Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, and confusion into clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, and a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.Melanie Beattie
It’s a beautiful autumn day in New England. It is the last day of parents weekend 2016 at my daughter’s college and we are about to leave to take the 3-hour drive home to our empty house. My father-in-law once said that a house has no heart unless it has a grandparent or child in it. He was SO right!
Even though my heart was full of the wonderful memories of this beautiful weekend, I felt myself getting a little quiet. A bit of sadness made its way into my thoughts. I was thinking, “This would be the last time we would be together until Thanksgiving weekend. There would only be one more of these weekends in our future.” One unpleasant thought after another crept into my consciousness.
At her college, there is this beautiful forest alongside a river. I suggested we get on the trail and take a walk. Motion creates emotion and I did not want this day to be hurried away, and I needed to snap out of it!
As we walked and talked, I was trying to be present and not let my thoughts drift to what I could not control. My intention was to enjoy every step as I savored our late afternoon walk.
Suddenly, we came upon an opening in the trees, and here we saw in the clearing what appeared to be hundreds of autumn-colored fabric rags attached to lines of rope. Even before I could see that there was writing on the fabric, I knew that we had stumbled onto something special… something intended for us in this moment.
As we got closer, thankful was written on top of one of the fabric pieces. We had discovered what looked like a “gratitude garden”.
The quote above was displayed on a sign with an explanation. In 2011, a week before Thanksgiving, this place was created. The intention of the “gratitude line” was to be by the river to create a reflective place for people in the community to share their gratitude publicly, yet anonymously. It could be a wish, poem, prayer for something or someone. What a powerful gift for the giver and the receiver!
I think this is a beautiful idea and I intend to encourage my town, school, corporate clients and family to start their own “gratitude line” or “gratitude gardens”. Enjoy yours!!!
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