Gratitude, part 2

I’ve been thinking a lot about gratitude. About how someone shows that they are thankful your presence, in the community, at school, in general. About how when your work and your life are one in the same, appreciation for both, at all times, is hard to come by. Especially when you’re one of those people who needs (but is aware of this as a problem she is trying work on) to find validation from others in order to define her experience, work, life as worthwhile.

And so, she’s been searching for ways that show that her presence, the past 19 months of her life have been meaningful. She is starting small: she notes when she helps her neighbor with his English homework, she notices when her colleagues tell her that they’re not ready for her leave, she counts the number of girls who continue to come to and find interest in her girls club.

And so, when her program director comes on her biannual site visit and talks to her school director about working with volunteers and how much they have to offer the community and he willingly agrees and shares stories about what he notices and appreciates that she has done and does do at school, it sort of feels like it has all come full circle.