A Little Gratitude in the Storm
Launching a mini-series to cultivate hope
Hello GUT friends.
Whew. How we all doing? What a week it’s been. And we’re still here — drawing and looking and loving, together. I’m so grateful for you.
A little re-up: in the wake of last week’s US elections, I shared a personal, handwritten letter I wrote on the role of the artist in perilous times. Someone asked for a printable version to hang it. So here is a link to the letter as a downloadable PDF. And here is the feelings evolution chart that accompanied it:
Last week, I was lucky to travel to the Carolinas and Massachusetts to give talks on the need to slow down and pay close attention to each other. To use drawing to look at the world with fresh eyes. To stay curious, open, creative, caring. As DrawTogether-minded people, we know we have to double on connection and creativity as repair for the rotting boards on what can feel like a sinking ship. Double down on early childhood art education. And we have to double down on our own a daily creative (drawing!) practices, now more than ever.
So what can we do to boost our heart and art today? One thing is pretty timely for November, a month that in the US often centers on the holiday of Thanksgiving - a holiday with a tough origin that has evolved into something hopeful and meaningful: community.
This November, let’s practice gratitude.
Gratitude is essential to connect with the world in a generative, just and impactful way. When we made and shared our prep lists this past week, we were thinking of things we wanted to bring into our lives - things we are grateful for and want more of.
When we overlook, ignore or take for granted all we have/are/experience or just focus on the negative, we inevitably burn out and shift into a deficit mentality. Gratitude helps us stay connected to our deeper purposes. It fuels our creative fights.
One way to cultivate gratitude is with drawing. Drawing helps us notice and pay attention to meaningful people, places and things we often overlook or ignore.
Small efforts like drawing can create a big internal shift - especially when we do it together, and especially in tough times.
In an essay for Greater Good Magazine, leading gratitude researcher Robert Emmons writes:
First, [gratitude] is an affirmation of goodness. We affirm that there are good things in the world, gifts and benefits we’ve received… Second, we recognize that the sources of this goodness are outside of ourselves. … We acknowledge that other people—or even higher powers, if you’re of a spiritual mindset—gave us many gifts, big and small, to help us achieve the goodness in our lives.2
An ungrateful person asks “What don’t I have? What’s next?” That leaves us feeling competitive, anxious, and isolated.
A grateful person asks themselves “What do I have? What is now?” That mindset keeps us focused on the present, appreciating the good things around us, recognizing abundance, and reframing challenging moments into positive experiences.
There’s an old adage: “Where we place our attention grows.” Placing our attention on gratitude helps us grow towards abundance for us, and others.
Where we place our attention grows.
The documented benefits of practicing gratitude are profound3. On a personal level, it makes us feel happier.
It also helps us live longer. From a study out of UC Berkeley:
Focusing on the positive and feeling grateful can improve your sleep quality and reduce feelings of anxiety and depression. Furthermore, levels of gratitude correlate to better moods and less fatigue and inflammation, reducing the risk of heart failure, even for those who are susceptible.4
Zoom out a little, and gratitude sets a course for our day-to-day decisions. How grateful we are can determine how we show up for others in our families, community, and the greater world.
Cultivating a grateful mindset is not an excuse to turn away from hardship or challenge. Quite the opposite. In the most challenging moments, we need to cultivate that Both/And abundance mentality to move forward in a more equitable and just direction. To engage with and support our families, communities and the larger world.
Micro-gratitude
This week, I thought it would be good to focus on the tiny opportunities for gratitude that surround us in the most unexpected, everyday places. For example: Each time I flip on the light switch and a light comes on. A miracle! When a book is blurry and I reach for my glasses and suddenly I can read. Amazing!! To walk down the street with ease, pain-free. Wow.
Honestly, I don’t appreciate things things until they are gone. When the light doesn’t come on (busted lightbulb? miss an electrical bill??) When I can’t find my glasses and realize how impaired I am without them. And, to be real, now that I have a pretty serious hip problem (ugh) it’s the pain I feel when I walk that makes me appreciate my mobility. I never really thought about it before.
So when things feel huge and overwhelming like they do right now, let’s get grateful for the small stuff. Let’s zoom in.
Clare Kambhu
Clare Kambhu is an educator and artist based in New York. Her painting are based on her every day surroundings at her school, and are a great example of how we can zoom in on the small, mundane stuff, and celebrate the every day.
I can hear the sound this chair will make when it’s pulled back for someone to sit. I know exactly what that tabletop feels like. I find these deeply familiar paintings comforting and universal. Not to mention how much they celebrate zooming in on our environments.
This painting, Doors, gives me all the childish glee of being released for recess. So many times I’ve pushed against such a door to be set free. You can really feel it, can’t you?
Claus Oldenberg
Another fun example of tiny overlooked things given their due: some drawings and sculptures by Claus Oldenberg! He is the maestro of making the minuscule majestic.
Oh, Claus. Funny, wry, and fabulous.
Okay, let’s keep these in mind as we practice our first gratitude exercise together.
Assignment: Micro-Gratitude
This week we are drawing Micro-Gratitudes together. What follows are our instructions, and link to share your drawing to the GUT art share. Join us!