The Gratitude Jar
- Hank&Lula
- Oct 9
- 3 min read
Dearest Reader,
With Canadian Thanksgiving a less than a week away, my week is filled to the brim with cleaning (and re-cleaning, because…children), to-do lists and menu prep for our Thanksgiving feast this weekend.
Although the inevitable time-consuming chaos precedes such an event, I am committed to staying focused on the reason for it all: gathering with our extended family to celebrate togetherness and gratitude.
My husband and I make an effort to incorporate gratitude into our daily lives during dinner or after school conversations with our kids. One of our favourite ways to do this is with The Gratitude Jar; and we plan to incorporate this activity with our guests on Sunday.
The Gratitude Jar
Guests are encouraged to jot down on slips of paper something they are thankful for. This could be a general concept (such as My family) or something specific related to an individual.
Every slip of paper is folded and placed into the Gratitude Jar (feel free to use any type of container you like for this!).
If you are hosting a sit-down dinner, each person can take turns selecting a note and reading it aloud to the group. If your gathering is a bit more relaxed and well, rowdy, like our get-togethers tend to be; guests can simply pick and read from the Gratitude Jar at random, throughout the evening.
Regardless of how your gathering is organized; this activity is an excellent way to keep gratitude central to your celebration and serves as a fantastic conversation starter. Serious reflections provide moments of contemplation, while humorous tales bring laughter to everyone. The jar often encourages people to share personal stories, which is perfect for a group that doesn’t frequently get together. Some notes of gratitude spark discussions about shared histories, memories, or individuals. Others prompt people to share diverse and humorous perspectives on why they are thankful for certain things... this is how I discovered just how grateful people can be for farts, and in so many ways, lol.
A disclaimer I would place on the jar is that whatever is written will be shared with the entire group, so dear writer, be mindful of your audience!
So, whether you are also celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend, or you just want to incorporate gratitude into your household’s daily routine; The Gratitude Jar is an activity that requires very little prep and is fun for people of all ages.
In the spirit of expressing gratitude, here are a few items that I always feel extra grateful for this time of year:
The hard work of local farmers and our abundance of access to fresh produce.
Lasagna: before we got married and had kids, my boyfriend at the time (now my husband) and I had a Thanksgiving tradition of preparing homemade lasagna as our feast for two.
The Rockton World’s Fair!
Our close proximity to so much greenspace…and the privilege of watching that green transition to the reds, golds and bronzes of the season and sound of crunching leaves beneath our feet
Thank you for reading!
In gratitude,
Shannon
Ps. I'm sharing some cards that are perfect for the Thanksgiving and some that are perfect for expressing thanks all year round.
PPS: Please treat joy like an absolute priority…..because it is.
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