Nostalgia can distort our memories of the past; gratitude can help us face the truth of the era we're actually living in. It's tempting to imagine earlier times as simpler or easier, especially when today feels heavy. But every period in history has help its own dangers, limitations, and heartbreaks. Time-travel stories, historical fiction, and even the small conveniences we take for granted remind us that no era is perfect ... and none can be chosen à la carte.
Gratitude isn't about pretending everything is fine. It's about clear-eyed practice that helps us see the whole picture: what's working, what's fragile, and what's worth tending. When we notice the everyday miracles of our moment and the ordinary people who keep the world going, gratitude steadies us. It keeps us from giving in to fear or retreating into longing for a past that never truly existed.
This is a moment that asks for courage, clarity, and care. Gratitude helps us stay awake to our time, grounded enough to respond with integrity and love. As we move through this season of Thanksgiving, may we choose the small, steady actions that weave a little more care into the world.
Right here. Right now. In the only era we get to call home.
Joni Miller, Ph.D., is a writer, researcher, spiritual coach, and speaker who uses her knowledge, education, and love of all things spiritual to help spiritual wanderers find a place they can call home, navigating by the light of Love. www.SpiritualGeography.net
Photo by Alexey Demidov: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-woman-lifting-her-skirt-while-walking-in-the-forest-9313907/
