Thanksgiving
gratefulness is a form of love
Hello Friends,
I paused the other day when I read this sentence in a religious devotional: Gratefulness is a form of love. I’ve actually never thought about gratefulness in this way. I always felt gratefulness was tinged with some kind of sacrifice and a should attached to it: I should feel grateful for my job, even if I don’t like it. I never thought about it as a form of love, but as I pondered the idea, it grew like a flame turned bonfire in my soul and became clear.
But before I continue, I wanted to update what happened with the rejection I received at the end of September.
Submission Update:
As I wrote in my last post, this one rejection punched me in the gut. Not because my story was rejected, but because the editors had complemented the story and my writing. These kinds of rejections are known as “glowing rejections,” meaning the editors respect your craft, but your story doesn’t fit their particular plan for their upcoming issue. It’s quite frustrating. Anyway, this rejection hit me hard. But here’s the kicker: I recently found out the magazine decided not to publish an issue next year. They cited several reasons, and, wow. Suddenly, I don’t feel so shabby. In hind sight, I realized several things:
Usually, rejection isn’t personal. For example, this magazine decided not to publish an issue in 2026, which had nothing to do with my writing. (At least I hope not!)
A glowing rejection is a much bigger deal than I ever thought. Editors rarely write anything personal in their responses unless they mean it. Over the last couple of years, I’ve had several glowing rejections, and it means I’m close. I usually forget this when I’m wallowing in self-pity, but I’m going to take this to heart from now on.
Obviously, submit your best work. My manuscripts go through three to five revisions before I feel confident enough to send them out to a professional editor. They then go through two to three passes with the professional editor before I submit them to literary magazines. And I will still be rejected. Numerous times. Even after receiving glowing rejections. But I’ve been published, too, and I must remember to see all of these cumulative signs in a positive light—sometimes tough to do, but so necessary in order to continue to create.
Through rejection I’ve developed a habit of persistence. What has happened is, rejection has taken a back seat. These positive feelings of wanting to persist have only developed recently, and it’s because of this latest rejection. Getting into this particular magazine meant so much to me, and I was so close. But the whole experience has made me grow in ways I never knew I could or would. I’ve been through a soul-struggle and come out the other end standing tall, still willing to create and share my creations with an audience. And that’s a great feeling.
If you are going through a similar struggle, I hope this experience I’ve shared has helped you in some way. Let me know in the comments.
And now, back to the real subject of this post.
Gratefulness as an Active Power
This idea of gratefulness as love, as an active power, helped me look at the universe as a place of abundance, as a place that will provide as long as I’m able to notice every nuance of opportunity. When I give my attention to something or someone through the lens of gratitude, I’m expressing love for that thing or person. When I make food for my family with a grateful heart, I’m showing respect for the Harvest Bounty and the people I’m going to feed. If I were cooking the same dish with a stingy, sour, or ungrateful heart, I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t taste the same.
Being grateful, living with a grateful heart, showing gratitude to someone, is a choice, an active power we can exercise to live in harmony with the people in our world, and with the world itself. We probably all know someone who seems to have the world at their fingertips: a great job, loads of money, family, friends, possessions of every kind, and who is still disgruntled, never finding happiness in anything in their lives. I contend they haven’t figured out gratefulness is an active power, something they have control over.
Gratefulness is a form of self-nurture, a gift to the soul. It’s healing. Activating gratitude heals relationships with the things inside you that have become broken over the years. It’s not a magic bullet, but it helps put into perspective what is actually important. In the case of my September rejection, what became important, as the weeks receded in time, was the work itself. If I’d become focused on the rejection, my work would’ve suffered. And above all else, I’m grateful for my creativity. Holding creativity in a grateful space gives it nourishment to grow instead of squeezing it dry with bitterness and a feeling of I don’t have enough.
The fall Harvest Feast or Thanksgiving is a nurturing way to close the year and prepare your soul for new challenges, friends, and gifts from the universe.
Here are some of the things I’m grateful for (and you can guess which one is at the top!):
The rejection that helped me become more professional about my writing, and helped me focus on creating my most authentic stories.
Friends and family who continue to encourage my creative endeavors, and who remind me why I’m grateful every day for them, simply by being themselves.
Receiving a wellness newsletter from the local medical group with a surprise butternut squash soup recipe included—just in time for Thanksgiving. (It was delicious!)
Preparing butternut squash soup, sweet potatoes with apples, raisins, brown sugar, and butter, and fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies to bring to our Thanksgiving feast.
Sleeping late after the holiday, after standing all day at the stove cooking, and feeling how refreshing it is to wake in the morning, muscles rested.
Finding three fallen willow leaves on a cold morning walk and placing them in a place of honor on my altar in thanks for their golden beauty.
Majestic sunsets outside my west-facing window, blazing bursts of glory or pastel washes in the evening, followed by a cascade of stars when all are tucked in, and the owl hoots his lullaby.
Firewood burning sweetly in the fireplace, its crackle and spark, notes of warmth in my home.
The people who recently purchased my collection of short stories, Mouth Like Burned Wood. Thank you! (Note: I use a different name for my literary work.)
Persephone Literary Magazine who published my short story The Difference in January of this year. Thank you! (Note: I use a different name for my literary work.)
Watching my husband prepare a place to overwinter our bonsai trees. Watching him water and spray them with as much love and attention as he brings to all of his creative endeavors.
Literature, in all its forms. I love the written word, and I’m grateful every time I read a story or poem or essay that inspires, entertains, or makes me ponder the wonders of this universe.
What are you grateful for this year? How have you experienced gratefulness as a form of love? Please share in the comments.
Until next time,
Jan
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