Why I Write Gratitude Lists

[The Stage is on Fire] is a page-turner in which, much like life, there are no easy answers and yet each step of the journey yields insight and hope. This work of heart must not be missed!

Melanie Faith

Creative Writing Teacher, Essayist & Poet.

Katie Steedly’s first-person piece [The Unspeakable Gift] is a riveting retelling of her participation in a National Institutes of Health study that aided her quest to come to grips with her life of living with a rare genetic disorder. Her writing is superb.

The Society of Professional Journalists

In recognition of receiving the Dateline Award for the Washingtonian Magazine essay, The Unspeakable Gift.

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Maxine Greene

Philosopher and Education Scholar

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Why I Write Gratitude Lists

I don’t really remember when I started writing gratitude lists.

I think it goes back to 2005 or 2006 when I was working with a career coach and she encouraged me to keep a gratitude list for a month. Maybe it goes back to the women’s group I attended in Indianapolis in the late 1990’s when we would include gratitude in our weekly meetings. Maybe it even goes back to my childhood when nightly prayers would often involve saying the things and people for which I was grateful. I have been writing gratitude lists a long time. Perhaps writing gratitude lists grew from habits instilled in me by my parents and grandparents. Perhaps it was because it felt good to focus on positive things. Perhaps it was because I liked Thanksgiving and there is a little bit of Thanksgiving in every gratitude list.