Expressing gratitude, through practices such as gratitude journalling, has been found to have great benefits for mental health and well-being.
This practice usual happens at the beginning or end of every day, and involves recalling perhaps three things (or five, 10, or more) for which you are grateful.
How much more powerful could this be if we could be grateful throughout the day? Perhaps pausing every hour to identify something now present for which you’re thankful.
To radicalise this practice further, try finding gratitude for things you are not grateful for.
Neutral or even negative objects, events, or feelings could bask in the glow of your attention1, and be offered perhaps a brief “thank you” or a Buddhist gasshō.
The goal of this practice, towards which we can all move closer, although none of us will ever reach it, is a state of constant gratitude for all that is. You could perhaps even call this state “perpetual prayer”.
Might the world become a better place, if we could all aspire to that?
Embiggening Others
Signal boosts for the good that’s out there ⥥ ⥥ ⥥
I listen to a lot of podcasts. They teach me so much, by listening to a diversity of voices discuss a plethora of topics.
The really good ones I listen to over and over again, finding more to love and learn as my mind marinades.
Recently, I’ve been binge-listening to Manda Scott’s Accidental Gods2, the podcast that believes that “another world is still possible, and that together, we can create a future we’d be proud to leave to the generations that come after us.”
We’re all aware that we live in “interesting”, often terrifying times, when these godlike technologies, along with the climate emergency, global conflict, and more, all combine to create what’s been called a “polycrisis” or “metacrisis” threatening all human life, perhaps even all life on Earth.
Some episodes of Accidental Gods dive deep into these existential threats, and are not for the faint-hearted. But Manda’s recent interview with Michael Haupt, on the tools we need to transition to a post-capitalist future, gave me an incredible sense of hope. I think it’s worth 78 minutes of your time.
Another recent episode featured Douglas Rushkoff (whose own podcast Team Human also frequently blows my mind and grows my soul). Doug and Manda talked about the “ocean of tears” which I know so many of my friends feel they are drowning in (particularly due to the intensifying conflict in Gaza). I found this episode deeply cathartic. Perhaps it may help you too?
Just how inspirational is this short film? SOOOO fucking inspirational. Watch!
That’s all for now. Sorry it’s been a while since I last posted - I’ve been drowning in an ocean of tears. But perhaps I just found a life raft. Please come join me on it!
This practice has a parallel in the Buddhist metta bhavana or “cultivation of loving kindness meditation”, in which goodwill is extended to people we feel neutral about, or even actively detest.
The podcast’s name comes from E.O. Wilson’s astute 2009 observation that humanity is in crisis because “we have Paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions, and godlike technology.”
Radical Gratitude