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Public Thnx4 Journal

What are you grateful for?

Caesar Herman
-   November 23, 2023
For the headspace app
This app help me to prsctice mindfulness
Isabella
-   November 23, 2023
Today is Thanksgiving, so I had a really big meal with my family with tons of yummy food.
I am just really grateful to have access to so much good food. My Palestinian brothers and sisters haven't eaten in days or even weeks, so I am lucky and grateful that I can get and eat food whenever I want.
Isabela
-   November 23, 2023
My mom washed and folded my laundry as well as served my food/bringing it all the way to my room.
I got folded laundry to take back to the dorm and I didn't have to get up from my computer to eat.
Carolyn
-   November 23, 2023
That my son today seemed happy, thoughtful and engaged even though he’s still using.
It was a relief, respite, and gave me hope.
Carolyn
-   November 23, 2023
That my son today seemed happy, thoughtful and engaged even though he’s still using.
It was a relief, respite, and gave me hope.
Profile picture for user Sally-gratitude
Sally
-   November 23, 2023
Just feeling thankful that we have the bounty that we do for preparing a meal. Thanking the farmers in the land and everyone who brings the food so that we can cook and have it on our table.
Although I’m very tired from cooking and cleaning in preparation for family coming for Thanksgiving I’m grateful that I have the energy because I know that someday I won’t. It’s already been dwindling over the years and I feel less and less like putting the effort out to “entertain“. So I need to remember to be grateful for the energy that I have now.
A pumpkin pie sitting on a stove
Joshua
-   November 23, 2023
I'm healthy, happy, and with my family.
I feel loved and not lonely.
Profile picture for user Sally-gratitude
Sally
-   November 22, 2023
I gave my PT a “peace catcher“ that I made. Very brightly colored with a peace sign and I gave it because her mother had breast cancer surgery and I thought she could use a little brightness in her day.
Genuinely felt good but a bit rushed.
Isabela
-   November 22, 2023
I talked to someone who seemed anxious before my marine biology exam. I wished them good luck and that we would be free to enjoy the holidays after this. Afterward, they seemed a bit more calm and relieved/assured.
It felt good to talk to someone before the exam. It made time pass quicker.
Isabella
-   November 22, 2023
I'm going through a really hard time right now, so I'm just grateful for me family for always being there for me.
The actions benefited me because it took my mind off of the hard time I'm experiencing
Seth
-   November 22, 2023
For the last journal entry of my gratitude challenge, one of the ideas I have had for entry for a few days to thank my tabletop role-playing game [TTRPG] group. Although I admittedly don't get to play with them often, and they were initially my younger brother’s group of friends, I've gotten to know them through playing TTRPG experiences. I'm especially grateful, as although they been playing together for a long time without me, they were kind enough to invite me to play with them when I had not played TTRPGs before. Although it might seem insignificant to some people, I'm grateful for that interaction and camaraderie when I can join.



In the context of gratitude, having their friendship, interactions with people other than my caretakers, is important to me. My younger brother and I, too, lead separate lives. Therefore, playing together in a tabletop gaming group is something in common that I have with my younger brother. Tabletop gaming, as well, is a relatively low-stakes creative outlet for me, when I think I need to express that creativity more in my everyday life. Essentially, as if to pitch the idea of tabletop gaming to a general audience, the concepts of storytelling and imagination as a creative exercise is something valuable to both this medium and the human experience itself. To imagine different characters, and to create and perform as those characters, has given our group memories and inside jokes that I will likely have for years to come.



Carolyn
-   November 22, 2023
Sun shining through the trees, golden over the frost when I was walking my dog early in the morning in the woods.
I felt lucky to be alive.
Ginger
-   November 21, 2023
My physical therapist is awesome! Through his exercises and stretching it is helping to reduce my pain.
I felt the best I have in a long time.
Profile picture for user Sally-gratitude
Sally
-   November 21, 2023
I was able to Do some artwork today without interruption
Being creative is good for my mental health. It was good to make decisions on this project even though it was a bit repetitive it was not difficult and I was pleased that I was able to come up with a solution
Picture of linoleum block printed bamboo on red background
Isabela
-   November 21, 2023
The person that is making me grill sandwich. I'm so excited to eat it.
I got food. Made my feelings better throughout my day, and I didn't have to go workout on an empty stomach.
evelin
-   November 21, 2023
Consegui ver meus pais no fim de semana.
Me acalmou das tarefas da faculdade e matou a saudade.
Seth
-   November 21, 2023
I feel grateful for the video games that have, and the memories I've made with them through my childhood. To point to only one or two games that I at the very least remember is nearly impossible, I remember different games as demarcation points in my life. I do have a backlog right now, and focused more on collecting rather than sitting down to play games, but I am grateful for the nostalgic experience games have given me. Now that I am older, I now know that the rank-and-file people who make games are not always treated fairly by game developers or publishers. The video game industry very much works by the sausage principle: if you like something never figure out how it is made. I am grateful for those who do make games, which include programmers, artists, designers, writers, composers, voice actors, and so on.

To be clear, there are hazards playing games excessively or otherwise irresponsibly. There is a fine line for me, as someone who wanted to study games as a rhetorical art form, between artistic appreciation and the recognition of the psychological risks to both adults and [rather worryingly] young children. And so, I would say that games were beneficial for me based off of nostalgia for them alone, as memories I will always have, whether or not my time would have been better spent elsewhere.
Insa
-   November 21, 2023
I‘m grateful for spending quiet mornings in my armchair. When I don‘t feel well rested, I get to just stay in and relax on most day and that‘s a great privilege. I‘m flexible enough to take good care of myself, listen to my needs and adjust accordingly.
It allows me to recharge and I feel safe and less worried about burnout.
Victoria
-   November 20, 2023
Friend reassured my concerns about something.
It made me happy.
Profile picture for user Sally-gratitude
Sally
-   November 20, 2023
Dropped everything to look at the weather and maps to help my nephew and girlfriend navigate their trip through tornado prone weather
Put my mind at ease that they were safer hunkering down than being on the road.
Weather map of tornado and storm activity in Mississippi
Isabella
-   November 20, 2023
I have been feeling a little worried about an aspect of my physical health and it has really been stressing me out. However, I have been realizing that I am healthy and I am really grateful for my health. It may change at some point, maybe even some point soon, but I am grateful for my good health.
This benefits me because there are so many people in awful situations whose health is on the line. I am grateful to be in a safe place with great medical resources. I hope those who are struggling right now will be free from their pain and suffering soon.
hollya
-   November 20, 2023
Shared the news of a new family member being born.
I felt included in the family.
Seth
-   November 20, 2023
For my gratitude journal, my mother gave me a suggestion that I do not want to ignore. She is grateful for modern medicine, as innovations in medicine and surgery has saved both her life and my life many times. This history is complicated, as although I acknowledge the healthcare professionals perform valuable work in saving lives (all healthcare professionals, in communities around the world), it is only recently that I have learned about the true extent of the medicalization of disability. I now apply such a history to myself, in have either been admitted to hospitals to treat illnesses, electing to have surgeries, or attending therapies throughout nearly every stage of my life so far as a person with disabilities since birth. Balance, then, is important, as although I am grateful for the healthcare professionals that have saved both my mother's life and my life, I now know that the system of healthcare institutions has the very least not always treated people with disabilities as beings with the right to live, and to live outside of institutions in society. This last sentence is certainly contentious, in essence I am grateful for a system that would have most certainly have killed or isolated me as late as the mid-20th century. To go back to my November 9 entry, it wasn't until certain disability rights reforms that created this modern system is it allowed me to be born safely and not separated from my family members by being placed in an institution at birth.

However, paradoxically or tragically, the medical care I have received is beneficial. Medical professionals have saved my life many times and have produced innovations that have improved my quality of life. A lot of the disabilities or conditions I have, as far as I know, will not have permanent treatments or cures for a long time, if even within my lifetime at all. But what I do know is I don't need to be cured, and I would hazard to say that I don't think it would be safe to assume that I can completely. I know that I'm touching on very controversial subjects here in both nondisabled society and the disability community, but I think now —thanks to the contributions of medical professionals and disability rights advocates — have worked hard in making sure the people with disability to get the care they need without repeating the traumas of the past in the medical industry. Indeed, to talk about this in candid terms would definitely be beneficial.



Connie
-   November 20, 2023
Very grateful to have most of my adult children together for Thanksgiving Dinner this year!
I'm able to prepare food with love and break bread with family!!!
Carolyn
-   November 19, 2023
I’ve had a difficult week and he’s been calm, caring and present.
I felt less alone.