Gratitude Community Guest Book
Please tell us about YOU!
“Life is much more fun if you live it in the spirit of play and collaboration, working with instead of against others.” - Wally Amos
In a sea of faces, there is only one YOU. Since we can’t sit down over coffee or tea, let’s begin an introduction here in this guest book. Who are you and what attracts you to gratitude?
Just comment with your name, a thought about gratitude, and if you’re a Substacker, blogger, or a writer of any sort, feel free to include your link and a brief focus of your writings.
Kudos to fellow Substacker, Martin Prior, who writes at Never Stop Learning and introduced me to the idea of creating this guest book. He ends his own guest book with this thought, which I so agree with:
“Remember, this community is not just about learning; it's about connecting, supporting, and growing together. So let's cheer for each other's success and fuel our curiosity.”
I am so grateful that you are part of this growing community and helping ripple out gratitude, abundance, and love into the world.
Joyce
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Hello everyone,
I'm Acadian Mi'kmaq from Aroostook, teaching in the Master of Public Health Department at California State University San Marcos, married without children (by choice), 65 years old.
How did I get to gratitude mojo? I worked with Joyce years ago as an assistant and she was an influential mentor who helped me find a career path in technology, healthcare, and research methods. She continues to inspire new thinking about my life and her writing encourages me to focus on the positive aspects. I tend to focus on the challenges in life: health and wealth disparities, the failures of American democracy, warfare, unfair taxation, oligarch systems, corporate manipulation, and… I choose to focus on these topics because I know change doesn’t occur without critical examination or educational efforts to promote awareness. Gratitude mojo punctuates my morning’s reading of the often-dark world news with a ray of hope and beauty. And Joyce’s writing is especially engaging and lifts my emotions.
What am I grateful for? Too much to describe here. Mostly, I’m grateful for the gifts that nature has provided me and continues to provide. But, I’m always aware of the dark side of life and feel sadness because nature is so cruel to too many humans. We have the know-how to build a more equitable world, yet we continue to make bad decisions.
I almost never read blogs and don’t know what substacker means. The only blog I read is Joyce’s. I prefer to listen to podcasts, especially while in the car, cooking or doing outside work.
My writing is usually focused on academic articles: American Indian education, older adult health, educational practice, and action oriented research. I don’t have intentions of retiring because I sense that my teaching is effective for transforming the sociopolitical conditions.
Before signing off and to not givie the appearance of being entirely depressed about the state of the world, I want to share a thought: Whenever you feel really discouraged about your condition and about your future, keep in mind that humanity continues to move on a path to progress. For example, King Louis IX, an example of extreme gluttony, never had Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, access to flushable toilets, or year-round citrus fruit. We do. Stay courageous.
What a fun idea! Thanks for sharing @Martin Prior and his idea from his Substack, Never Stop Learning!
I have a morning "Gratitude" ritual....before I get out of bed. I think of 3 things I'm grateful for. One is something in the world. One is about someone I care about. And the 3rd is about me.
No matter how I feel when I first open my eyes, the 3 Gratitudes start my day with positivity.
I research the scientific benefits of kindness and share them in Kindness Magnet, my free, weekly Substack. As you might imagine, gratitude has a pretty big role in my writing (and my life).
Thank you, Joyce, for the inspiration you have brought into my world. I appreciate you. 💚