deepest root of gratefulness.

C – CHERRIES
Shiny red, big, and plump cherries, or even the tiny wild ones, so sweet on my tongue, are for me, as long as I can remember, an image of all that nature’s abundance bestows and our heart leaps to receive with gratitude.

D – DEATH
Living and dying belong together. Learning to live is learning to die. By learning to live gratefully, we learn to die peacefully.

E – EARTH
What a gift is this planet of ours! Gary Snyder speaks of it as the Earth Household. Earthworms, sunflowers, humans, lions, supernovas — all members of this household are gifts to one another. Gratitude of each to each – simply for being there – holds everything together."

Continue reading on Grateful.org →