{"id":2487,"date":"2023-11-28T13:00:18","date_gmt":"2023-11-28T13:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2023\/11\/28\/writing-practice-words-gratitude-thanksgiving\/"},"modified":"2024-03-07T16:55:12","modified_gmt":"2024-03-07T16:55:12","slug":"writing-practice-words-gratitude-thanksgiving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2023\/11\/28\/writing-practice-words-gratitude-thanksgiving\/","title":{"rendered":"A “gratitude alphabet” as writing practice"},"content":{"rendered":" \n
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\n By Jacqui Banaszynski

G<\/span>ratitude is hot. Researchers study its benefits on health, happiness and longevity. Therapists teach it as a grounding activity that puts anxiety in perspective. Philosophers write all manner of homages to its value throughout human history. And in recent years, gratitude journals have become a booming business.

I am grateful for all of that. Even my failed attempt at a gratitude journal became a non-written reminder to note the small amazements of the day as I pass through them.

Last week, gratitude was front-and-center during what may be the ultimate American holiday. Thanksgiving comes without the drag of gifts or trappings of religion; just family (if they’re nearby and you get along \u2014 or, sometimes, even if you don’t), friends, food and, in my household, a bit of football.

This Thanksgiving, I was especially grateful to have eight people \u2014 friends, neighbors and the young son of a friend of friends \u2014 gathered around the table at the mountain cabin. It was relatively modest by historical standards; I once had “waif Thanksgiving” dinner for more than 30, including some people I never met; one of them managed to take a shower and nap, then load three plates of food and go back to his medical residency without ever introducing himself. But the maturity of the crowd at the cabin last week didn’t prevent some joyful chaos: A full wine glass ended up on the floor in shards and puddles just as people arrived; a light bulb fell and shattered as a gracious guest was on a ladder replacing the burned-out lights in my sconces. As for the kitchen … let’s just say the only alternative to two hours of post-dinner cleaning would have been a jackhammer and\/or new countertops. Once the dishes were done and leftovers stored, I sunk in front of a woodstove fire before I got to the floors. Floor-scrubbing was left to the next day; it’s a chore that wraps my back in pain but gives me a deep sense of satisfaction, which I think is another way to think of gratitude.

Gratitude as a writing practice<\/strong><\/h3>
As I mopped, I thought of many things, among them how thankful I am for a lifetime of purposeful words and the writers who give them loft. So many have made my career not just one of purpose, but of wonder. Example: Who can resist a quick prayer of writer-thanks for the anonymous Los Angeles Times editor who came up with this seasonal headline: