The Calm app taught me the power of gratitude. I subscribed to this app a year and a half ago because I fell in love with Tamara Levitt’s voice, found the beautiful interface easy to navigate, and admired the thoughtful content. 

#NotAnAd but I love Calm because it offers guided mindfulness sessions and has sleep stories and masterclasses. These are led by renowned teachers, artists, and athletes. 

One of my favorite masterclasses so far is Tamara Levitt’s “Gratitude”. In this masterclass, she presents research and offers personal reflections to magnify the power of gratitude. Gratitude encourages celebration. When we celebrate the many gifts in our lives, we stop focusing on what we are missing. Levitt acknowledges that doing this is not easy. She says, “The challenge is to work against our tendency to be dissatisfied.”

This quote reminds me of David Foster Wallace’s “This is Water” commencement speech (2005, Kenyon College). Wallace described “our tendency to be dissatisfied” as our “natural default setting”:

“Except thinking this way tends to be so easy and automatic that it doesn’t have to be a choice. It is my natural default setting. It’s the automatic way that I experience the boring, frustrating, crowded parts of adult life when I’m operating on the automatic, unconscious belief that I am the centre of the world, and that my immediate needs and feelings are what should determine the world’s priorities.” (This is Water By David Foster Wallace)

Without realizing it, many of us automatically focus on feelings of disappointment, anger, envy, or hopelessness. We’re more likely to dwell on the terrible than to appreciate bliss. A huge part of this is crucial to survival, of course. I do not deny our right to be dissatisfied with certain aspects of our lives or the world around us; dissatisfaction can inspire positive change. But, unchecked (and on a more personal level), this tendency can keep us from finding and creating joy.  

Gratitude takes conscious effort. In order to be stronger against our “natural default setting”, here is one small thing I learned from the Calm app that I hope you try: every day, write down 10 things that make you feel grateful. You can thank God, you can thank the Universe, or you can simply feel grateful to the circumstances that made these lovely parts of your life possible. Aim to be grateful for different things each day. The items on your list do not have to be extraordinarily awesome and your description of them does not need to be elaborate. If you want to share your gratitude list with me, please comment on this post or send me a message.  

I’ll share mine with you. Today, I thank God for the following:

1. The $50 Amtrak ticket getting me from Boston to New York City to visit my love 

2. Sunshine/Warmer weather (Spring is FINALLY around the corner #sunchilddreams) 

3. A free donut from Blackbird Doughnuts (my favorite: chocolate sprinkles!) 

4. Sharing nachos with a dear friend (Felipe’s = the real MVP) 

5. Celebrating my mentee’s thesis submission over ice cream at Milk 

6. My locker! I kept my carry-on in there instead of lugging it around campus all day

7. The kind stranger who picked up my Charlie Card and gave it to me after I accidentally dropped it at South Station (I hadn’t even noticed!) 

8. My beautiful rose gold computer  

9. Encouraging e-mails from one of my mentors 

10. Today’s Calm session on “Boredom” 

Thanks for reading—I am so grateful for your time and attention. Have a beautiful weekend!

Love,

Jenesis