I’m on a bit of a gratitude rush at the moment. Not gonna lie it’s an incredibly refreshing way to look at the world.
Last week I took a holiday – a real, actual, do-as-little-as-possible holiday – and it gave me the space to stop and really look around at just how much I have, and it was beautiful. This photo of my daughter hopping across a waterfall-fed woodland pool is to me an image of such incredible riches, it feels almost too cliched to be real! Whether I am looking at a vista of mountains and rivers, or a patch of dewy moss on a brick wall, or the night sky over a city, acknowledging the fact that I get to be in the world for a while and see these things is extraordinary.
I’m reading Braiding Sweetgrass at the moment (highly recommend, by the way) and I would like to share the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address – Greetings to the Natural World. It is an invocation that opens and closes every social and religious meeting, and is also spoken as a daily sunrise prayer. It is shared publicly by the Haudenosaunee, and we need to listen to them. How much better would this world be if we all started every endeavour with gratitude?
https://americanindian.si.edu/environment/pdf/01_02_Thanksgiving_Address.pdf
I would like to encourage you to think about what you are grateful for today. The warmth of the mug of tea in your hands, the roof over your head, getting to see that dog in the park playing with a ball, your best friend…
Thank you for being here. Your existence makes the word happier.
Have a great day!
Raven
x
You can find Braiding Sweetgrass in any good bookshop – buy from a local independent if you can! https://www.robinwallkimmerer.com/books
