Every feeling is associated with a particular colour. Yellow for joy, red for anger and PINK for GRATITUDE
Everywhere around us, the news is unsettling. Things we used to rely on to get us through the day are now very different or simply canceled. People are working from their homes, isolated to save lives but at the same time trying to save their sanity. Everyone is in their homes. Indefinitely.
Front line workers are out there, away from their families missing out on maybe their child’s or partner’s birthdays or maybe even their own-to save those affected by COVID 19.
The dark times of the last one and a half year has made most of my nights sleepless. The uncertainty of when it could happen to me our someone I love is bone chilling. But I guess the thing that has helped me carry on is the thought that I am grateful for the fact that I am healthy, I have a roof above my head, I am getting more than 3 meals a day and lastly - everyone I love and care for are safe and protected in their homes.
At the start of the lockdown, I would use all my extra time watching Youtube. Stand-up comedies, movie reactions and many other entertaining things. But one video that I accidentally found and which stuck to me was Lockdown: Gratitude Practice by Elle Foll. This particular video talks about what gratitude is and why we all must have a thankful attitude in these unpleasant and uncertain times. This got me thinking as to what I was grateful for.
When I first started it, it felt very forced- I would get distracted easily because I didn’t have the correct attitude or the ‘thankful attitude’ that was needed. But everyday when I woke up, I would just look around my room and name 3 things I was grateful for. And slowly it didn’t feel as forced as it did a couple of weeks back.
For me, now, practising gratitude isn’t like a homework that I must do nor does it require much time or energy. Just taking a few moments to notice things that are going well in my life make me thankful. By doing it regularly, it has now become a habit. Sometimes when I feel like writing, I like to write down a couple of things that I am grateful for. My parents, my pets, my friends and health.
Over the course of 2 months, I have seen myself grow as an individual despite being bound by 4 walls. It has helped me became an emotionally healthy person because now I am much more aware of the things I have and I am no longer the pessimistic person I was back then.
I came across this article by the American Heart Association and it taught me in a very easy manner to count my blessing and be grateful. By writing down these before you go to bed or by sharing them around the dinner table-you can practice gratitude from HEART.
Health: Think about how your body has been supporting and protecting you from the virus. How even with limited physical activity, it is still functioning properly
Eat: Think of what you ate- your favourite meal. Did you thank the person who made the yummy food for you? Did you eat something you made or something new and different?
Activity: Did you do any activity that you enjoyed? Reflect on it and savour it.
Relationship: Did you talk to someone who makes you happy? Or are you planning to get in touch with someone who brings you joy?
Time: There’s no other time like the present. The time may be good, bad or ugly- it
Psychologists Dr. Robert Emmons of the University of California at Davis and Dr. Michael McCullough of the University of Miami published a study in 2015 that looked at the physical outcomes of practicing gratitude. As per their 10-week long experiment, focusing on the positives of life and feeling grateful can improve your sleep quality and reduce feelings of anxiety & depression. Not just that but levels of gratitude correlate to better moods and less fatigue and reduces the risk of heart failures- even for those who are susceptible. These are the physical benefits of having a ‘thankful attitude’. As per the research study done by University of California, the emotion of gratitude supports a positive attitude and also acts like a stress reliever. It is direct connection to our immune system and metabolism rate. One of the neuro-chemicals associated with the parts of the brain affected by gratitude is dopamine, a pleasure hormone.
Law is a rather important aspect in our life-though we hardly ever pay attention to it unless you are a law aspirant like me. Taking this opportunity of talking about being grateful, have you ever realised how some laws in the country are extremely important and how they may have impacted you or those around you.
We all hate being confined within these 4 walls of our homes during the pandemic. But did you know, there are lakhs of detainees who have been been in jail for a duration exceeding the maximum term that they should been convicted for? Some might even be innocent and are waiting for their trail to happen…but for years. In the case of Hussainara Khatoon & Ors vs. Home Secretary, Sate of Bihar, attention of the courts were brought to the situation of under trails in Bihar where people had been detained for years. This landmark judgement has made ‘speedy trail’ of cases a fundamental right of every accused person and has been included in article 21 of the Indian Constitution. This may not have a direct impact on you-however this judgement meant a lot to those people who had been detained for years, away from their families and living in inhumane conditions.
(Trigger Warning)
Did you know that every 3rd Indian women has been sexually harassed at least once in her life? Whether at home, school or even in offices.
One such situation occurred with Bhanwari Devi. In the the landmark case of Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan, Bhanwari Devi attempted to stop the marriage of a one year old in rural Rajasthan.
Despite doing something for the betterment of the society, Bhanwari was harassed and threatened by the local community and on September 1992, she was raped by 5 men of the village. But she did not give up. With the help of a lawyer, a PIL was filed in the Supreme Court to challenge sexual harassment in workplace.
With this emerged the ‘Vishaka Guidlines’, a set of procedural guidelines for use in the country in cases of sexual harassment. Later on in 2013, it came to be known as the foundation for the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention and Redressal) Act, 2013. These guidelines may not have a lot of importance in ‘Work From Home’ however, the guidelines also include that ‘harassment’ can take place even outside the office- which includes any online platform. Many women are grateful for these guiltiness as it has helped them fight their cases and bring justice for themselves.
Finally, ending with a quote that inspires me everyday.
“Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts.” ~ Henri Frederic Amiel
On 23rd May, 2021, Heart2Art will be sharing an art-based activity on ‘gratitude’ on our Instagram page- heart2art.vriti. Do take time out for this 5 minute activity so as to realise what you are grateful for.
Heart2art believes Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life!
This blog has been Conceptualised Vedica Karnik, Viidushi Puri, our youth bloggers and Vriti Bajaj.
Contact us:
Email: heart2artbyvriti@gmail.com
Instagram: heart2art.vriti
Facebook: heart2art.vriti
Website: https://heart2artbyvriti.wixsite.com/website
References:
Comentarios