The Political Relevance of Gratitude
Reflections on gratitude from a thousand years old hermitage.
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For the last 10 days, my partner has been insisting we go see this waterfall that a friend of his told him about. Apparently, this waterfall is 15 meters tall and falls onto two pyramid-shaped stones that are facing eachother “Crazy!!” he said enthusiastically.
I let him do the planning as I was deep into a 10-day course and preparing for an art retreat I am attending next week. I’m quite in my head lately, because I lost a lot in a short time, which also means there is a lot of space. I usually do all the organizing and planning, but I decided to let myself be led. When we took the car to go, the curious (and perhaps a little controlling) version of me wanted to know what we were getting into. What I discovered was that the waterfall was only a part of it: we were visiting a place that has been sacred for 1000 years, a hermitage from 1027. I began to get quite excited.
We picked up my friend Amanda from the train station and welcomed her with eager faces: “We are going to a sacred place in the middle of a forest, apparently it is from 1027 which is insane!!” I shouted. She paused for a second, and then enthusiastically responded “Yes! Let’s do this!”.
We arrived at what seemed to be an ordinary road of the Tuscan countryside - winding and surrounded by blackberry brambles. We parked under an oak tree and saw a white dog. No collar, white as an angel, just chilling in the shade- semi-asleep yet very aware. I felt such a nurturing energy from it and just went to pet him. He accepted my caresses calmly, with a love that seemed to come from a peaceful place. We left the dog and began to walk the path.
The walk follows a river in a valley, it is utterly quiet and more similar to a Kenyan national park than a typical Italian countryside. The more we walked, the more the energy changed, we were quieter, and peacefully absorbing. The last bit of the walk is between thorny blackberry brambles, you never stop hearing the river, a reminder of continuity.
“Oh, look who came!” my partner shouted when we were almost there. It was the dog, he surpassed us all and continued walking. We obviously had no choice but to follow him.
When we arrived at the hermitage, I was met with a feeling I didn’t expect. I felt like I had arrived somewhere I needed to be. It was utterly devoid of human noises except for our footsteps; the two pyramid-shaped stones that made the waterfall were much bigger than I had imagined, all around us were roots exposed, going into other roots, huge trees providing shade, dancing with the sunlight and the wind. “No matter what religion you believe in, you are entering a place that has been considered sacred for a thousand years, please treat it accordingly.” a sign read.
As if it knew its place, the dog sat next to the waterfall and dozed off. To get to the hermitage you have to climb some steep stairs, so I did. I felt a huge sense of humility in this place of worship. The city I grew up in - Rome- has married religion with opulence and patriarchal power, and has lost the essence of what worship and dedication truly mean, and how human they are. Through this ostentatious parade of worship, the cradle of Christianity attempts to bring humans closer to a god that lives above. I, personally, prefer to think of God as being in the roots, in the spores of mushrooms that inhabit the air we breathe, it is in the leaves of a tree, and in the simple act of feeding oneself with something made from the soil. My God is erotic, not opulent.
This hermitage was a place where people came to find God in simplicity. I felt more present than I had felt in a long while, and in this grounding place, I only felt gratitude.
Gratitude is an incredibly grounding force that allows us to pause and observe what we have achieved and how we have already grown. I have heard countless times the metaphor of the carrot in front of the horse to explain capitalism. When we are constantly chasing something more, we are living in scarcity. Gratitude is a poetic antidote to hustle culture.
In examining the political relevance of gratitude, we can find powerful examples from black writers and poets who have emphasized the significance of gratitude in their works. The almighty Maya Angelou, writer and civil rights activist, highlighted how gratitude can serve as a tool for resilience, healing, and resisting systemic oppression, a force of vitality in dark times.
In her work on the Erotic, Audre Lorde mentions gratitude as a choice “Within the celebration of the erotic in all our endeavors, my work becomes a conscious decision—a longed-for bed which I enter gratefully and from which I rise up empowered,” she wrote. Lorde highlights the revolutionary purpose of gratitude as a way to acknowledge one’s innate worth and desires - which she believed our erotic power to be, outside of oppressions and challenging dominant structures.
bell hooks, whose name people still cannot spell, also argued that practising gratitude is vital for cultivating love and compassion in a world dominated by self-centeredness and materialism. By appreciating the contributions of others and being grateful for the interconnectedness of all beings, we can challenge the individualistic and capitalist mindsets that perpetuate inequalities and divisions. This is what I felt at the hermitage as I sat on a stone and watched a jumping spider trod around: in a place where there was truly nothing materialistic, nature provided the abundance needed, the metaphor of interconnectedness between me, these ancestors, the jumping spiders, the trees, and of course that marvellous white dog. In an increasingly fast-paced and individualistic world, the revolutionary act of gratitude invites us to pause, reflect, and come together in appreciation of our shared humanity.
If gratitude could be touched, it would be the body - the ultimate anchor to this earth. Gratitude is patient, trusting, and loving, always just a step away. We are all constantly evolving, and showing up in a loving way for ourselves fosters growth.
In a society that privileges productivity over mental health, gratitude becomes a revolutionary act. It calls for us to PAUSE, reflect, and acknowledge not just our accomplishments but also the support and contributions of others who have uplifted us along the way.
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Practice for gratitude:
As a ritual to embody gratitude, I want to first mention that gratitude is a choice you make and it cannot be forced upon you. I have many times felt like gratitude was used by others as a way to bypass my feelings (“but you have this, you have that, why are you still sad?”), this is NOT what we are trying to do here. Also, the systemic oppressions of our society are very real, and they are one of the reasons why mental health issues occur. If you are having a hard time, it might feel incredibly uneasy to feel grateful, but there are small ways in which you can begin.
I offer a simple practice for the day: list three things that brought you joy today. It can be as simple as washing your face in the morning, seeing the sky, or feeling a breeze in a hot moment. Start small.
Things I observed this week 👀
This is a new part of each essays, where I share things I’ve noticed or seen to in the week (art exhibitions, articles, books, podcasts). It is for everyone today, but will only be for paying subscribers moving forward.
Loved this podcast on Cosmopoetics:
Found this article from the New Yorker very thought-provoking (it might anger quite a few people though- especially keen travellers).
I rewatched this Ted talk by David Whyte and once again got emotional:
THIS - “To grieve is above all to acknowledge loss, to understand that there is a natural end to endless gain” Alice Walker
I visited the beautiful Tarot garden by Niki de Saint Phale, her biggest Ouvre which took 34 years to do, and eventually took her life. The garden features gigantic sculptures of the 28 Major Arcana, inspired by Gaudi but brought to the next level. If you are in this area, you must go!
I am grateful for you today :)