Grateful for a Frida Kahlo Impersonation
Gratitude for silliness! This is a photo of this year’s Halloween celebration with me impersonating famous Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo, who was known to have pet monkeys and often featured them in her dramatic self-portraits.
True gratitude is creative.
Happy Thanksgiving!
When fall begins to shift into winter in our northern hemisphere right now, it can be an amazing time for deep presence and peace. With the light, weather, and trees changing, that little chill in the air might make you seek warmth and reflect on things. I have been thinking about gratitude. The end of the year is a great time to give thanks and remember the vital connections in our lives.
A meditation about gratitude I really appreciate comes from famous psychologist Phil Stutz, who co-wrote a book called The Tools. There is a Netflix documentary called Stutz, which tells the story of Phil Stutz and explains the five tools, and I highly recommend it. The tools Stutz describes are for moving through challenges. The “Grateful Flow” is one of the five tools, and Stutz says that true gratitude is creative and in present-time. When you imagine stepping into a flow of gratitude, you realize that gratitude can be a way of looking at what is happening in the moment. Practicing gratitude can be a way of being in the habit of looking at things in terms of what is right about them, instead of what is wrong. Sometimes, that takes practice and can be gradual. I believe gratitude trains you to perceive and discern things that affirm and support life.
Being Creative About Gratitude
Here is a technique for being creative about gratitude. Quickly list the usual things you are grateful for like family, friends, home. But then get specific and pick something about each one, so you get a crisp picture of your gratitude. This way, when you do this “in real life” during a week or a month or two, you can be grateful for different things every day, each time you choose gratitude. Gratitude practice is a powerful mind and soul practice.
So, getting back to that ordinary list: What is it about family, friends, home that you are grateful for right now?
I am grateful for my family, because my sisters and nieces are always encouraging me to try new things or do silly things like wear costumes for Halloween. My costume was Frida Kahlo this year. See the photo below.
I am grateful for friends who push me to develop myself, take risks, and hang in there. I have friends encouraging me to do stand-up comedy. So, I started writing jokes and crafting short stories, and I am getting closer to creating a “tight five minutes.” Sometimes I use these jokes in conversation or in Qigong class. Years ago, I did have a budding standup comedian come to my weekly Qigong class. At the time, this comedian had a day job as an accountant, and he made jokes about accounting in his funny 8-minute show at an open mic show at a local restaurant. I am in awe of people who can make a whole group of people burst into laughter. When we laugh all together like that, the energy in the room feels like unity in the moment!
I am grateful for my home. Yes, we take things like clean running water, that can come out of the tap hot or cold, for granted. Many people in the world do not have access to this luxury of water we enjoy in the shelter and sanctuary of home. There are humanitarian organizations working to bring clean water to more and more people on the planet. Thinking of sharing this planet with others makes the mind space even wider and makes me think of our common shared humanity. We are here on this planet, together, but not the same. Each of us is a unique expression of the same brilliant human spirit. The brilliance comes forth in moments of unity.