These days are treacherous, aren’t they? There is so much to worry about; so much to be angry and sorrowful over. I almost feel ashamed at the joy I feel when I look out the window at the leaves that shout their brightness back to me. Don’t make too big a deal out of that beauty, I think. It’s not making a difference.
Maybe, but I keep looking for it all the same.
Sometimes though, I need a bit of direction, and so a few weeks ago, I recruited Hadley and Harper to help me with a Thirty Days of Grateful Writing Challenge.
“You mean like think of 30 things to be grateful for every day?” one of them asked.
Could any of us do that? Perhaps, but I was thinking of a word or a phrase to consider, and then write about. “Something new,” I told them as an example.
“Something that sparkles,” Harper said (because of course she did).
“Something powerful,” Hadley added (because of course she did).
“A mistake,” Harper said and we all stopped. Can you be grateful for a mistake? Could you write about that? (I think I can do both. Challenge accepted, sweet girl).
“Something not in the plan,” Hadley said with a smirk on her face, eyeing me and my planner that was laid across my lap. (That’s fine. Not everyone can appreciate the balm there is in making a plan and lists and co-plans and lists for those co-plans. This type of living isn’t for everyone.)
Together, we came up with 30 prompts to help writers, painters, comic strip artists, poets, and anyone looking to express something to be grateful for in November. It’s for all ages, too. I would love to see how a Kindergartener would interpret one of these prompts. Or, a teenager, a college student, a parent, a grandparent, or someone who is none of these things. What could we learn from each other, what would it do for the world and to the world if we all shared stories and expressions of gratefulness?
You can find the challenge here. Sign up, and you get 30 prompts, a sample essay of mine, and access to the Instagram hashtag to share your writing, or other artwork.
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