The Gratiku - Love on the little things

I lived in Provence, France during my junior year in college with a French family in a tiny apartment. 3 adults, 2 kids, one bathroom and no clothes dryer.

The mother of the family would kindly wash my clothes and hang them outside to dry on the clothesline. 

This might conjure up romantic images of lavender-scented crisp linens in the French countryside, but the reality was that my undies were hanging over a parking lot, my blue jeans came off the line stiff as cardboard and the towels were as soft as sandpaper. 

This certainly wasn't the great tragedy of my youth, but I will say that when I returned home, I had a new appreciation for clothes dried in a dryer. I had clearly taken the luxury of having a clothes dryer for granted my entire life.

As the chief laundress of my own household, on days that I'm less than thrilled to delve into a week's worth of wash, I can easily switch from being resentful to grateful. 

I think about how grateful I am for warm clothes, jeans that can't walk on their own, to the podcasts I listen to while folding or the fact that I'm no longer in my 20's hanging out, vigilantly guarding my clothes, with a sock of quarters at laundromats. 


One of our gratitude gravy members, Deborah, sent me this photo of her laundry room last year. I love the reframe!

Gratitude Gravy Practice #8

Today, show some gratitude for all of the little things that make your life easier. 

Maybe it’s something that you appreciate often or something you usually take for granted. Give some gratitude to your coffee maker. A hot cup of joe is available at the push of a button.

Or be grateful for your phone - it's the swiss army knife of everyday life. Ponder your appreciation for electricity and hot water. We’ve all experienced times when we’ve been without these little luxuries, so take a few minutes to appreciate some of your favorite conveniences.

Love on your washer and dryer. You’re not outside with a washboard and a bucket like someone 150 years ago. Be thankful for your snow tires (something I’m particularly grateful for when sliding down my road).

Want extra gravy?
Write A haiku in Two...

Your brain loves novelty and so does your gratitude practice. So play along with today’s prompt. 

I want you to set a timer for 2 minutes and write a haiku about some of the most basic objects that make your life better. 

The haiku format is easy. It's 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables. 

If you feel like savoring further, take a photo of your beloved object and post it with your haiku or hang it on the fridge as a reminder that it's possible to find gratitude in every corner of your life.

No need for William Blake level writing skills. This practice is meant to stave off gratitude fatigue, reward your brain with some novelty, get your creative juices flowing and keep your gratitude practice playful.

Like a long lost love
Reunited each morning
My coffee and I
-found on the internet, unattributed, author unknown, but too good not to share

Art is on the wall
community gathers here
Friday night feels good
–Amanda Cook (4-7-17) with gratitude

My favorite haiku! I didn't know Amanda, but she wrote this at my first-ever art studio event where I had everyone type a haiku. She told me it was the best Friday night she'd had in a long time. I was so grateful to hear that!

After 20 years, I got a bathroom remodel. I love my bathtub. I take a bath at least 4 times a week. This is my happy place. It is well-deserving of a sonnet, an epic poem, a love song or a War and Peace sized novel. Today, it's getting a haiku ...

Rooster up above
Bubbles soak away the day
I am in love
(with my bathtub)
--Lizzie Larock (taking a liberty with the format and adding the extra parenthetical line...)

This one's for you, Julie Bacon ;-)

Write a haiku to something you adore like bacon or your breakfast. The choice is yours - just be sure to love on the little things, today.

Want what you have. Because wanting what you have leads to more gratitude and abundance, wanting what you don’t have often leads to anxiety.

Lizzie Larock
Coach & Creator of Gratitude GRAVY & The Life Feast

PS If you're sharing on social, please use #gratitudegravy. You can also share in the Facebook group. We love that! Tag me or follow along on Instagram. I'll be adding some gravy to my stories...

PPS Want Extra Gravy (or just a good laugh?)
This is how Jimmy Fallon loves on the little things (on Fridays, too!) Ok this is more sarcastic than serious, but always fun on a Friday.

PPS  

Joining late? Need a reminder? No worries!
I'm grateful you're here. Rather than clog your in-box, here are the previous challenges. Catch up on old ones or jump in wherever. There are no rules for #gratitudegravy - just fun! Please feel free to forward to a friend or share the sign-up page. Anyone can join the free gratitude gravy challenge at any time.

Day 1---> Don't let your gratitude be bland (get the most out of gratitude)
Day 2---> Look for the good (3 good things)
Day 3---> The GREATful Outdoors
Day 4---> How to make a grATTITUDE adjustment at work
Day 5 --> It's gratiTWOSDAY (a 2-minute practice with big health benefits)
Day 6 --> The Grateful Bed - the practice that helps you sleep longer
Day 7 --> Give that thanks away - the case for thanking a stranger