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.

Be Mindful: Gratitudes are Cultural Phenomena

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

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

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

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

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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Your Yellow Brick Road To Gratitude

Recently, I camped at the Hollywood RV Park in Los Angeles. An artist painted beautiful tributes to the Wizard of OZ throughout the park. This morning, I wonder where the yellow brick road will take you?

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Your Choice: Gratitude Zero, Gratitude Lite, or Gratitude Ultra

This is my 32nd post on gratitude, and we have learned so much. To the extent to which you want to practice gratitude, I invite you to consider the various pathways from which you may select your “state of gratitude”. I borrow labels for your choices from current soft drinks, political strategists, podcasts, and traditional print literatures.

Gratitude may be expressed at any point along a continuum. In my post “What Money Can’t Buy”, I discussed intentional acts from sporadically grateful to always grateful. Thus, imagine a horizontal line from left to right with little markings (like on a ruler) to indicate your “extent of gratitude”.

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Pets Give Us Joy

I always say that whenever people decided to domesticate dogs from the wolf, it was a brilliant idea! People say that “dog” is “God” spelled backwards and I believe it. Dogs are such good companions to us, our children, to the elderly, to persons in prison, individuals who are ill or are physically challenged. Pets, in general, offer such a wonderful addition to our lives, and contribute to us in many different ways.

I found it interesting to learn that approximately 76% of all households own a pet in comparison to 28% of households (married and single-parent) have children, or 85 million have pets and 35 million have children. In 2017, one (1) billion dollars was spent on private health insurance for pets. Trends in pet dogs is the expansion of the family to include dogs within our everyday activities, routines, and lifestyles.

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Nature Gives Us Joy and Renews

This morning I woke to bright sunshine. It surprised me so early in the morning as typically the sun begins to shine around 10 a.m. As my morning routine began with a glance at my computer, I found something perfect for today!

Nature Deficit Disorder

What made this phrase so perfect is because I suspect that many of you in Texas, on the East coast, and Canada are experiencing this disorder just about this time of year (February) with the tough winter you have had. The dark, gloomy, cold, chilling winter has given you all a “nature deficit disorder”.

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What Money Can’t Buy

I like to think about gratitude as a “state of being”, but I am searching to learn how to keep myself in that “state” throughout the days and weeks. On tennessean.com I found an opinion piece by Bishop Joseph W. Walker III about gratitude. One particular point he made was:

Add up the things in your life that money cannot buy.

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