When the world feels chaotic—when grief, uncertainty, or heaviness settles into your body—gratitude can feel distant. Yet these are often the very moments when giving thanks becomes a steadying force. Naming what we’re grateful for can’t erase hardship, but it can anchor us. It reminds us what is good and what is possible, even the hardest seasons.
Gratitude, from the Latin gratus—thankful, pleasing—is a multidimensional experience. At its core, it’s an appreciation for what’s valuable and meaningful to you. It shows up as a virtue, a pleasure, an emotion, and a habit: being thankful for an act of kindness, feeling the lift that comes from noticing what’s good in your life, and practicing that awareness over time. Gratitude offers social, physiological, and neurological benefits. And thank goodness for thankfulness: cultivating a gratitude practice, much like exercising regularly, strengthens your capacity to feel and express gratitude more often.
Psychologically, expressing gratitude during uncertainty supports emotional regulation. It quiets the nervous system, eases stress, and gently shifts the mind’s focus from fear toward connection. Research shows that naming what we’re grateful for activates brain regions linked to resilience and peace. Gratitude offers balance when everything around us feels imbalanced.
For Black folk, this practice lives deep in our collective memory. Gratitude has long been a survival skill—carried through the Middle Passage, whispered through enslavement, soulfully sung in spirituals, and shared across kitchen tables during the hardest seasons of our history across our diaspora. Our ancestors found ways to give thanks in the midst of unthinkable cruelty and constraint. Gratitude was a declaration of dignity and humanity in a world determined to deny both.
That legacy continues. Gratitude is a reminder of the strength, creativity, and perseverance that have allowed Black communities to endure, shine, build and love fiercely. It invites us to notice and name what sustains us: our people, our resilience, our joy.
In today’s climate of political conflict, racial assault and social upheaval, gratitude serves as a balm for the mind and spirit. It reconnects us to our purpose. It bolsters mental wellness by offering a counterweight to fear and fatigue. In the middle of the storm, gratitude helps us hold fast to light—whatever force keeps us centered and grounded.
If you’re looking to deepen your gratitude practice, here are three simple ways to start:
1. Begin your morning with acknowledgments.
Before reaching for your phone, pause and name three things you’re grateful for—big or small. Let your list be honest, not perfect.
2. Share appreciation with someone.
Offer thanks intentionally. A text, a call, or a handwritten note (an especially precious treat in this age of digital correspondence) builds connection and amplifies the emotional benefits of gratitude.
3. Notice what nourishes you throughout the day.
Pause whenever something brings you comfort—sunlight through a window, a warm (or cold) drink, a moment of laughter, a welcome, familiar face—and let yourself fully take it in.
Even in upheaval, gratitude has a way of widening our view—quietly steadying us when life feels unmoored.
It may seem counterintuitive, but gratitude can expand—even steady us—in chaos. It offers a way to stay rooted in hope, connected to our communities, and aligned with the fortitude of those who came before.
Journaling Prompt:
“What’s Sustaining Me Right Now?”
Take five to seven minutes to reflect on the people, places, practices, or experiences that are helping you to stay steady in this season. Make a list, aiming for at least 25, writing freely without editing yourself. Repeating an entry is OK.
When you’re done, take another minute to read what you wrote, noticing what feelings and physical sensations surface as you read your writing. Notice any trends, surprises or revelations and consider any changes you might like to make as a result of your writing. Take another few minutes to write about that.
