Austin Kleon - A gratitude zine
It’s Thanksgiving week here in Texas, and I wanted to share with y’all another little zine I made that you can download and print out. (If you’re having dinner guests, feel free to print out enough to leave one at everyone’s place setting!) Gratitude is something I have struggled with in the past. In fact, it’s been at times in my life when I should have felt more thankful than ever that I’ve had the hardest time feeling thankful. The neurologist Oliver Sacks published a handful of essays before his death that were collected in Gratitude. He wrote:
Notice that Sacks here is writing in “gratitude tense,” something you could try if you keep a diary. Start each sentence you put down with the words, “I have…” You’re reading a free Tuesday edition of my newsletter. If you’d like to receive more of these emails, become a paid subscriber. One way to feel gratitude is to look outwards. I enjoy the fact that Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations begins with a section called “Debts and Lessons,” in which he lists the special people in his life and what they’ve taught him. I never know how to feel about conceiving one’s life in terms of “debt” owed. “Debt” seems too transactional to me, and it implies that one can pay it off. On August 7, 1883, Van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo that he felt an obligation, being given life, “to leave a certain souvenir in the form of drawings or paintings in gratitude.” I prefer to think in terms of the gift. I have received enormous gifts in my life, and one doesn’t “repay” a gift, one keeps the gift moving. (Robin Wall Kimmerer writes beautifully about this idea in “The Gift of Strawberries” chapter of her bestseller, Braiding Sweetgrass.) Kimmerer notes that gifts establish relationships. A relationship isn’t really a thing, it’s more like a field generated by two poles. A space in which things happen. An ever-evolving process, or a verb. An ancient idea and mental trick that always helps me is to think of every noun in your life as a really slow-moving verb. Any thing you think is static in your world is actually in constant flux. Nothing is completely solid. At times, this fact can cause one great anxiety, but it can also push one towards gratitude, towards noticing the gifts of this life, towards honoring one’s moment, and moving, with gratitude, “perpetual thanksgiving,” into the future… Here is a PDF of this zine that you can print out and fold into a booklet: Here is a video that shows how to fold the zine: Two bonus links to help you survive Thanksgiving:
What helps you feel thankful? Tell me in the comments: Thank you for reading! Fridays will always be free, but from here on out, Tuesdays will be for paid subscribers. Subscribe now and never miss an issue: You’re a free subscriber to Austin Kleon. For the full experience, become a paid subscriber. |
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Hope this finds you well
Friday, November 19, 2021
10 things worth sharing: lifted type collages, a novel about medieval nuns, fun music news, and more...
Intermissions
Tuesday, November 16, 2021
A zine about the fun of watching half a movie now, half a movie later...
Exploit or explore?
Friday, November 12, 2021
10 things worth sharing: doing what you know vs. discovering what you don't, the harmony of tensions, life advice, ear candy, and more...
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Tuesday, November 9, 2021
The simple pleasures of marking time
The principles of patience
Friday, November 5, 2021
10 things worth sharing: cultivating patience, the spirit of punk, a drawing podcast, philosophical experiments, the best kids show on TV, and more...
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