The Golden Jar
Today’s Meditation Cafe was its usual treat of shared stories and stillness. Our conversation reminded me of a story from Henry Normal (if you do not know Henry, do look him up or follow this link to BBC sounds for poetry, storytelling and comedy to explore life’s big questions: Henry Normal, A normal …).
This is how the story landed for me: his wife Ange has a gratitude jar and every day … or at least regularly … the family add a note to the jar describing something to be grateful for. Each New Year, the Normals open the jar and revisit all the wonderful things from the year before. How inspiring is that?
Here is our Golden Jar. Anyone who visits the Hub can add to the jar. Although prompted by today’s Meditation Cafe, I think we could all benefit from rebelling against the constant incoming information that separates and divides. Let’s notice the good bits and share them
We can feel gratitude for the simple and the profound: an amazing coffee, a friendship, letting go of illness, a blue sky …
I shared Harry Baker’s poem , ‘Things that bring me Joy’. It sets the bar pretty high, here it is for you to muse over:
Deciding to make an advent calendar of crisps for my friend.
Deciding to make an advent calendar of crisps for myself.
Crisps.
Stroopwafels.
Super Noodles.
Leftovers for breakfast.
How proud my teenage self would be of how often my adult self wears trackies.
That sleeping, reading, and writing poems can never be a waste of time.
Clearing my inbox.
Turning my phone off.
Being out of breath.
Crying.
Especially in films.
So the next time you visit the Hub, please feel free to write your own Golden Jar note. It can be a single word or many words. Anything that makes the jar glow
If you want me to add something on your behalf, you can send me a message on WhatsApp
