For Thanksgiving Week, I gathered a feast of heartfelt responses from Substack writers, my daughters and friends to ask them: What is it about being human that you are most grateful for?
Oh Amy, All of this was so beautiful and I feel so honored to be included. I read this last week and intended to comment, but then, life. All the stories here just reinforce what I know in my bones: love, community, sharing, laughter, appreciation. That's what will get us through, what has always gotten us through. Thank you for bringing us together at your table. xoxox
I taught ethics for many years. One of the most rewarding aspects was getting down to the common principle that we could all agree on. For example, on the question of abortion rights ultimately everyone no matter which side of the debate they were on could agree that “every child should be a wanted child. “ It is sinking down to what makes us human and joins our hearts together that I hope will help us in this time of what seems like impossible turmoil.
Hi Christine, what a thoughtful and wise perspective. Thank you for sharing that. There are really so many ways our hearts are joined together, when we dare to go a layer deeper to our core humanity. Thank you.
Thank you for contributing to this bountiful feast of wisdom, Deb. I was also struck by how beautifully our tapestry of responses wove together, each of us on a similar journey of opening our hearts and minds to all of ourselves and the world. Wonder is the perfect word. And it was Louisa who helped me design the new logo!
Hi Amy, I listened to your voice reading this sumptuous gathering of creative, kind, wise and compassionate women, each sharing the gems in their hearts that they hold dear and are grateful for. I felt like I had come to a feast with the most delicious and precious dishes I've ever tasted, and am honored to be called to this long table in the awesome company of your guests. I also enjoyed reading the comments here. I'll be revisiting this page again on Thanksgiving and look forward to reading everyone's answers to the second question.
Louisa, it was such an honor and gift to you included at this table, my dear friend. Thank you for giving a shout-out to mornings in your gratitude and I hope you enjoy the poems I linked to next to your offering. I think you will enjoy hearing the poets read these poems aloud!
Oh, thanks for reminding me of the two beautiful poems you included next to my offering. I just listened to them and loved them! I think I will listen to them upon waking, and perhaps make a play list with the morning theme, to help ease me from the "other world" to each new day.
Amy - the table you set here was filled with such love. The tapestry of reflections on humanity - what it tastes like to fully feel, left me so satiated. It was such an honor to be included here and I thank you for your genuine compassion. This collection will carry me into Thanksgiving with a full heart. ❤️
What a delight to be offered a seat at this glorious potluck dinner of gratitude. A table whereby each guest brings but a single dish, yet shares and savors an entire table’s worth of nourishing goodness. I am wiping tears and grinning in my pushed-back chair, delightfully overstuffed. In fact, if my soul was wearing hard pants right now, she’d be racing home—top button undone—to her beloved elastic-waist flannels. Amy, you throw one helluva party. Thankful for your contagious and bountiful spirit. 🍁
This was such a lovely post to wake up to! I feel there is so much to be grateful for, but what came to mind first, is gratefulness to love and be loved - by other humans, animals, the Earth, myself. I resonate with so many of the answers shared by you and these wonderful women. To me, love encompasses the beauty that surrounds us, and the human ability to let ourselves feel and experience everything in our surroundings, including our connections with others. Thank you for this, Amy!
Tracey, thank you so much for sharing this bountiful gratitude with us. You and I are united on the love front--in fact, every answer here is a layer of love because love contains all the things--the beauty and the awe, the sorrow and the pain, the connection and the silent solitude.
Thanks for starting this conversation. We all need to lean into gratitude- there are always many things to be grateful for but we get too focused on our current challenges.
That is so true, Sally. I appreciated that so many thoughtful hearts shared their gratitude with me about being human. I know we've all read the studies that gratitude is a mental health game changer. It's good to be reminded of that.
I love this. Such a wonderful idea and thank you for introducing me to some writers I'm not yet familiar with. Before I got out of bed this morning, I was resting in the dark and a thought occurred to me about my single status. I ended a relationship mid-year that in many ways was the most wonderful one I'd ever been in. But there was a very important element missing. That element was ME. I've grieved the loss since June AND at the same time I've come to recognize something very important. Though I have no significant other in my life in the traditional sense, I've discovered this year that I actually do, in a not as traditional sense. My significant other is me.
And then I got out of bed, and read your piece...it seems you concur. Thank you, Amy. Sending you love. I'm grateful for YOU!
Nan, how uncanny you were having that reflection just before reading my own gratitude for this (belated) gift I have acquired to learn to love myself unconditionally--to be married to myself first. It has now been two years since I moved out of the house I shared with my ex husband when I initiated my divorce, two years in which I've made a home and a life WITH myself as never before, a period in which I have not dated another but instead have dated myself. Who is this woman who wrenched herself out of a 33-year-marriage? What do I need to know about her, the whole of her, before she can partner again with another without abandoning herself? I am still getting to know that woman. There are times when I long for the kind of relationship you describe but I am also struck by what you said about "a very important element missing...ME." I don't ever want to lose me again, the way I did in my long marriage. Thank you for sharing, Nan, and I am also grateful for you.
What a grateful filled essay. Thank you for curating thoughtful answers from family and friends. Being human, I am most grateful for recognizing my mistakes and the drive to make right my errors.
Stacey, thank you for coming to our table and leaving this lovely comment and reflection on gratitude. Yes, there is such grace in the ability to recognize our mistakes and to right our errors. Grace and courage.
I am so glad for your contribution and the care with which you approach everyone and everything in your life. I am glad you found this assemblage of beautiful wisdom inspiring. I did, too.
Your turn, dear reader: I'd love to know your answer to the question : What is it about being human that you are most grateful for?
Oh Amy, All of this was so beautiful and I feel so honored to be included. I read this last week and intended to comment, but then, life. All the stories here just reinforce what I know in my bones: love, community, sharing, laughter, appreciation. That's what will get us through, what has always gotten us through. Thank you for bringing us together at your table. xoxox
I taught ethics for many years. One of the most rewarding aspects was getting down to the common principle that we could all agree on. For example, on the question of abortion rights ultimately everyone no matter which side of the debate they were on could agree that “every child should be a wanted child. “ It is sinking down to what makes us human and joins our hearts together that I hope will help us in this time of what seems like impossible turmoil.
Hi Christine, what a thoughtful and wise perspective. Thank you for sharing that. There are really so many ways our hearts are joined together, when we dare to go a layer deeper to our core humanity. Thank you.
Thank you for this beautiful article! I appreciated being included in it, but even more so, I've enjoyed reading others' reflections.
There is so much depth!
I was so opened by each response and the way you weaved it all together with your words!
As always, I am grateful for the conversations you start and the way you invite us to wonder.
(Love your new logo by the way!)
Thank you for contributing to this bountiful feast of wisdom, Deb. I was also struck by how beautifully our tapestry of responses wove together, each of us on a similar journey of opening our hearts and minds to all of ourselves and the world. Wonder is the perfect word. And it was Louisa who helped me design the new logo!
So much beauty and wisdom here, Amy. Your reflection on love, self-love and that intersection of gratitude is both beautiful and powerful.
Gah. I’m so moved by everyone’s words. I am going to be rereading your and the other responses over and over.
So honored to be among such authentic and inspiring women.
Thank you, Thank you, Amy.
Grateful for you and this incredible community of badass, bold and beautiful women.
Keep shining that big beam of love light of yours, Amy! You are such a light in this space. 💫
Thank you dear Rosemary, for these kind and loving words and being such a lovely light yourself.
Hi Amy, I listened to your voice reading this sumptuous gathering of creative, kind, wise and compassionate women, each sharing the gems in their hearts that they hold dear and are grateful for. I felt like I had come to a feast with the most delicious and precious dishes I've ever tasted, and am honored to be called to this long table in the awesome company of your guests. I also enjoyed reading the comments here. I'll be revisiting this page again on Thanksgiving and look forward to reading everyone's answers to the second question.
Love,
Louisa
Louisa, it was such an honor and gift to you included at this table, my dear friend. Thank you for giving a shout-out to mornings in your gratitude and I hope you enjoy the poems I linked to next to your offering. I think you will enjoy hearing the poets read these poems aloud!
Oh, thanks for reminding me of the two beautiful poems you included next to my offering. I just listened to them and loved them! I think I will listen to them upon waking, and perhaps make a play list with the morning theme, to help ease me from the "other world" to each new day.
Amy - the table you set here was filled with such love. The tapestry of reflections on humanity - what it tastes like to fully feel, left me so satiated. It was such an honor to be included here and I thank you for your genuine compassion. This collection will carry me into Thanksgiving with a full heart. ❤️
I am glad you feel full and satisfied. That’s always my aim with my guests! Thank you for contributing from your bountiful heart, my friend.
What a delight to be offered a seat at this glorious potluck dinner of gratitude. A table whereby each guest brings but a single dish, yet shares and savors an entire table’s worth of nourishing goodness. I am wiping tears and grinning in my pushed-back chair, delightfully overstuffed. In fact, if my soul was wearing hard pants right now, she’d be racing home—top button undone—to her beloved elastic-waist flannels. Amy, you throw one helluva party. Thankful for your contagious and bountiful spirit. 🍁
This analogy totally delighted me, thank you, Jennifer!
This was such a lovely post to wake up to! I feel there is so much to be grateful for, but what came to mind first, is gratefulness to love and be loved - by other humans, animals, the Earth, myself. I resonate with so many of the answers shared by you and these wonderful women. To me, love encompasses the beauty that surrounds us, and the human ability to let ourselves feel and experience everything in our surroundings, including our connections with others. Thank you for this, Amy!
Beautiful.
Tracey, thank you so much for sharing this bountiful gratitude with us. You and I are united on the love front--in fact, every answer here is a layer of love because love contains all the things--the beauty and the awe, the sorrow and the pain, the connection and the silent solitude.
Thanks for starting this conversation. We all need to lean into gratitude- there are always many things to be grateful for but we get too focused on our current challenges.
That is so true, Sally. I appreciated that so many thoughtful hearts shared their gratitude with me about being human. I know we've all read the studies that gratitude is a mental health game changer. It's good to be reminded of that.
I love this. Such a wonderful idea and thank you for introducing me to some writers I'm not yet familiar with. Before I got out of bed this morning, I was resting in the dark and a thought occurred to me about my single status. I ended a relationship mid-year that in many ways was the most wonderful one I'd ever been in. But there was a very important element missing. That element was ME. I've grieved the loss since June AND at the same time I've come to recognize something very important. Though I have no significant other in my life in the traditional sense, I've discovered this year that I actually do, in a not as traditional sense. My significant other is me.
And then I got out of bed, and read your piece...it seems you concur. Thank you, Amy. Sending you love. I'm grateful for YOU!
Nan, how uncanny you were having that reflection just before reading my own gratitude for this (belated) gift I have acquired to learn to love myself unconditionally--to be married to myself first. It has now been two years since I moved out of the house I shared with my ex husband when I initiated my divorce, two years in which I've made a home and a life WITH myself as never before, a period in which I have not dated another but instead have dated myself. Who is this woman who wrenched herself out of a 33-year-marriage? What do I need to know about her, the whole of her, before she can partner again with another without abandoning herself? I am still getting to know that woman. There are times when I long for the kind of relationship you describe but I am also struck by what you said about "a very important element missing...ME." I don't ever want to lose me again, the way I did in my long marriage. Thank you for sharing, Nan, and I am also grateful for you.
xoxo!
What a grateful filled essay. Thank you for curating thoughtful answers from family and friends. Being human, I am most grateful for recognizing my mistakes and the drive to make right my errors.
Stacey, thank you for coming to our table and leaving this lovely comment and reflection on gratitude. Yes, there is such grace in the ability to recognize our mistakes and to right our errors. Grace and courage.
Thank you for your lovely Thanksgiving invitation, Amy. I appreciate you and our connection. Reading all these comments is inspiring. Warm hugs.
I am so glad for your contribution and the care with which you approach everyone and everything in your life. I am glad you found this assemblage of beautiful wisdom inspiring. I did, too.