Giving Gratitude
a gift of a list, 100 things I'm grateful for
It’s Giving Tuesday, but instead of asking you to give, I’m giving you a list of gratitude! I am thankful to all of you who have chosen to subscribe to Regenerative Conversations, who have liked, commented, forwarded, and reached out with new connections. I began this substack to expand who, what, where, and how we talk regenerative design. Thank you for reading and supporting my work. My ask to you is that you give Regenerative Conversations by forwarding, sharing or suggesting it to a friend, colleague or family member who you think might also enjoy reading, learning and discussing regenerative design.
My substack is free because I’m privileged to have a rewarding job that supports me financially. While my ask is that you forward this on to grow my subscribers and readers, my real ask is to fractal the growth of those who are willing to engage in the conversations needed to sustain our planet. So why not forward this to someone you think might like to also subscribe!
My high school art teacher used to give us the assignment to make a list of 100 influences. It's one I’ve reused time and time again in my own classroom adapting it to 100 influences, 100 inspirations, 100 ideas, and others. The assignment is meant to help you brainstorm, but also to help you see what inspires you, what has influenced you, what sparks your curiosity, and what you are grateful for. As a follow-up to my post on Thanksgiving last week, today I share a list of 100 gratitudes. This list is not meant to be exhaustive or inclusive. If I wrote it again tomorrow it likely would be different. It’s a snapshot of today, this moment in time. I encourage you to make your own list of 100 influences, 100 inspirations, or 100 gratitudes.
100 Gratitudes
My family
My house
My friends
My neighbors
My CSA farm box
Living in a place where so much fresh produce is available year-round
My job so that I can afford to live in such a place and eat such food
Living in a state that not only acknowledges a woman's right to her own body, but that just voted to make sure that's explicit in its constitution.
Heat
Warm cozy blankets
Being able to text friends
Having friends who I know I can text whenever I need something whether it be to pick up my kids, ask where I can find something, vent, or say hello.
Art supplies
Giving my kids endless art supplies instead of a TV
Buying a house with old carpet so that when those art supplies make marks on the carpet it doesn’t seem so bad
A new shower head
Water
Water for my garden
Drought tolerant plants
Succulents
Our garden that has become a neighborhood attraction for kids to play in
Living blocks from Lake Merritt
All the birds that visit Lake Merritt
Sending my kids to a school that petitioned to protect the birds
Parents who become friends when you send your kids to a progressive school
Reuniting with friends who live in very different places
Coffee
Electric car chargers
Taking pictures
The technology that allows me to have an amazing camera in my pocket
Being able to afford to take time off
Being supported in being able to take time off
Taking time off
People who say yes when you ask for help
Being able to help others when they ask for help
Finding treasures in free piles
The Buy Nothing Network
Questions my girls ask that seem to come out of nowhere
NASA
My computer
Google Docs
My grandparents
Favorite numbers
The memory of ambrosia fruit salad with marshmallows and maraschino cherries
Our magic fence that is used to exchange treats and necessities with the neighbors
When people reach out at just the right time.
A good therapist.
Sunsets and sunrises
Relearning things as an adult
Getting letters in the mail
Curbside compost pick up
Walking to pick up take out
Friends from middle school
That I can still call professors from college and ask for help
That I am a college professor students and graduates call and ask for help
My students, the amazing ones who make me love teaching
My students, the ones who push me to consider new perspectives
Alistair, our dog, who I miss every day
The quirks and charms of living in a house from 1908
Trees
Butterflies
Fractals
Squash
Baking pumpkin anything
The quietness of the morning before anyone else is awake in the house
Except I live in a city, it’s never perfectly quiet, but it's that quiet of the distant traffic, the passer-by-ers and the train that comforts me
Living in a city
Living in a diverse city
Public transportation
Running into people you know unexpectedly when you are out in the city
Sunflowers
Planting seeds
Young activists
Activists who realize it won't be a hero that saves us, but that it needs to be everyone
Turmeric
Garam Masala
Cinnamon
Picking out stamps at the post office
Writers
Writing
Watercolors
The ability to transform 2-D to 3-D
My sewing machine
Mending and repairing
Fingernails
My running shoes
Thank you notes
Old friends who you can pick up with as if no time has passed even though its been years
People who let you pet their dogs
Living in California, at the forefront of climate policy and climate change
Living in California, knowing all the problems we have are microcosms of the larger inequities around the world
Music
My kids' teachers
My education
Knowing my education came as a privilege which I’m not necessarily grateful for, but grateful for the insight and awareness of the power and privileges it grants
The visualization of regenerative breaking
Being able to see in color
Pat, my high school art teacher who believed in me when I didn’t, and taught me to make lists of 100 things that influence you, that I’m forever grateful for.