Money woes are rampant these days and everyone I know is doing circus-quality juggling of work, life, kids, family, and precious little self-care time. Overwhelm reigns.

In the midst of our collective stress, pausing mid-week for “thanks” rings false. Just ick. Like a syrupy-sweet greeting card complete with fuzzy-focused hearth fire and cornucopia nearby.

If being thankful feels forced to you right now, it’s okay. You’re not alone. In fact, you’ve got lots and lots of company.

Gratitude logjam

When you get stuck, even with something like gratitude, one of the best things you can do is start small. Like, really small.

For example, here are some of the small things I’m grateful for:

• A headset that actually works (Plantronics, if you’re wondering)
• Running water
• The big bag of string cheese in the fridge
• Gmail
• Sweatpants
• allrecipes.com
• The trash hauler who works our stretch of rural highway

I could have listed bigger things, but these are what feel true today, right now. Locating a small amount of gratitude within you is like finding a vein of gold in the earth – it runs deep. But you don’t have to *start* deep. Just start where you are.

If you say, “I’m so overwhelmed right now, I don’t feel grateful for anything. Just my lungs.” That’s okay. In fact, it’s perfect. Just start with that.

The thing about gratitude.

Most people experience gratitude as effortful – as something you “should” feel. Something you must pull out of yourself. Forcing thanks feels like cold extruded plastic instead of a comforting cotton-silk blend.

Honest, genuine gratitude nourishes your heart. It gives you energy, rather than extracting it from you.

Instead of forcing yourself to feel grateful, I invite you to consider starting where you are.

Is there a small thing you feel grateful for today (even if you think it’s something not worth mentioning)?

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I can sum it up in two words: Allie Creative.

But that just wouldn’t do justice to the gratitude.

Allie helped me when I didn’t even know I needed help.

See, Allie and I go way back to 1994 at Willamette Univeristy when I worked in Student Services and she in the website-wrangling department (I can’t remember the official name). The entire campus was undergoing a wesbite overhaul, department by department.

We met and I was immediately impressed by her precise, tiny (and I mean minuscule) handwriting – and her ability to ask questions. And then really listen.

Allie got our department’s website functional – and got me to the point that I could update information all by myself. A feat. She was patient, thorough, and helpful. Unlike other website people I’ve worked with, Allie never pushed or copped an attitude or told me my wishes were wrong. She steered and informed, but it was clear that my opinion mattered.

The time came when I knew I needed her.

When I became self-employed, I needed a pro. Allie designed a logo and a drop-dead gorgeous website for my staging business. She brought all her delightful listening and talent to my project – and it was a dream. I couldn’t have been happier.

As my business grew, I had conversations with other web people who looked at the back end of her work (Greek to me!) and were impressed with her attention to detail.

When I started Inspired Home Office, Allie created the website you’ve come to know – along with my daisy logo. We’d been talking for months about a blog and I finally bit the bullet. Right before she got married, in fact.

Am I ever grateful.

Because, in addition to converting my website to a WordPress blog, Allie went above and beyond as usual. For once in my life, I let go of control and Allie created a redesign that’s elegant, simple, and functional. I couldn’t love it more.

Now I’m a fan forever.

For me, starting a blog feels immensely personal. You come here looking for ideas, solace, and encouragement… if the blog were ugly and testy, I wouldn’t feel comfortable writing. You wouldn’t want to visit. How it feels and looks matters.

And so, my debt of gratitude is to Allison Towers Rice – web designer extraordinaire and owner of Allie Creative – for her impeccable eye, for all the listening and ideas, for sharing her gifts and time, and for making a place for me and readers to get to know each other.

I’m so very grateful to you.

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How the stuff around you is a sign of abundance

You have stuff.

Maybe you hate the way the printer works. Or the snarl of cords that lurk under your desk. Maybe it’s the massive accumulation of half-finished projects. Or papers that may have been important once, but now fill you with dread.

Sometimes it feels like your stuff has you.

Because of the negative feelings you have about some of the items in your workspace, you begin to resists the entire space. The whole enchilada. You feel cramped, uncomfortable, and it’s hard to get anything done.

Over time, you start to develop a barely-tolerable relationship with your space.

Renegotiate your relationship

If you are in a relationship with a person who nourishes you, you actively care for that relationship and give it your time and attention. You give back what he or she gives to you. You grow closer and feel loved and supported.

It’s the same way with your belongings.

If something you own feels unsupportive or draggy, it’s healthy for you to manage it so that it doesn’t affect you negatively – or you can simply let it go.

You have a right to a workspace that feels clear and inspiring.

Find gratitude for your stuff

While you may feel enslaved by stuff, in reality, you are swimming in abundance. Every object around you is like a friend, waiting to assist you, help you, or inspire you.

Even negative-feeling items around you are your devoted, if imperfect, servants.

• That printer will print out anything you ask, at any time of day, in almost unlimited amounts. Could you possibly imagine asking a flesh-and-blood human to do the same?

• That pile of books, if overwhelming, are a collection of teachers gathered together to inform and advise you.

• The desk, though it looks out of control, it’s a sacred space dedicated to your work. This space helps you create, complete important projects, and is the altar from which your greatest gifts are offered.

What overflowing abundance you have, right in your very midst!

And your stuff will nourish you in return.

What thing in your space is most distracting to you right now? Take a moment to notice it.

It is serving you? What do you feel grateful for about this item?

Where would you like this item to go – so that you feel more clear and supported while you’re working? You might want to let it go entirely. You might want to put it somewhere out of sight. It’s up to you. Whatever you feel compelled to do, take that one action.

If you do this process, one object at a time, you will feel clearer, lighter and will have practiced a profound kind of self care.

And aren’t you worth it?

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