Grateful

Friday, November 16th was a special day in my creative writing classroom. Well, I suppose it could be argued that every day is a special one in this particular class. There are twenty of us, seated in this giant ring of comfortable chairs, writing, writing, writing. We create, we laugh, we critique, and we make memories together. The creative writing community is almost like a family away from home. Even the room itself is wonderful - beanbags litter the floor, poetry excerpts are splashed across the walls, dim lights dangle from the ceiling, and in the back corner, we have a tea station and a fireplace. It's the kind of fireplace that is not, in fact, real, but still emits light and heat. Electricity is a marvelous thing, my friends.

Oh. And there is another thing about creative writing that I absolutely adore: Food Fridays. Each and every Friday, someone is in charge of bringing a yummy snack to share with the rest of us, and although I never eat the frequently sugary treats, I love the idea; what a fun, fun way to strengthen our sense of community! This past Friday, my good friend Clary was to deliver food to the back table, and oh boy, did she deliver. She brought in beautiful loaves of freshly baked Irish Soda Bread, along with Pure Irish Black Tea and little mason jars of milk. As it was the last day of school before Thanksgiving break, our teacher, Azar, also decided to bring a pumpkin pie for the class. We all settled down around the Fake Fire (which consumed nearly all of our budget, but was totally worth it), pressed together like peas in a pod. I drank my tea, and everyone else gobbled up their bread and pie, and we sat there for an hour and a half talking about what we are grateful for.

Everyone, may I just say: it was magical.

For 6.25% of the day, we sat there. Just us. Just wonderfully alive. Just telling stories and recounting memories, talking about the beautiful things in life, and the not so beautiful things, remembering, remembering, remembering. It was honestly such a gorgeous experience. The connections that were made in that room on November 16, 2018 were astonishing. I am so grateful for that experience, and for the people who shared it with me.

Apart from being a truly profound moment in itself, the "lesson" got me thinking about everything, everyone, and everywhere that I am grateful for. Gratitude is such a vague concept - it is simple to say that you appreciate something, but to mean it, to be aware of what you're saying... that's different. Gratitude is a very active practice. It is something that can change your life for the better, and when engaged in proactively and frequently, can greatly improve your sense of mindfulness. I have never found true appreciation to be something that comes naturally to me. Life is sporadic, and crazy, and painful sometimes, and I find it nearly impossible to love every moment. I'm sorry, but I'm just not going to be very grateful when I get a bad grade on a test. Yes, yes, yes, I should take the incident as an opportunity for growth, but initially, I'm going to be a bit disappointed. Despite this, I try. I keep trying. I continue to chip away at this seemingly endless glacier called Gratitude, because I know that with continual practice, I will improve the quality of my life. And, really... who doesn't want to do that?


So here is a small list of the things that I am grateful for. Here is my daily practice. And while you are reading, I invite you to ponder this - what is it, who is it, where is it that makes your life that much better? What are the little things that make you happy? The big things? How, over the course of your life, has your heart been touched? And how, dear reader, can you view your experiences through a lens of gratitude in order to give back to the people, the things, and the places that you love?

- My friends and the laughter we share
- The access I have to education
- My little sister, Abby
- The fantastical worlds (The Wizarding World, The Whoniverse, etc.) that allow me to dream
- The Paleo, Primal, and Keto health communities
- Guided meditation programs, which ground me
- Tea time with my grandma
- Over-sized knit sweaters
- Deep conversations about politics, society, health... anything that makes me think
- Writing, for fun, for school, for The Avocado and Me, for you


Happy Sunday, everyone. Have a fantastic start to your week, and if you are in the United States, a marvelous Thanksgiving. I appreciate you.

- Maya

Photo by gabrielle cole on Unsplash, Photo by Maya, Photo by Jeffrey Betts on Unsplash,
Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash, Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash