Your Brain on Gratitude

Gratitude is a spiritual practice, grounded in science. An attitude of gratitude makes us aware of positive events, things, and people in our lives, to acknowledge them, and to invite the universe to send more of the same. For me, gratitude must be a conscious, daily habit. I’m too prone to anxiety and stress—to only seeing the negative—to expect gratitude to be a spontaneous mindset. In the US, Thanksgiving Day is dedicated to gratitude. In homes across the country, people will gather in an audacious expression of hope for the future and try to find the words to share what they find good and uplifting about their lives. It’s been hard lately. 

Thanksgiving Holiday and Gratitude

American Thanksgiving has been celebrated on and off since 1621 (Massachusetts Bay Colony) but really caught on during the US Civil War. Abraham Lincoln revived the idea in 1863 for a national day of “Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father,” aimed at “healing the wounds of the nation.” And our modern Thanksgiving celebration feels quite Victorian, to me, at least—charity collections, feasting, games, religious services, and family and friends gathered in. I could have been describing A Christmas Carol!

A two-sided coin, while the existence of Thanksgiving as a national holiday will always bring to mind the atrocities of colonization, at the same time it inspires us to heal the wounds in ourselves and our relationships through gratitude.

My Gratitude Journal

As a writer, I’ve much to be thankful for. A few things that spring to mind:

• Finding a home for my novel at Montag Press
• The wonderful consignment locations with whom I’m partnered, Main Street Books, The Novel Neighbor, The Missouri History Museum, and Spine Bookstore & Café
• Learning to promote my work, especially via blogs and my website, social media, and personal appearances
• My writing community, local and virtual
• The joy I derive from creating and sharing my imaginary people and places
• And you, my readers!

Happy Thanksgiving. Make it a daily event.

Don’t miss The Big Cinch from Montag Press, an award-winning supernatural noir adventure by Kathy L. Brown. Sean Joye, a fae-touched young veteran of 1922’s Irish Civil War, aims to atone for his assassin past and make a clean, new life in America. Until he asks the wrong questions… 

Do you cultivate gratitude? I’d love to hear your experiences. Comment on the blog. Navigate to my website, click blog title, and complete dialogue box that will open at the end of the post.   

If you enjoyed this journal entry, you might like to read about Behavior Chains.

I started this blog thread on the gritty details of the writing process over on my Facebook Author page, @kbkathylbrown, but think I might be better served putting it over here. If you’re interest in following my writing process in an informal way, you’ll find a few posts on Facebook that might interest you. You can subscribe to the blog from the website landing page (scroll down).

And Now a Word from Our Sponsor

Check out my latest release from Montag Press, The Big Cinch, an award-winning supernatural noir adventure by Kathy L. Brown. Order today. Sean Joye, a fae-touched young veteran of 1922’s Irish Civil War, aims to atone for his assassin past and make a clean, new life in America. Until he asks the wrong questions. . . 

Love Letters to St. Louis is an adorable letter-shaped volume of short stories, poems, essays, and illustrations and includes my first science fiction story, “Welcome to Earthport Prime: A Self-Guided Tour.” A perfect gift and profits benefit the guild’s young writers’ program. Available on Amazon and local St. Louis bookshops.

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