We are bringing “Darling Letters” from your inbox to the blog! We love the art of letter writing and believe it helps build authentic community. Our editors and contributors have thoughtfully written encouraging letters to cut through the busyness and speak straight to your heart.
Scrolling through social media, we are fed a seemingly endless stream of content. Nestled between pictures of friends and families are ads that assure us that the addition of one new product to our daily routine could be the thing that fills the voids in our lives. This constant inundation of signage and advertisements seeps into our thoughts, quietly persuading us that we aren’t enough because we don’t have enough.
It is easy to be lulled into the rhythms of marketing and to allow ourselves to measure our worth based on what we have or what we can present to the world. However, in the face of excess and materialism, gratitude offers a way out.
In the face of excess and materialism, gratitude offers a way out.
Gratitude moves beyond contentment toward joy. It accepts that we have enough and that we are enough. This posture acknowledges that more, nicer or newer things do not correspond to greater value or happiness.
November is a time of giving thanks, and I encourage you to recognize and appreciate the many gifts of life. From the small moments to the people seated around us on important days of the year, these are the unquantifiable good things that satisfy the longing for “more.” May gratitude take the place of our discontent this month, moving us in the direction of peace and hope for the new year.
Gratitude moves beyond contentment toward joy. It accepts that we have enough and that we are enough.
With gratitude,
Sam, the Darling family
How have you learned to work through feelings of being “stuck”? Why is gratitude a powerful tool in helping fill the voids in our lives?
Image via Carissa Gallo, Darling Issue No. 13
