Build a Foundation of Gratitude
Deep peace of the dark COLD moon to you
Here when you need me
I hope this practice sets a beautiful tone for your holiday season! If you’re ever in need of additional personalized support, I’m here for you.
NOVEMBER 20, 2025
Here Come the Holidays
We are heading into the holiday season, and there are so many associations with the holidays! It can be a time of joyful gatherings with family and friends, time off work and school, delicious meals, and giving and receiving gifts. It can also be a time of loneliness, strained relationships, grief, stress, and pressure to celebrate in particular ways (so much shopping!) or show up inauthentically (smile for the camera!). And of course, for many, it’s a mix of both.
So before it all begins, we’ll set an intentional mood by creating a gratitude practice.
I’m calling this craft Advent calendars, but honestly, that’s a misnomer, because I don’t know what else to call it. Advent is a Christian season observed in the four weeks leading up to Christmas and the celebration of Christ’s birth. It’s a time of intention and anticipation.
When I was growing up, we had an advent calendar and each night of those four weeks, we would open a little door on this calendar, and there would be a Bible verse to read. That was back in my day. Nowadays, there are really elaborate calendars where you open treats or even products each day. It can get really consumerist and gross. And even though I’m not a Christian, it skeezes me out.
So let’s set an intention to center gratitude this season. And to help us live out our intention, we’ll make a box of practices to do each day, and we’ll call it an advent calendar. Whichever holidays you do or don’t celebrate, and whether you buy lots of gifts or none at all, hopefully gratitude can a foundational part of the next many weeks.
Crafting a Gratitude Advent Calendar
Step 1:
Find a box, envelope, jar, bowl, or other container that can be your dedicated vessel for the next 30 days. Decorate it if you’d like! And find a place you’ll visit with it each day—on an altar, mantle, desk, coffee table.
Step 2:
Create and/or crowd source 30 gratitude practices. At our moon circle in Baltimore on November 20, we’ll each come up with a few and share them with each other (e. g., if there are 10 of us there, we’ll each come up with three and share them with the group so that everyone has 30). To help you out, I’ll update this post in the days after the 20th with a printable list of what we came up with!
It’s OK if there are repeats in the mix. How terrible would it be if you called a friend and told them what you appreciate about them more than one time in 30 days, right?
Here are some reflection questions to help you get the juices flowing:
What are you grateful for in our country?
In your city/town?
In your neighborhood?
At work or school?
In your family or friend group?
Step 3:
Once you have your 30 practices written out, cut them into strips and put them into your container. Set a reminder on your phone to pull one out and do it each day for 30 days. The new moon to the winter solstice is 30 days, or do them leading up to Christmas or New Years. There’s no bad time to practice gratitude!
Bonus:
Invite friends and family to join you. Whether you live with other people or have a few friends over for a Hanukkah dinner, consider taking a gentle risk and asking them to pull a practice with you and do it together.
Join the fun!
Want to do this practice with others? The Wild Maven community is gathering at 7pm on Thursday, November 20 at The Space Within in Baltimore for community, ritual, and reflection. Please join us!
Photo by Casey Horner on Unsplash.