What would your life look like if you were grateful more often?

There are days when I walk around Dancing Rabbit and I notice the piles of mulch, sawdust, and building materials and I feel discouraged by how messy it looks. When I walk around with a lens of gratitude, though, the village appears quite different. I notice the charming prairie grass, the houses that seem to climb straight out of the pages of a Tolkien novel, and the utter absence of car and plane noises. From this perspective, I even start to see the mulch and sawdust differently; as symbols of our most radical lifestyle choices (humanure and non-concrete pathways), and the building materials represent the promise of growth and improvement in our little village with big aspirations.

Thanksgiving provides a break from our normal routine and an opportunity to zoom out from the daily patterns we inhabit. This particular holiday is a reminder to inhabit the attitude of gratitude.

When you focus on what you’re giving instead of what you’re getting, it can change everything. What do you notice when you look at your world from that angle? For me, just asking myself that question causes an instant change in my state. I shift from feeling like I have to worry about economics in the village (will our organizations be able to keep pace with inflation? Will we continue to attract amazing people to live here?) to a sense of enjoyment. I get to eat, work, and play with people who are radically committed to making the world a better place⎼every day! I get to imagine fun workshops (or, playshops 😉) like the women's retreat and turn them into reality, which brings even more cool people here who enrich our community. What happens when you focus on the gift instead of the get?  Does your language change from “I have to” to “I get to,” like mine did? 

Okay (spoiler alert) this is the part where we’re going to talk about money for a moment. But bear with me; I’ll make it worth your while, and if you read to the end, you’ll be glad you did.

What happens when you inhabit that attitude of gratitude and see money as a tool for shaping the world?

I’ve started learning more about the world of investments and finances recently and the most important thing I’ve gleaned is this: what we give money and attention to, grows. Money and time are two of our most powerful tools for shaping our lives and the world around us, and when we give them to something, whether it’s stocks, bonds, mutual funds, our career, our family, our favorite charity, our neighbors, we are essentially saying that we want more of this in the world; we want this to flourish. Giving time or money to something is a vote for its existence and its increase or improvement. Right? Think about the things in life you spend money or time on. They all reflect something that you value and want more of in some way.

Money and time are the nourishment of our collective organizations in society. When we give money, time, or attention to something, we nourish that thing. And with inflation on the rise, it’s more important than ever to ensure we’re nourishing the things we truly want more of in our world. When you give money to a nonprofit or local charity cause, you don't get the same return in terms of financial dividends or gains like you do when you invest in businesses. But you receive something even more powerful, and in fact priceless: hope for a better world. With each dollar you donate you gain more peace of mind that the world may, down the road, be a better place for you, your children, and your children's children. When you give to a nonprofit you're investing in the quality of the world that you want and the legacy you want to leave.

I invite you to pause for a moment and consider which organizations are cultivating a better world, the world you want to live in as you age and pass on to the next generation. Fortunately, it’s not just Dancing Rabbit! There are lots of people and places that are exploring how humans can do a better job of inhabiting this Earth and rising to live the answers.

Which ones are most exciting to you? Which ones do you look to for hope when the world seems doomed to destruction, depression, and despair? Which ones keep the flame of hope alive and make getting involved feel irresistible? And, here’s the most important question, what could you give to those groups, people, or organizations this season, to let them know you want more of that in the world?

Giving Tuesday is coming, which is really an extension of the Thanksgiving spirit beyond our families and immediate communities. Fortunately for both of us, I don’t feel the need to convince you that giving to Dancing Rabbit is the best investment of your time or money; only you can decide whether you want more Dancing Rabbit in the world! What I do know for sure is that when dollars come to Dancing Rabbit we turn them into a living, growing, village-scale demonstration of hope in action; a source of inspiration that you, me, and other humans can in fact do a better job of co-existing with each other and the planet in a good way.

When I get excited about all this I start to think, why wait until Tuesday? When you inhabit the attitude of gratitude, any moment is a good moment to give! Join Dancing Rabbit’s fluffle of honored givers today, give to your local soup kitchen or food pantry, give to your kids and neighbors and that co-worker that seems like they’ve had a string of bad days this year (maybe they could use a kind note?). Write a quick reply and begin taking action by telling us how you are going to give this week. Then let the attitude of gratitude unleash your generosity! Remember, you get to shape the future through how you spend your time and your money. And when we focus on what we give, we feel better.

Giving thanks and more,

Danielle Williams
 

My favorite quote lately, by Carolyn W. Casey:

“Come, we need you! It’s time for sane reverence to assume cultural narrative lead.”