Author Archives: Gratitude Squared

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About Gratitude Squared

I’m Mary and write on my blog, Gratitude Squared. I prefer creativity with artistry sprinkled with bits of philosophy, previously a university scholar, compassionate for others, and deeply involved in advocacy and inclusion for human rights for people with disabilities. In 2017, I was diagnosed with a serious illness and prepared to die. However, nearly five years later I am very alive and extremely grateful to see life’s joys daily. Even with a recurrence in 2022, I love sharing aspirational and inspirational messages, and want to help you find your own gratitude. Thank you for going along this journey.

I’m Grateful For Serendipity And Synchronicity in Life

Today was a great day. I picked up business cards I had made for GratitudeSquared.com and as I was leaving Office Depot with the cards, the very clerk who helped me asked if I liked my cards, and I said “yes” and I wanted to give her my first business card! She accepted my simple gift of the card to her. She exclaimed how negative sometimes life seems to be these days, and appeared so happy to see the positivity from the name of my site. I felt happy that she became happy when she saw the word “gratitude”. It’s a nice, warm, fuzzy feeling to make people happy. She said she was going to “check it out”! For those of us who post, it is always nice when someone reads what we write. We do sincerely appreciate the time you give to us.

Later I had my blood drawn for labs I need for my doctor’s visits next week, and I thanked the nurse who did a good job with a pediatric needle by handing her my business card with GratitudeSquared. She also had the same response as the clerk in Office Depot. It seems that people are nearly depressed by their jobs, and a brief moment of “gratitude” is just the medicine they need. In fact, I took a photo while at the Quest lab today. See the photo below. As I was waiting in the Quest lab, I wondered why in the world they would have to post on their office door about guns! How the world seems to be changing these days!

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I’m Grateful I Learned About The #SpiritofPlace After a Visit to the #Pontdel’AlmaTunnel in Paris, France

Have you ever visited a special place where you experienced a memory or learned about a historical event? As I grow older, I am discovering many “special places” in my life: my mother’s gardens, an outdoor wedding spot, a fun family reunion memory from childhood, a loved one’s grave, a walkway where great men/women passed…. my little doggie playing in the bushes… What places are special or sacred to you?

Recently, I learned about the concept of #SpiritofPlace when I was reading about #water. Many religious practices recognize locations as significant and it is through that context that I am learning. Due to an illness I had an opportunity to go to Lourdes, France and on the way there, I passed through Paris, France and asked my driver to take me to the tunnel where Princess Diana died – the #Pontdel’AlmaTunnel. I was so moved to see the exact spot where her car crashed, and she lost her life.

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Gratitude For Thinking, Learning, And Experiencing

Last night I had my first “Sound Bath”! I attended because I love to learn about various perspectives on healing and wellness. When we started it was noted that the frequency of 432 Hertz would be emphasized. I made a note on my cell phone for later study. I studied “acoustics of sound” during my Ph.D. coursework, so my curiosity was ignited.

This morning I googled 432 Hertz to learn the significance. Apparently, this frequency is believed to be a healing frequency as it reduces anxiety, lowers blood pressures, and lowers heart rate. Further, as I read various studies to verify the accuracy of this statement, I I learned the term “solfeggio” frequency. According to the Nature Healing

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Grateful For Hope

In four days, Gratitudesquared.com will be 9 months old.

(from 02/05/2021 to 11/05/2021).

So today is like the birth of my baby! I have posted 143 thoughts in posts, had 4036 views, and 1418 different visitors.

I am not trending and my musings are not popular but I am alive and that is enough.

Earlier, I started a YOUTUBE Channel (A.K.A. Aspiring Through Cancer (ATC))

01/11/2019 to 02/18/2019

Gradually I stopped focusing only on Cancer and started to focus on Health and Wellness so my Channel name changed to “Aspiring Through Healing to Health and Wellness (ATH) which lasted during 12/22/2019 to 04/25/2020.

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Gratitude For Good Veterinarians

Recently, a little dog my human mother was trying to help was boarded at a Vet for several weeks. Apparently, he got a terrible parasite while boarded and nearly died. Because of her experience, my mom started to search good Vets and bad Vets for me just like she searches for good and bad doctors, medical centers, etc. for herself. She is much more careful now with me and my care and I am grateful to learn that if I need medical care, I will go to a good Vet.

Vets must have lots of university training and degrees to practice, but that does not mean they will be a good Vet. My human mother recently found this on google:

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Grateful But Horrified That I Learned About Animal Rights

Recently I watched my mother help a little Yorkie named Mickey. He was nearly killed because his human mother got sick, then he got a terrible parasite from a Vet, most likely, while he was boarded there. Fortunately, he was rescued by the Yorkie Rescue of America and rushed to an animal care hospital, placed in urgent critical care for a week and lived.

My human mother started to read all the various laws in different States about Animal Rights. Recently, she found a posting on Google (from June 5, 2017) that stated “according to law, dogs are property, making them no legally different from furniture or other items in your home”. This is just terrible news to me! I am sooooo lucky to have a human mom who treats me well and takes care of me. It seems that other dogs may not be so lucky.

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This Doggie Was Knock, Knock, Knocking At Death’s Door Three Times

This video captures the last month of a little Yorkie rescue named Mickey who nearly died, but is alive because of the assistance of several people in his life who cared enough to help him (#YorkieRescueofAmerica). It is the third in a series of postings about Mickey and has prompted further postings about animal rights and pets in the USA.

Links to the earlier postings may be found below, but in brief, the first posting is about an owner’s love for her pet when she becomes very ill. What does one do when faced with life and death yourself?

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Grateful For Seasonal Delights of Autumn And Fall

I love the Autumn and Fall Season and unfortunately it is already about over again this year. The colors are beautiful as the leaves change. The air smells fresh and crisp, especially in the early mornings and evenings. The seasonal foods like pumpkin and spices and soups and breads remind me of years past with family. The holiday seasons begin with Halloween and move to Thanksgiving as winter approaches. It is just a fun time of year, e.g., hayrides, ghosts, haunted houses, even raking leaves, playing in the leaf piles, and more.

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Please Help Make A Miracle For Mickey

You may remember my post about love and a dog recently in (How May I Capture Love in One Post?). Today I am pleading for your help for this little dog who is now in an intensive care unit (CCU) in a pet hospital (VCA) in Los Angeles. There has been a truly terrible turn of events in the past week.

My new little friend Mickey has now not only lost his dear human mama, as well as the only home he ever knew, but he may very well lose his own life because of a wicked parasite he contracted while being cared for, an unforeseen tragedy within this already sad story. Do any of us realize the extent to which cancer, or any serious illness, causes havoc not only on the person involved but on their spouse, family, and even on their pets? I am sad to admit that I never thought about this until recently.

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How May I Capture “Love” In One Post?

Thirteen year old Mickey is at the center of a grand love story this weekend. His mommy unfortunately has been visited by an aggressive breast cancer once again. Can any of you imagine the trauma of a double mastectomy, the planned potential damage to your heart from radiation and/or chemo, and then (on top of it all) the depth of pain to have to make a decision about the future of your best little doggie friend in the whole world? My friend Sherry is currently in the midst of this wicked storm of life. What would any of you do?

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