Hi everyone, Christmas is great, Independence Day is wonderful—but Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, by a long shot. It’s because it’s fundamentally about gratitude. The act of gratitude is personal and elevating. To say “thank you” is a way to say “I value you”, and in so doing to link your values to the deeds and characters of those at the receiving end of your thanks. To appreciate is to love, and what and whom we love makes us who we are. I love and appreciate my family and the meal we made together. I love and appreciate the time and work together with my colleagues in creating something new in education. And I love and appreciate the world that makes all of this possible.
I may be 18 months late but I am grateful to you for writing this.
Myself, I started this year with gratitude and my year has been better for it. I wrote that "where sacred is the opposite of common, you may sacralise common moments by giving thanks. Sacralise every meal, every drink, every dance, and every conversation, by giving thanks. Both giving thanks to God and giving thanks to everyone around you. Remember, even when there is a contract, gratitude keeps the terms fresh."
And a quote from my favorite philosopher Roger Scruton: ""At the end of all our striving,” we rejoice in our being and offer thanks. It is then, eating a meal among those we love, dancing together at a wedding, sitting side by side with people silenced by music, that we recognize our peculiar sovereign position in the world."
I will be following your work on education and use it as an inspiration for my self-education project. Thank you.
I may be 18 months late but I am grateful to you for writing this.
Myself, I started this year with gratitude and my year has been better for it. I wrote that "where sacred is the opposite of common, you may sacralise common moments by giving thanks. Sacralise every meal, every drink, every dance, and every conversation, by giving thanks. Both giving thanks to God and giving thanks to everyone around you. Remember, even when there is a contract, gratitude keeps the terms fresh."
And a quote from my favorite philosopher Roger Scruton: ""At the end of all our striving,” we rejoice in our being and offer thanks. It is then, eating a meal among those we love, dancing together at a wedding, sitting side by side with people silenced by music, that we recognize our peculiar sovereign position in the world."
I will be following your work on education and use it as an inspiration for my self-education project. Thank you.
://open.substack.com/pub/busyminds/p/on-gratitude-staying-awake-in-a-lulling?utm_source=direct&r=89l9f&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web