Skip to content

CARITA GARDINER

What to Read When You're Avoiding School Work

Menu
  • Home
  • About
  • Writing
  • “Why”…Wednesdays
  • GrammarLove
  • Contact/Subscribe
Menu

47. Why Practice Gratitude

Posted on November 27, 2019November 10, 2019 by caritagardiner
my older meets my younger

Okay, so this photo probably isn't fair. Of course, I felt gratitude on the day my older daughter met my younger daughter. (This isn't the day my younger daughter was born because she came at 9:44 pm, but it's certainly within twenty-four hours of her birth. This is all beside the point.) On this day, my family became complete, together, alive, and healthy. (My husband, who's terrific, took this picture, so he's part of the moment even if you can't see him.) I get it: this photograph shows an extreme day of gratitude.

But with Thanksgiving tomorrow, I like to remind myself that I can feel (almost) this much gratitude every day. The fact that I'm able to sit here writing posts that almost nobody will ever read shows the extreme privilege of my life -- I have a job that provides me with this computer, free time on Sundays, a warm house in which to live, food, and a salary that allows me to (1) let my daughter participate fully in her semester abroad program in Copenhagen [If you're thinking about doing a semester away and/or your kids want to, let me recommend D.I.S. Copenhagen -- it is such a well run, wonderful program!] and (2) visit her there. When this post goes live, I'll be in Copenhagen with my family -- including my sister and her partner -- which is even more I have to feel grateful about.

I keep getting off track. Or maybe it's all the same track. The point works. There are so many aspects of my life for which I'm grateful. I hope you too can't even begin to count or organize the many ways in which you feel gratitude. Enjoy them today, tomorrow, and all of the days.

If you want to write some of them in the comments, I'd love to read your thoughts! (If you celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you have a wonderful one...and if you don't celebrate, then I hope you have a wonderful day!)

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

WHAT I DO

I serve as a class dean and teach English to high schoolers at a boarding school in Connecticut. I’ve earned a Bachelor of Arts (Amherst College), an Education Master in Learning and Teaching (Harvard University Graduate School of Education), a Master of Arts in English (Bread Loaf School of English), and most recently a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing with a certificate in the online teaching of writing (Southern New Hampshire University).

As a writer, I hope to capture the complexity and joy of life in the New England boarding school world. On this site, I share what I know about trying to write fiction while deaning, teaching English, coaching, and doing the other tasks associated with helping to raise over six hundred other people’s children.

WHAT I CAN DO FOR YOU

Teach                    Tutor

Revise                   Edit

Entertain             Enlighten

Follow Me

  • Instagram
  • Facebook

Contact Me

  • cgardine@hotchkiss.org

Read my recent “Why” Wednesday Blog Posts

  • NetGalley Review of Sunny Side Up
  • 337. Why Not Fit In
  • 336. Why SFAH
  • NetGalley Review of The Ripple Effect
  • NetGalley Review of Far and Away
© 2025 CARITA GARDINER | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme