Tiny Gratitudes

About the author: Brooke Rothshank paints miniatures. In 2014, she painted one miniature painting a day for a year. It was much like a visual journal. She loved the consistency of this routine and the creative growth that followed. 2016 was a difficult year for her family and included the death of a grandmother and uncle, other close family members in deep personal pain, and the early birth of their third child, resulting in a NICU stay. All of this was against the backdrop of the worlds’ political and environmental turmoil, which felt louder than ever. She was tired in so many ways. A podcast she listened to with Brother David Steindl-Rast kept coming back to her. “Can you be grateful for everything?” he asked, “No, not for everything, but in every moment.” I then listened to his TED talk where he said, “It’s not happiness that makes us grateful. It’s gratefulness that makes us happy.” When so many parts of her life felt out of my control, acknowledging the importance of my perspectives was powerful. It was clear that my response to the unpredictable, rather than the actual circumstance, determined if I lived a life of resilience and joy.

 "This is a gorgeous book to use as a gift. Such sweet sentiments. I bought 4 to use as gifts for people. -Lisa Salati