Monthly Archives: March 2021

Organizational Model for Gratitudesquared.com Site

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So many of you are responsive to my posts, so I want to pause to express my sincere appreciation to each of you. In just 4 weeks, there have been well over 1200 views, hundreds of different visitors, and many regular followers. As a teacher, I want to provide some structure to this site.

Some of my postings are just for fun to lift your spirits for a moment.

Other posts are inspirational or aspirational to assist you along your own pathways.

There is literature on gratitude that I am tapping into for the serious scholar and disciple of gratitude.

Today let me provide an “Index” for your use. The Index lists each title, the date of posting, a tag to indicate that the post is “gratitude zero”, “gratitude lite”, or “gratitude ultra”, and several of the “topics” within each post. In the future, for those of you that love “family and people posts” you will be able to easily sort and find such; if you love “pets”, or “nature”, the same. If you want to read and reflect on gratitude, you may. The following is my first attempt at organizing this site:

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Experience Gratitude Through Your Senses

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Along our journey to gratitude, let’s experiment today with sight and sound, versus reading the printed text, or viewing static photos. All of you will find your joy through a variety of meaningful methods, particular to you. In the USA, most people live inland, away from the ocean. Some of you see beautiful mountains, some see the Great Plains, or lakes, rivers, and streams. Many live in densely populated cities with tall buildings and little light.

All of the places in which you spend your time are special, unique, memorable, and important to you.

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When Gratitude Is Hard

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Today was a great day. Finally, some mechanical problems were resolved – after months of waiting and hoping. The stress of four months is leaving my body.

Some days you have to focus on what is good in spite of the bad around you.

Some days finding gratitude is hard.

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Gratitude: May Be A Complex Blend Of Sorrow And Joy

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Somehow I always associated gratitude with joy, happiness, and thankfulness. Yet recently, I begin to realize that one can have profound gratefulness with deep sorrow. For example, during the pandemic we honor our front line workers for their service in hospitals, but, at times, we are forced to thank them through the tears of memorial services for our loved ones we have lost. When I learned I was ill and probably would die; I was deeply grateful for the good life I had had.

Lately, I am moved by so many people helping each other and cheering when they receive the vaccine, but I feel sad for the priority established for administration of the vaccine, and for all those stories of great human beings who died before their time…

So, our message today is on this day… it will past too soon, and we do not know what tomorrow will bring. I am grateful for today, and for the humanity I see all around me!

This is #gratitudeultra. See the post on February 28, 2021 for a definition of the gratitude categories.

Be Mindful: Gratitudes are Cultural Phenomena

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Note: If you are new to my site, I want to say this is a “deeper” posting and you may want to visit one of my earlier posts, more playful posts first. This topic offers an academic post versus a fun post.

During my career, I had the opportunity to participate in writing the “Human Rights Convention for Persons with Disabilities” at the United Nations. Also, I served as President of a NGO (nongovernmental organization) for ISAAC (the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication), representing approximately 60 countries. The photo is with my colleague Sudha Kaul who served as President of ISAAC before my term in 2009-2010.

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THINK WATER and THINK GRATITUDE

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When I asked “Siri” “What is the purpose of water”, she replied “The answer I found is nuclear reactor coolant”! I expected something different, like to sustain life etc. But, upon reflection, I think Siri gave me an appropriate reply, as recently the people in Texas experienced freezing temperatures, power loss, and contaminated water.

Even as I write this post today, people are lining up to get packages of water to take their medications, brush their teeth, cook, and more. The situation makes me feel sad. I am sure that although the people of Texas feel gratitude when they receive their water allotment, they are exhausted, fatigued, tired, angry, and saddened at their situation – feelings, after all the time that has passed like a nuclear reaction. Powerful angry, worn out emotions!

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Precious Memories: Gratitude Is Free

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My dad was a minister of a fundamentalist church so he was against dancing. He was against dancing because, during his generation, he felt it would lead to “problems” when dating, although before he became a paster he won dance contests (Charleston etc.) and was a wild guy. This photo captures the love between my parents during their twilight years in privacy. I am so happy I have this photo.

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Wearing a Mask

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My sincere thanks to YOU for reading these posts. Today, let’s focus on a “gratitude zero” activity… wearing a mask. There is a lot of conversation these days about “masks”. People are tired of the pandemic, lock downs, separation from friends and families. It is sometimes difficult to remember to bring a mask. I have masks in my purse, my car, in shopping bags, and next to gloves when I put gas in the car. I have extra masks for my family and friends who forget their masks when running out the door to run an errand, or grab something to eat (take out).

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A Deep Gratitude Soak

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In an earlier post (Your Choice: Gratitude Zero, Gratitude Lite, or Gratitude Ultra) I ended by suggesting we were going to take a “deep gratitude soak” into the depths of the spectrum of gratitude waters. So I went to dreamstime.com to search for open source photos of “soaking in water”. At that site I found beautiful photos of people soaking in pools, in tubs, in the ocean, lakes, and so forth. I also found animals soaking in the waters or the sun, as well as people soaking their hands or feet, and soaking vegetables before cooking, or putting Easter eggs in water to color the eggs. Some of the photos were so unique that I place them within this post for your review and enjoyment.

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