During this week in November, I am so grateful for my Marines. Please thank members of the military for their service. Here are some family photos when Marcus returned home to visit his grandfather, Robert, a WW II Marine.
#gratitudelite
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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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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This is the audio version of my posting on April 30, 2021 titled “Gratitude is a Teacher to Moderate Desire”. Some of my followers have requested audio versions rather than to read the text. Since this is a longer and more complex subject than I sometimes post, I request that for any of you who wish to take notes, please refer to the text posting as linked above. All of the audio content is provided within the above link.
In general, this posting explores the relationship between desire and gratitude with reference to the book “Psychology of Desire” (2015) edited by Hofmann, W., & Nordgren, L. F. (Eds.). (2015). The psychology of desire. The Guilford Press. Content within this book is described in detail in the posting linked in the above paragraph.
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On February 1, 2021, when I pledged to remain in a “State of Gratitude” I did not expect it to be so difficult. I entered this journey intellectually, enjoying all the new reading, and appreciating all the little acts that create happiness and joy in life. Today, eighty-eight (88) postings later, I admit the emotional part of the journey to gratitude is not always easy.
Since I promised to motivate my followers, I observe people on a daily basis to learn what makes people “grateful”. Fortunately, or unfortunately, my informal observations reveal that many people tend to focus on what they do NOT have rather than being grateful for what they DO have. I, too, at times, find myself guilty of this attitude as I will explain below.
As many of you may or may not know, I decided to buy a camper so that I might see the National Parks and visit Waterfalls around the USA. I looked and looked, and planned and finally found a motor home that was my dream! It was brand new. I had to wait an extra five months for it to be delivered during the pandemic, and then when I did receive it, I waited another five months for it to be under repair for warranty services, fixing various unsafe parts and completing manufacturer recalls etc. It turned out to be a lemon and last week I sadly got rid of it. So, for more than one year, I happily had focused on camping adventures, camping furniture, places to go, and my planned dream places. I admit I was extremely involved in the adventure I had dreamed about and, to date, never had experienced. I read all about camping, joined various groups, and was full of anticipation.
But…in reality, before my dream even started, it ended. My dream was over after more than a year of expectations!
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Gratitude is such a personal emotion. When one considers “gratitude” from a religious perspective, frequently viewers draw referents from their own social systems, cultural experiences, sets of morals, beliefs, ethics, worldviews, faiths, and/or spiritual elements. It seems that we all know what gratitude feels like, but we differ as to how we might explain it to each other.
As for me, I feel pleasure when I achieve a state of gratitude as, even if for a moment, I am removed from the here and now, and am transcended to a point of joy. I feel happy if I may cause gratitude in another person. I am touched to watch others experience gratitude. I am saddened when people can not find gratitude during a particularly difficult time.
I enjoy reading about gratitude. I find peace while studying particular behaviors of gratitude; when viewing specific practices related to gratitude; if learning about cultural systems related to gratitude; during visits to sanctified places; as I visit preserved holy places; and when examining meditation, prayer, music, art, dance, and/or religious or spiritual aspects of human culture.
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Tomorrow will be my four year health anniversary! I did not expect to see tomorrow. I feel like I am sailing (see exhibit at #LACMA) through the years – oh happy days!
This evening is an important time in my life as it is the eve of my 2017 health discovery that I was dying. On April 21, 2017, I learned I had several serious tumors and had approximately 7 to 9 months to live. It is an interesting feeling to learn you are going to die. It is a joyous emotion to not have died! Thus, the 21st of April on every year is a sacred time to me and I want to express my sincere gratitude on this important annual date with all of you. I do not take this day for granted.
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#UrbanLight is a landmark in Los Angeles at #LACMA by the artist #ChrisBurden in 2008. It is free!
The lights are from the 1920’s. There is repetition. There are lines of lights like “toy soldiers” lining up. Burden says the lights are “about imagining something”, a “societal responsibility”. What holds the work together? What do you feel when the lights come on at dusk and turn off at dawn? What do you relate to with regard to the repetition of the rows of lights and the on and off of the lights?
Today is the end of the #GeorgeFloyd murder case with the verdict of guilty. During this eve, I wonder what will the societal responsibility be tonight? Will people consider this eve as a sacred time for gratitude and thankfulness; will people consider this eve as a point of anger towards others? What will be the societal impact tonight? The recent mass shootings, the constant violence, the repetitive cycles of killings, court cases, protests, and discussions of racism continue on and off like the 1920’s lamps at the museum. The fear of citizens and communities to travel during the day as well as during the night re-emerges again and again after each act of violence.
This is a sacred eve before the dawn of day. Will people feel #joy, or #happiness, or #gratitude? Time will tell us… tonight when the people reflect will they be imagining something new, a change, hope, or will they not? I do not know how to feel about this sacred eve.
#gratitudelite
#MichaelHeizer, the artist, stimulated the imaginations of many in 2012 in #LosAngeles through the #LosAngelesCountyMuseumofArt #LACMA project when he placed a 340 ton granite boulder suspended over a 450 foot long slot carved in the earth. Persons can walk under the rock, around the rock, and next to the rock for FREE.
The rock allows the viewer to experience whatever they want to see and imagine and feel. The artist lets us look under the sculpture which rarely happens for a work of art. I am #grateful for the energy I felt when under the boulder. The energy is contagious to all and is unbelievable while there. Plus, during the following two days after my visit, amazing connections and conversations with others has taken place in my life! I am full of #joy after my visit to this “pebble”.
Below are two videos of the experience of walking the 450 long slot carved in the earth. One is my personal walk. The other video I provide for YOU, empty of all people, so you can imagine only YOU are walking the 450 feet. What do you feel? What is your experience? Enjoy!
#gratitudezero
The next video I provide for YOU, empty of all people, so you can imagine only YOU are walking the 450 feet. What do you feel? What is your experience? Enjoy!
How do you acquire your moral values and beliefs? My mother was my teacher. Here is one of our favorite poems she would tell us, “A House Inside of Me”, poetry by Marian Elsie Blake available on Amazon.com (2013). I have deep gratitude for what my mother taught me.
#gratitudelite
Gratitude Squared 