The Art of the Hand-written Thank You Note

In a world where texting, tweeting and status updates make up much of our communication I decided to teach my son the art of the hand- written thank you note.  None of our family members need or even expect a thank you note, but after emerging from the sea of wrapping paper it’s nice to sit and reflect on what my son received this holiday season and remember who gave it to him.  The process of expressing gratitude through a written note is something that is good for him on multiple levels.  He gets to feel gratitude towards his family and translate that into words.  We talked about how to write a thank you note, starting with stating what the gift was and then including a nice detail about how he will use it or his favorite thing about the gift.  Since he is only four years old, I will have him dictate what he wants to say and write it for him.  He’ll have a chance to practice his writing skills too, he can write the person’s name at the top of the card and his own at the end.  

To keep his interest I like to set out some art supplies to choose from and let him be creative with how he puts the cards together.  If we are going to make a dozen cards he will get bored if each one is exactly the same.  We also work on these a little at a time over several days or a week.  I want him to have fun and not be overwhelmed with the project.  He is really interested in cutting, gluing and stamping these days so we took a trip to the craft store and picked out his favorite “Thank You” stamp from the store’s scrapbooking supply section.  I collected some supplies from around the house including:

·         card stock (8 ½” x 11” sheets cut in half and folded so you make two cards from each sheet)

·         envelopes (invitation sized 4 ¾” x 6 ½” (#6)

·         colored construction paper or scraps

·         markers & crayons

·         glue stick

·         stamps & stamp pads

·         glitter

·         white craft glue

·         qtips or glue brush

·         shoe box or Chinese takeout boxes

·         stickers (we decide on a limit for each card, maybe 3 or 5 stickers –without a limit he will stick stickers until they are gone and every inch on the card is plastered.  This is a good time to practice counting!)

A Tip For Using Glitter:

If your child is into glitter (and what preschooler isn’t?!) try using a lidded box for applying glitter.  Glitter has a way of getting everywhere, but I have found this process to be helpful in keeping it mostly contained.  Have the child put glue where he or she wants the glitter, using a q-tip or a cheap brush dedicated to gluing projects.  Once the glue is in place, put the card in a lidded box.  The child can sprinkle glitter on it and then put the lid on and shake the box back and forth.  If it’s a small project you can also use a Chinese food take out container with a clear lid and watch the glitter shake around.  When you remove the paper shake the extra off into that same box. 

Have fun making each card unique!  Your family members will especially love getting a card with their name scrawled across the top in precious preschool handwriting!

Art Journaling: Attitude of Gratitude Session 3: Meditate on Gratitude

Today, after spending two weeks being mindful about our breath and refocusing on joy, we considered the impact of gratitude on our time in meditation and also on our physiological and spiritual wellbeing.  The self care workshop, that inspired me to create the Attitude of Gratitude Workshop, introduced me to idea of starting meditation from the heart.  Clearing the mind of distraction can be a daunting task, but starting from the heart and focusing on a place or person whom you personally feel gratitude for can be a helpful way to enter into a meditative place that will help you quiet your mind.  The image of your heart pumping the feeling of gratitude to every cell in your body, nurturing it and filling it with gratitude for the places and people you are grateful for was helpful to me.  The leader in the workshop I took had us place our hand over our heart and if, while we were meditating on gratitude, our minds wandered away from that focus we could give ourselves a physical cue by gently tapping our chest to bring our mind back to that feeling of gratitude. 

One coloring page I supplied for my workshop was a silhouette of a person with outstretched arms (a visual image of a person expressing feelings of gratitude).  The rest of the paper left room for you to draw something that reminds you of a place or a person you personally feel grateful for. 

The Bible passages I chose this week were:

Proverbs 17:22

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Proverbs 27:9
Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of a friend springs from their heartfelt advice.

Proverbs 27:19
As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.

The breath prayer we used today was “A heart at peace” on the inhale and “gives life to the body” on the exhale.  Or “A cheerful heart” on the inhale and “Is good medicine” on the exhale.

I hope this week you can continue to breathe, focus on joy, and find peace in meditating on gratitude.

We closed our time together with the following prayer:

Dear Lord, as we take time to look inward, into our hearts, may we find peace, love and true joy.  May our hearts be filled with gratitude for those you have put in our path.  We pray that this gratitude would overflow, nurturing each cell in our body and reflect in our lives each day so that we might in turn be a blessing to those around us. - Amen

Art Journaling: Cultivating an Attitude of Gratitude this Holiday Season

I’ve noticed during yoga classes that my teacher often directs the students in clearing their minds and focusing on gratitude.  It intrigued me, but I didn’t feel like I really understood why.  I just tucked it in the back of my mind.  Then early this fall I went on a retreat where I attended a workshop.  The person leading the group did an exercise in meditation that focused on the heart rather than on clearing the mind of distraction.  She had us focus on feelings of gratitude to push feelings of anxiety out of the body.  She created a relaxed atmosphere, and then had us imagine that feeling of gratitude being pumped throughout the body and into each cell of our being.  It was incredible how harnessing that feeling of gratitude, even gratitude for something very small, could impact how we felt both physically and emotionally.  Early in November I had an opportunity to make an art journal and do some meditation exercises using visual artmaking.  After these experiences it seemed like everywhere I looked I saw references to the physical effects of cultivating feelings of gratitude.  I kept stumbling on magazine articles that encouraged listing things you are grateful for as you fall asleep at night, writing notes of gratitude, and the simple act of verbally saying “thank you”.  I found research on positive psychology interesting, but also thought that if there are this many articles written about the “pursuit of happiness” clearly it is something that our society is craving. 

Our frantic pace and overwhelming list of obligations are magnified during the holidays.  I love Christmas but find that the joy can quickly be blotted out by the endless pressures of fulfilling the material expectations of the season.  I knew that a friend at my church, who is a dance professor, was interested in teaching a class on stretching and decided to invite her to combine our talents and offer a class to our congregation during Advent.  So we came up with, “The Attitude of Gratitude Workshop: gentle spiritual and physical activities to refresh your weary soul this Advent season.”  I plan to write a blog entry each Sunday night with some of the journaling activities, prayers and ideas to meditate on.  Our hope is that it will give people tools for maintaining a calm, joyful mindset so that the most wonderful time of the year won’t leave us physically worn out and our souls weary.

Directions for making a gratitude journal

Materials:

• 10 sheets of card stock
• scrap of fabric approximately 9”x14”
• ruler
• pencil
• 4 clothes pins
• an awl
• rubber mallet
• magazine or scrap wood
• heavy thread or crochet thread
• large embroidery needle
• 1 large button

Instructions:

1.       Fold 10 sheets of card stock in half and stack inside one another to create a book.

2.       Measure one inch from the top, one inch from the bottom and the center of the fold.  Marking with a pencil.

3.       Line up the fabric cover so it matches up with the edge of the left side of the cardstock (when the cardstock is unfolded and there is an extra couple inches of fabric along the right hand edge.)

4.       Hold the papers and cover together by securing with the clothes pins.

5.       Using the awl poke three holes along the spine of the book where you measured. (if you have a rubber mallet or hammer you can use it to pound the awl through the layers of cardstock and fabric.  Use the scrap wood or thick magazine to protect your work surface.

6.       Cut 2 ½ - 3 feet of thread.

7.       Sew the spine of the book by starting from the outside of the fabric cover through the center hole back out the top hole, in the bottom hole and then back through the center hole from the inside of the book to the outside.  Leave a tail long enough to stretch across the width of the cover and extending a couple of inches. 

8.       Sew the button to the flap extending from the back cover so that you can close the journal securely by wrapping the tail of the thread around the button.