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.

Little Things Make The World Go Round

This morning on the Today Show they featured a woman who had a second face transplant. Her past boyfriend tossed acid on her and burned her face. A terrible story of domestic abuse surviving for anyone. But, not Carmen Tarleton!

She met the donor family of the second face transplant. It was such a joyful event for all, but what impressed me the most was her joy that now she can wear earrings again. And, she can finally wear glasses because now she has ears!

Be grateful for what you have! If Carmen can be happy, so can you!

This is #gratitudelite. See the post on February 28, 2021 for definitions of gratitude categories.

I Am Taking My Mom For A Walk

Interesting story today. I have a wonderful son who lives out of State. Whenever he comes to visit his friends, he comes to visit me too. This morning we greeted our neighbor, sitting on a curb and smoking as he always does, as we walked past him. I said my usual “hello” and we exchanged updates about our neighbors, and then my son said to him, “I am taking my mom for a walk”! It sounded so funny. I guess my son views me sometimes as a pet. I walk my dog. He walks his mom!

I am grateful that my son takes me for a walk!

This is #gratitudezero. See the post on February 28, 2021 for definitions of gratitude categories.

I Found A Surprise After Breakfast

This morning I went out for breakfast outside. It is a lovely, sunny, but breezy day, and I enjoyed getting out of the house during the pandemic. The breakfast was nice, but under the chocolate roll that I gobbled down with morning coffee, I found the word “YUM” on the plate.

YUM made my day! Thank you YUM…

This is #gratitudezero. See the post on February 28, 2021 for definitions of gratitude categories.

What Are You Waiting For?

This morning I stood on the pier and watched all the surfers waiting in the water for the perfect wave to catch. They waited a long time, then tried one, and it passed over them. Next one guy tried again. Several guys had a few brief runs. Others sat on their boards in the water, relaxing, watching, and learning about the ocean; looking for the best wave of the day to try again. Apparently, surfers love this process.

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Personality Traits Along the Road to Gratitude

I just watched the movie Nomadland (2020), about a woman living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad, traveling through the American West after she loses everything in a recession. It was an interesting snapshot with persons I have met, especially during this pandemic. It seems that we are all managing our daily joys and problems, as best we can according to our personalities and temperaments.

I love water. I love the ocean, so when I came across an article on the Big Five personality traits from Wikipedia, known as the OCEAN model, I took a closer look. The model identifies five traits:

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Through Gratitude Expand

Last year I made a YouTube video titled “Through” on my YouTube Channel, Aspiring through healing to health and wellness, and learned the mighty power of one little word “THROUGH“. I had forgotten about that video until this morning when I came across an article titled, “9 Eye-Opening Ways to Expand Your Empathy and Gratitude” by Chris Holder. Hence, I am reminded of the power of words and when attached to images, change is amazingly possible. Through our words and images, especially on social media today, we motivate others to action.

Dr. Holder describes 9 actions we may each choose to keep us in a “State of Grace”. When I got to his number 4, I paused:

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Empathy and Gratitude – How?

Yesterday was a beautiful day, full of sunshine, so I went to the ocean. The sunset was lovely, families were on the beach, and all seemed well. When I returned home, I flipped on the TV and watched the terrible news about the freezing crisis in Texas, the power outages, the burst water pipes, and I felt awful watching those suffering families.

I wonder how can I feel two emotions, gratitude and empathy, in a matter of moments? Is it ok to feel blessed by the weather near my home while feeling horror watching the weather just a few States away? The suffering of the children in Texas is difficult to watch against the joy of the children on the beaches in California.

Najma Khorrami, in Psychology Today, described how empathy and gratitude are linked to each other through an explanation of neuroscience.

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Gratitude: Random or Purposeful?

People are so meaningful in our lives. It is interesting for me to listen to others’ impressions and expectations for these posts. Some of you love “the photos” in each post; others love “the written words”. You are building a community of “gratitude expressers”daily, and my sincere appreciation to each of you for your kindness. In response, my intention is to be a stimulus for our community. But, my questions for today, include:

Should we deliberately find an event, or act about which to express gratitude today? Or

Should we randomly go about the action of “everyday responsibilities” and wait to see if we see or feel gratitude?

Look at this bird, freely flying through the air. Do you think the bird flight is purposeful or random? Maybe the bird enjoys both. Maybe the bird doesn’t care where he is going; he is just hanging around.

My friend “Siri” tells us that to be purposeful is to be determined, intentional, or to have a useful resolve. She notes that random is made without “conscious decision”, unspecified, unfamiliar, having an equal chance to happen, unusual, unexpected, or unknown.

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What is Your Life’s Light?

As I examined the wooded setting of Airy the RV in the photo above, I found pleasure in the breaking of dawn through the trees, as well as in the lit underbelly of the coach. Both types of lighting touched my mind’s eye and I asked why? One light protected me near the the RV, while the other protected my early morning drive from deer leaping, or hikers walking.

One light is man-made and artificial; the other is God made and natural. Jill Harness noted on hunker.com that there are several differences between natural and artificial light, between firelight and candle light, and fluorescent bulbs, flashlights, or sunlight. There are a surprising number of differences between light sources found in nature versus electronic sources.

The intensity of light, the duration of light, and

the amount of light is only under your control with artificial lighting.

I made a note to myself to ask “Do I have control of my life’s light?”

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Gratitude Circles

It is happening, now… Gratitude Squared is multiplying… Oh Happy Day!

Friends, peers, colleagues, strangers, and family are talking about “Gratitude”. They are sharing their own stories about being grateful, and/or joyous about various experiences in their life.

There is “positivity in the air”!

As the author of these blogs, I am watching the radius of circles rolling out as these “posts” are thrown out into the world, similar to dropping a pebble into a pond and being mesmerized by the perfect circles formed after the entry of the stone, falling into the deep waters.

People need each other so often form various groups, for friendship, for play, for spiritual blessings…

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