My thoughts began turning toward Christmas yesterday … expectant … peaceful … and I was drawn to reread the poem “Amazing Peace” by Dr. Maya Angelou. I first read it in 2005: “Thunder rumbles in the mountain passes and lightning rattles the eaves of our houses….

Further to the article I just posted about the virtues of maintaining a thanksgiving attitude through the December holidays, here’s a creative and public way to simplify the holiday season.

Getting off the consumer bandwagon is hard! I’ve been working at it for about a half dozen years now and while I truly love a “less is more” approach to life it’s challenging at times to not go along with popular assumptions about “wanting more.” I recently picked up a copy of Juliet Schor’s latest book, Plentitude – The new economics of true wealth, to explore how I might deepen my commitment to a less material oriented lifestyle.

It is Thanksgiving season here in America. Soon friends and family will gather as they have for generations for the harvest season tradition of giving thanks. A few years ago I remember being caught off guard about the main objective of the season – being grateful. I was at a friend’s house a few nights before Thanksgiving Day and was asked what I had been grateful for that year.

In this Thanksgiving season let us remember that “it is in the shelter of each other that the people live.”

Thanksgiving is the traditional season when we think about counting our blessings, but gratitude is a wonderful quality to express any time of the year! If you haven’t focused on being grateful in a while or would like to cultivate it a bit more in your life this two-week exercise outlined in the workbook, The Blessings of a Grateful Heart- New Perspectives on a Spiritual Practice, is a simple and profound practice.