‘Light in the darkness’: The transformative power of giving thanks

Do you keep an inventory of things for which you’re grateful? 

Does gratitude make you feel girded against the world’s troubles? Has it made you more acutely aware of those who have less?

A year ago, the Monitor’s Harry Bruinius wrote about the power of gratitude, specifically about letters of thanks and the sense of connection and uplift they can inspire. He then joined our “Why We Wrote This” podcast to talk about giving thanks, and the ways in which that can boost well-being.

Harry returns to the show a year later to talk about the effects of that reporting on his own outlook. His beat can be a tough one. Harry reports on artistic censorship, curbs on free speech, religious persecution. Last summer he wrote about the fraying of community and connection.

His deep look at thanksgiving has been steadying in a turbulent world, Harry says in this updated episode. 

“I absolutely think that a practice of gratitude, or a practice in which you really focus and meditate on the goodness that’s around you,” Harry says, “does provide [a] bulwark.”