The Art of Gratitude

Gratitude has been a trend for years—mantras, journals, daily social media reminders. But for me, it’s never quite stuck. Not because I’m ungrateful—far from it. It’s just that the idea of performing gratitude like a ritual feels…off.

There’s a subtle, almost invisible pressure that comes with the “practice of gratitude.” If you’re not sharing it every day, somehow it suggests you don’t appreciate what you have. It’s an unspoken layer of guilt. And I’ve realized that guilt isn’t what gratitude is about.

Because I am grateful. For my family, my friends, my health. For the work I’ve done, the gifts I’ve received, and even the opportunities I never expected. I’ve given, and I’ve accepted charity without expectation, always surprised by it. Every like, share, or comment on social media is a gift. Every purchase, the ultimate form of support. Gratitude is present in all of it.

But posting it? Journaling it daily? For me, those acts feel false. Like a media campaign, a Hallmark moment. It’s not authentic. It’s performative. Gratitude isn’t a trend to show off—it’s an undercurrent, a quiet acknowledgment that doesn’t need a stage.

And yet, here comes November, a month steeped in gratitude. Thanksgiving looms with its grand gestures of appreciation, and the question rises: how does one honor and cherish the art of gratitude without turning it into a performance?

I don’t have a definitive answer. But I do know this: if gratitude is only in words, it loses meaning. It must live in action. It’s in the help you offer, the kindness you extend, the surprises you accept with humility. It’s in the quiet “thank you” that doesn’t demand attention.

Gratitude, at its best, is lived, not posted. And perhaps that’s the art of it.