This year is quickly wrapping up and the holidays are already upon us. How did that happen so fast? Some are closing out the year with great joy and reason for celebration while others are struggling with disappointment. With Thanksgiving just days away, it seemed appropriate to look at how being grateful can change our writing journey. I like the words of Ann Voskamp, “Gratitude precedes the miracle.” Being most of us desire the miracle of the wonder of God in our midst, let’s pause to reflect on how gratitude makes all the difference.
Gratitude is not just a warm, fuzzy feeling; it is a spiritual and creative discipline. When we are grateful it shapes how we see our circumstances, the world around us and the words we bring to it. Every writer knows that the creative life can be both beautiful and brutal. We wrestle with blank pages, rejection letters, revisions and the quiet private works that often go unseen. Yet through it all is something powerful—a spiritual practice that can strengthen our writing, enlarge the vision and keep us going through dry or discouraging times.
That something is gratitude.
Here are a few ways gratitude directly nurtures and expands the creative life.
Gratitude Reconnects Us to Why We Write
Deadlines, platforms, and performance can easily drown out love of the craft. Gratitude brings us back. It reminds us of the joy of creating something new, the honor of shaping words, the mystery of participating in God’s story. Gratitude reminds us why we do what we do. Gratitude doesn’t just make us better people; it makes us better writers. Gratitude helps us shape the way we bring Christ and the truth of his love into the lives of those we write for.
Gratitude Keeps Us Inspired
Inspiration rarely strikes out of nowhere. More often, it grows from paying attention and seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary. Gratitude helps us see God in the middle of everything. When writers practice gratitude, they begin noticing details others might miss—the texture of a moment, the shape of a memory, the spiritual lesson in a circumstance, and the beauty in the mundane. Gratitude sharpens our awareness and awareness is a soil from which stories and lessons grow.
Gratitude Helps Us Persevere Through Rejection
Rejection is built into the writer’s journey. Even the most talented authors face closed doors. Gratitude reframes that experience and instead of focusing on what didn’t work, gratitude reminds us of what is working—our improvement, our growth, our supporters, our opportunities to try again. It doesn’t minimize disappointment, but it does prevent discouragement from swallowing up our calling. Gratitude also helps us trust in God’s timing. Thanking God for stalls and stops, helps us believe He has a plan and perfect timing for us.
Gratitude Opens Doors to Better Community
Writing may be solitary work, but the writing life is not. Agents, editors, critique partners, mentors, readers— none of us do this work alone. Gratitude deepens relationships, strengthens collaboration, and helps us approach feedback with humility rather than defensiveness. Thankful writers become generous writers, and generous writers build healthy lasting creative communities.
In closing I’d like to share a simple three-minute exercise to help cultivate gratitude our writing life.
In a gratitude journal practice the following each day from now until the end of the year.
- Write one thing you’re grateful for in your writing journey today.
- Write one challenge you’re facing and one thing it’s teaching you.
- Write one person who has supported your creativity and thank them.
Do this consistently and you’ll begin to see your work, your process and yourself differently. As you train your focus to thank God in all things you will be reminded that writing is not just an accomplishment, but it is a gift. Gifts are meant to be appreciated, shared and stewarded with joy.
It is my prayer that we all learn to steward the gifts God has given us with joy, trusting His timing in our journey and being grateful along the way.
“In everything give thanks for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18
Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving!
I’m thankful for you,
Debbie