A Million Seeds of Joy | 03 GRATITUDE

It's not just about making a list, it's about creating a lens through which to see the world.

Sep 25, 2025

Friends reading this in your inbox or on the app, it would mean the world if you’d take a moment to tap the 🤍 emoji and/or share this post to help it get seen by more people. I have a dream of growing this space into the kindest corner on the internet, something that supports your creativity, connection, and courage even more in the days we are in. I can only do what I do because of you, and I am so grateful you are here.

Well, our million seeds of joy series is turning into a weekly rhythm, and I think we’ll just grow with it.

Gratitude. This seed of joy surprises no one, right?

It seems almost redundant to even mention because we have heard it touted so frequently.

And sometimes gratitude can be complicated. It gets used as a cudgel instead of a comfort.

We don’t do Pollyanna positivity or forced optimism around here. No one is going to come see if you have a gratitude list or if it’s up to date. If you do, woot! If you don’t, that’s great too.

Here’s the deal. Some of us came from communities where gratitude was a way to measure devotion, wholeness, or spirituality.

Sometimes people hold heavy expectations over us (or we hold them over ourselves) when what we really need is less expectation and more invitation.

That’s why I go out of my way to hopefully make it so clear. You are welcome here just as you are, and there is no expectation. Just the hope you find more wonder today than yesterday. Performative planting doesn’t yield healthier gardens.

No shaming or blaming for having a hard day or week or year. Not now. Not ever.

yellow flowers with green leaves — Photo by Vlad Kutepov on Unsplash

You already know you can keep a gratitude list. In many ways, gratitude and savoring are peas in a pod.

Like savoring, gratitude enhances our brain’s ability to notice the small moments of goodness around us we might otherwise miss.

Practice 03: GRATITUDE

Gratitude is how we hold the truth of beauty without pretending pain isn’t there.

Two things can be true at the same time. More than 2 things can be true at the same time.

We live in such an either/or world. Gratitude helps us move beyond either/or to explore both/and.

We can hold gratitude and grief at the same time. Practicing gratitude helps us expand our capacity for all the ways goodness and joy can show up.

Gratitude is a rebellion against scarcity. It insists there is enough.

Let’s talk about a fun way we can practice gratitude. This is one of my favorite things to do in fall.

Photo by Anastasia Zolotukhina on Unsplash

Creating a Gratitude Tree

Here’s what you need. Adapt this to what you have on hand.

Gather sticks and twigs (or use the decorative variety, repurpose an ornament tree or Easter tree) and put them in a sturdy container like a repurposed coffee tin.
If you are gathering sticks from outside, make sure you de-bug them before bringing them inside. 🤪 You can tie them together at the base and then put them in a container filled with stones that hold the “tree” in place and keep everything balanced.
Get as creative as you like with this! Spray paint your tree. Paint your container, especially if it is a repurposed tin.
Then I used packing paper that came in a recent delivery to cut out leaf shapes and threaded them with twine to make a loop I could then hang on the branch. Because this is autumn, paint your leaves autumn colors or cut them out of colored paper.
On each leaf, I write one thing I am grateful for. Add 1-2 leaves/day until your autumn tree is filled with gratitude and color.
More ideas:
- Do a two-dimensional version in your journal.
- Use coffee filters for the leaves and watercolor autumn colors. These are so much fun.
- Turn it into an activity over Thanksgiving. Have each person/guest write 1-2 things they are grateful for and hang the leaves on the tree.