Admittedly, I’m a gratitude junkie. I “get it” that for me, the more gratitude I find the more there seems to be available to be found. Sure, to declare gratitude (current Facebook meme) is an exercise. Gratitude declarations—to yourself or others—can be a practice formal or informal.
Mine was practiced: three good things. At some point, the practice shifted. Rather than feel compelled to note three good things every day, I just tended to see the good even in the midst of hard and so I guess the shift was from practiced to ingrained. Every single thing like this requires muscle, and muscles require all sorts of things, including repetition in order to grow smarter and stronger. This is to say I don’t feel particularly drawn to formal sharing of gratitude these days to further my sense of it. However, I’ve been tagged a bizillion times so I am going to pour a little gratitude over this page.
Grateful for my friends: the big rocks, the smooth stones, the jagged ones and the shiny gems. I really have a quarry and riverbed and tumbler and all of that. I learn and laugh, cry and commiserate, and just… all the things.
Grateful for my lovely family of six: because I love each one and I love them together and I love how very much the pack of them has grown my heart bigger than I believed it could become.
Grateful for the rest of my family, like my current tribe, easy and hard, smart and stupefying, and all like that.
Grateful for the sky, apples, words, cool air, warm sun, the smell of rain, and I could list on and on. My transition to the next meme, the ten books that made the biggest impact (or however that’s worded, which I also ignored on Facebook), is to say that I’m grateful for picture books.
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
Jethro Byrd Fairy Child by Bob Graham
Mr Putter and Tabby Paint the Porch by Cynthia Rylant and Arthur Howard
Milo’s Hat Trick by Jon Agee
Duck on a Bike by David Shannon
Jessica by Kevin Henkes
Edward in Deep Water by Rosemary Wells
Orange Bear Apple Pear Emily Gravett
I Am Not Sleepy and I Will Not Go To Bed Lauren Child
My Friend is Sad Mo Willems
There are SO MANY MORE and this is just a list off the cuff but for real, too. That’s how books work, right? Beyond picture books, there are also too many to count. I may stand by a belief that Charlotte’s Web is my favorite book ever, though.
You could tell me yours: grateful and books, grateful or books. Or tell yourself! That’s good, too, although I see there’s a wonderful thing that happens when you spread the love, so try it.
