What does it mean to live gratefully?

What personal and social qualities support grateful living?

How can cultivating understanding, generous listening, and honest sharing support a peaceful, thriving, and more sustainable world?

Joan Blades explored those questions with the Network for Grateful Living (NFGL) in their recent feature on Living Room Conversations and Joan as part of the “Grateful Changemakers” series.

“Living Room Conversations are a listening practice. Listening fully to others is generous and fulfilling,” Joan says.

“Awareness, appreciation, and compassion flow naturally out of the human connection that is nurtured.”

Grateful living is defined as an engaged mindfulness practice, grounded in both wisdom and science, which supports our ability to see the wonder and opportunity in every moment, and motivates us to act boldly with love, generosity, and respect towards one another, ourselves, and the Earth.

Living Room Conversations grew out, in part, of Joan’s despair of the way we demonize each other. Grateful Living recognizes that wholeness and healing doesn’t come in spite of despair and loss, but because of it.

“A few years ago I began to describe this work as domestic peace building. Terrible things can happen when we demonize people. Everybody I know from across the political spectrum wants good things for their community, their family, and the world. This is an important starting place,” Joan said.

We hope wherever you are this week, and whatever you are doing, you’re able to find wonder and opportunity in each moment, and live from that truly grateful starting place.

Yours,

Shannon Mannon

Newsletter Editor