Do You Take Time to Reflect on Gratitude?

Reflections on Gratitude

We can find inspiration and fodder for our art anywhere.  Sometimes the inspiration is as surprising as the creation itself.  But keeping our heads and hearts and spirits in the right place is as important as the art we create.  If we aren't open to receive the inspiration, it might fly right on by without us even noticing!

How Do You Get Prepared?

If you have ever known any Texans, you'll understand when I say that I spend time fixin' to get ready...haha!  Getting ready to art is like stetching before you exercise.  You gotta get the ol' noodle focused in the creative source, instead of the other million things you could be doing with this time and space.

A great way to get your head in the right place, and to make sure that your mindset is in the right place to receive inspiration, is to feel thankful for what you have in this moment.  Be thankful for what has already come into your life.  By reflecting back out a grateful attitude, you show that you would appreciate more good stuff...like inspiration.

I always feel happier about giving to someone who is grateful for what I can give them, don’t you?  Even if my motivation was not to be given thanks, it still helps.

My aim is to be grateful all day long, every day.

At the end of every day, my hubby and I have a regular bedtime ritual with our four kids.  We read a story first.  Then we used to take turns starting bedtime prayers, and after a while, the kids were stuck saying the same thing every night.  It started to turn into just a forced routine.  So we re-arranged the routine.

Our new ritual is Thank-You-For’s

Each one of us says what we are thankful for and then calls on the next person to say his or her thank-you-for.  It can be anything from cartoons to a particular toy to a person to a new customer to the lovely weather.  (With kids, you never know what they are going to come up with!).

I certainly have evenings on occasion when I think that I have nothing new for which to be grateful.  Then I look around the bed and see the little faces of my kids with their eyes squeezed shut while they are feeling reverent and know that I have everything for which to be thankful!

The most amazing effect is that we all sleep better for having closed the day on a cumulative thankful note!

EXPRESS Your Gratitude

No matter what the circumstances seem to be each day, we can always find something for which to be grateful.  The more genuinely grateful we feel, and the more gratitude we express, the more stuff for which to be thankful enters our paradigm. 

So, tonight when you quiet down, or tomorrow morning when you are reflecting on your day ahead, or right before you start your art-ing time, try taking a few moments to ponder what in your life is good, and for what you can be thankful. 

By reflecting a grateful spirit, you open yourself to all of the other wonderful energies the Universe can send your way.