Favorite Autumn Decoration
My favorite Autumn decoration is our Tree of Gratitude!
Dear Friends,
I have such a fun tradition to share with you today! Roughly 5 years ago I wrote a paper for one of my courses on the profound impact gratitude can have on a person’s life. What I learned effected me so much that I wanted to put things into motion in my family’s life right away that would focus on gratitude. It happened to be close to November at the time and I love Christmas decorations. My husband will tell you I am notorious for trying to get him to let me put up the Christmas tree as early as possible. I recall one year I was fairly sick and whatever bug I had was hard to get over so my husband put our Christmas tree up decorations and all before Halloween to cheer me up. It did.
This particular November though I had a desire to have the Christmas tree up early again but for a different reason, I thought it would be beautiful to have it decorated with autumn garlands, picks, and leaves. I wanted to make it a tree of gratitude. We have the tradition like so many others of going around the table during our Thanksgiving feast and telling each other what we are most thankful for that year, but I wanted more. I decided to get some fake autumn leaves from a craft store and have every one of our family members write on one with permanent marker what they were thankful for that year. When we had finished making our leaves we stuck them on the tree with our other decorations. The tree turned out so beautiful and there is something so special about having such a large part of our autumn decor being completely focused on gratitude. This is a wonderful way to cultivate an environment where gratitude can flourish, especially for children, because of the desire to add more leaves to the tree that express their gratitude.
Having an attitude of gratitude is so important because it means you are more keenly aware of the things in your life to be thankful for. Another tradition that grew out of this is when we take the leaves out from years past to decorate the tree we take turns reading the leaves aloud, we read all the leaves aloud again when we are packing them carefully away for the next year. Reading the leaves is not only so beautiful but it stirs up the most wonderful memories of when the person who wrote the leaf made it. It seems that each person’s handwriting is as unique as their voice and seeing their handwriting and what they were thankful for that year is such a wonderful keepsake and memory.
I find that even in the darkest times that our family experienced, seeing the leaves helps us to feel grateful and hopeful even in the midst of pain. We are experiencing that very thing this year, while my family is currently going through a terrible situation, I find myself being surprisingly grateful for it. It was the chaos of it all that prompted us to find a church and dive in and become part of a small group which immediately afforded us community in this lovely new place so far from our families. In addition to that my husband is encountering some of the most difficult to resolve problems in his work, but if he can prove his ability to correct them he will gain an amazing reputation which will hopefully afford his business faster growth. It is interesting how the more difficulties we seem to encounter, though they might be frustrating at first, I find myself being more grateful for them every day. This year especially will have some very interesting leaves on the tree that in years to come might inspire us to look for the good that can come from a difficult situation rather than dwelling on it. Not everyone wants to bring their Christmas tree out that early, or they may get a live tree for Christmas which they would not likely get this early in the season, but you do not have to have a tree it could be any type of decor. One year we did not have the opportunity to get the tree out that early so we used garland and clothes pins to attach the leaves that we had written on to it. You could make a beautiful autumn centerpiece using autumn leaves that showcase your gratitude if you have a large table to decorate. If you do not wish to use fake leaves bought from a craft store you and your family could make more memories by going on a hike or walk and collecting beautiful leaves that can be preserved by coating them in resin or Modge Podge to retain their beautiful shape and colors and use those to write on. The possibilities are endless with this tradition. I hope you try it in some way and experience similar joy as my family has during this wonderful time of the year. We have so much to be grateful for and I am so happy to have found a way that I find so lovely to display our gratitude. I excited to hear from you if you try a way to display your gratitude throughout the season. Have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving!
Your Friend,
Amanda
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