Staff Picks

A collection of favorite resources – both old and new – handpicked by the Gratefulness staff for your perusal. This page will be refreshed 2 – 3 times per month with “gems” which have particularly moved, touched, or engaged us…

Four Great Gratitude Strategies
(Greater Good Science Center, June 2015) Here are the key research-based principles for turning gratitude into a lasting habit, drawing from the Greater Good Science Center’s new website, Greater Good in Action.

We Are Built To Be Kind
(December 2014) Whether in political theory or popular culture, human nature is often portrayed as selfish and power hungry. University of California, Berkeley psychologist Dacher Keltner challenges this notion of human nature and seeks to better understand why we evolved pro-social emotions like empathy, compassion and gratitude.

The Virtuous Cycle of Gratitude and Mutual Appreciation: The Letters of Hermann Hesse and Thomas Mann
(Brain Pickings) In a culture that makes it easier to be a critic than a celebrator, where it takes growing commitment to do the opposite, how heartening to be reminded of the ennobling gift of gratitude, of the elevating capacity of being one another’s champion…

Empty Hands Music’s Gift to the World: Free Album to Download
Empty Hands Music’s mission is to spread seeds of goodness in the world through selfless service, music, and love. All of Empty Hands Music’s offerings are gifts to the world.

Search Inside Yourself: Contemplation in Life and Work
(On Being, July 2015) She works at an emerging 21st century intersection of industry, social healing, and diverse contemplative practices. Raised Catholic with Joan of Arc as her hero, Mirabai Bush is one of the people who brought Buddhism to the West from India in the 1970s. She is called in to work with educators and judges, social activists and soldiers. She helped create Google’s popular employee program, Search Inside Yourself. Mirabai Bush’s life tells a fascinating narrative of our time: the rediscovery of contemplative practices, in many forms and from many traditions, in the secular thick of modern culture.

Books Related to Healing the Mind
Abundant research has shown that mental health is every bit as vital to wellbeing as physical health, and yet our emotional struggles can make us feel isolated and/or ashamed. These “secondary” feelings only compound our challenges. Our longings for contentment and happiness can feel overwhelming, especially if we have no roadmap. The following is a list of books — “roadmaps,” if you like, which we have found enlightening, affirming, or helpful, and for which we are grateful.

The Lake Isle of Innisfree
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honeybee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade…

We hope you enjoyed these resources. To discover more, visit our complete Library of Resources or dip into Gratefulness in Daily Life.