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  

1. My family

2. My house

3. My friends

4. My neighbors

5. My CSA farm box

6. Living in a place where so much fresh produce is available year-round

7. My job so that I can afford to live in such a place and eat such food

8. 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.

9. Heat 

10. Warm cozy blankets

11. Being able to text friends

12. 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.

13. Art supplies

14. Giving my kids endless art supplies instead of a TV

15. Buying a house with old carpet so that when those art supplies make marks on the carpet it doesn’t seem so bad

16. A new shower head

17. Water

18. Water for my garden

19. Drought tolerant plants

20. Succulents

21. Our garden that has become a neighborhood attraction for kids to play in 

22. Living blocks from Lake Merritt 

23. All the birds that visit Lake Merritt

24. Sending my kids to a school that petitioned to protect the birds

25. Parents who become friends when you send your kids to a progressive school

26. Reuniting with friends who live in very different places

27. Coffee

28. Electric car chargers

29. The West Oakland recycling center

30. Taking pictures

31. The technology that allows me to have an amazing camera in my pocket

32. Being able to afford to take time off

33. Being supported in being able to take time off

34. Taking time off

35. People who say yes when you ask for help

36. Being able to help others when they ask for help

37. Finding treasures in free piles

38. The Buy Nothing Network

39. Questions my girls ask that seem to come out of nowhere

40. NASA

41. My computer

42. Google Docs

43. My grandparents

44. Favorite numbers

45. The memory of ambrosia fruit salad with marshmallows and maraschino cherries 

46. Our magic fence that is used to exchange treats and necessities with the neighbors 

47. When people reach out at just the right time. 

48. A good therapist.

49. Sunsets and sunrises 

50. Relearning things as an adult 

51. Getting letters in the mail 

52. Curbside compost pick up 

53. Walking to pick up take out 

54. Friends from middle school

55. That I can still call professors from college and ask for help

56. That I am a college professor students and graduates call and ask for help

57. My students, the amazing ones who make me love teaching 

58. My students, the ones who push me to consider new perspectives 

59. Alistair, our dog, who I miss every day

60. The quirks and charms of living in a house from 1908

61. Trees

62. Butterflies

63. Fractals in romanesco

64. Fractals

65. Squash 

66. Baking pumpkin anything 

67. The quietness of the morning before anyone else is awake in the house 

68. 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

69. Living in a city 

70. Living in a diverse city 

71. Public transportation 

72. Running into people you know unexpectedly when you are out in the city 

73. Sunflowers

74. Planting seeds

75. Young activists 

76. Activists who realize it won't be a hero that saves us, but that it needs to be everyone

77. Turmeric 

78. Garam Masala 

79. Cinnamon 

80. Picking out stamps at the post office

81. Writers

82. Writing 

83. Watercolors 

84. The ability to transform 2-D to 3-D

85. My sewing machine 

86. Mending and repairing 

87. Fingernails 

88. My running shoes 

89. Thank you notes 

90. Old friends who you can pick up with as if no time has passed even though its been years 

91. People who let you pet their dogs 

92. Living in California, at the forefront of climate policy and climate change 

93. Living in California, knowing all the problems we have are microcosms of the larger inequities around the world 

94. Music 

95. My kids' teachers 

96. My education 

97. 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

98. The visualization of regenerative breaking 

99. Being able to see in color 

100. 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.