Exploring Gratitude: The Little Things

Whenever I start talking about gratitude, and focusing on what I’m grateful for, the same things come to the top of my mind. My family. My home. My pets. My talent and the ability to make a living using it (which is what I consider one of life’s greatest gifts. But that’s another post.) When I do a gratitude post on Facebook and ask others to list what they’re grateful for in the comments, I see that their lists are very similar to mine.

Then, last Sunday, I was watching an interview with filmmaker Louie Schwartzberg, an absolute genius, who films nature in ways that give us an intimate look at things otherwise invisible to us. He speeds up the life of plants through time lapse, giving us a glimpse of them as the living, intelligent, interactive beings that they are. He slows down the movement of hummingbirds, butterflies and bees, so that we can see the way they move and dance and interact. When we think about what we’re grateful for, let’s remember to include the tiniest things, the ones we’re surrounded by every time we step outside. The insect-people, and the plant-people who inhabit this world all around us. They provide our food supply. They pollinate each other so that fruits and vegetables can become. They grow into the herbs and roots that can heal us of any dis-ease. They give us pure, clean oxygen so that we can breathe. They fill our world with the most exquisite beauty we are capable of imagining. Let’s remember to include these things we walk by everyday, and almost never notice. Let’s stop and look at them, and beam love and appreciation to them from our hearts. I believe they’ll feel it. I believe they’re not only alive, but awake and aware. Here’s one of Louie Schwartzberg’s short films. 4 minutes that will reside in your heart for the rest of the day. (Maybe for the rest of your life. It’s worth sitting through the super short ad at the beginning.)

Enjoy!

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