I am lucky enough to live in a semi-suburban area. I have a back yard with some nifty plants, and room for bird feeders. I can afford to keep these feeders topped off, along with peanut butter and suet treats, hummingbird feeders, and even "quail seed bells", and still be able to afford to water my orange trees, and pay my bills. Food for humans is expensive right now, in 2023, but birdseed isn't too bad. So, our birds eat like emperors of old!

If I was a christian of any stripe, I'd probably say that I was "blessed" to have these birds living in my yard. I'd thank the god of my denomination (Jesus, Mary, some Saints, God Himself, whatever) that I could see them, or that they came to my yard, or that I could even afford it. I probably wouldn't think of my obligation to these birds at all. I would see them merely as proof that god thought I was special.

A couple years ago I noticed that religious people tend to use words like blessed or thankful or grateful in a purely religious way. These words have been co-opted into religious words. Those words are "god words", like lamb, shepherd, sheep, blood, heaven and hell, sin-- you get the idea. But they shouldn't be just religious words. Christians (here in the United States) shouldn't be able to steal entire sections of the dictionary for their own, reserved use... especially when those words convey a depth of feeling that they don't even have.

So, your Head Witch has made it a point over the past few years, to use words like thankful and grateful, to purposefully use appreciative words about people, places and things. I purposefully say things like, "I feel pretty lucky, blessed even, that I can afford/do/see/experience/all the awesome things!" 

And if I'm utterly frank, I do feel thankful that I can afford things. I feel grateful that I have an awesome team at work, that I have a vet to care for my cat who had her leg amputated, that I have a partner who supports me. I feel blessed that I can manage my mental and physical health, that I can work out/exercises in ways that are interesting, that I can afford to splurge on books to pile up in my To Be Read pile. 

I have stuff that my ancestors couldn't possibly have dreamed of, and I am blessed and lucky and thankful that I do. I know a lot of non-theists also feel the same way; we just struggle to figure out a non-religious (and non-god-centric) way to describe it.

This doesn't mean I'm getting all theistic about it. Nor should you.

I don't believe that a god of any kind, anywhere, gave me these things. I didn't have my spice cupboard's bounty of nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom, and more bestowed upon me by a divinity. I didn't have to ask for the blessing of salt in order to afford that ubiquitous round, cardboard box of Morton's. I don't have to light incense to show that I'm mindful of the blessing of a job or a partner or the health of my Dad and children. There's no god that I need to consider in that equation of thankfulness.

The cold, expansive, emptiness of the Universe doesn't really give a sand-grain of a thought for me or anyone else. Not a whisper of a consideration. 

So many religious people are terrified of the truth that they know deep in their hearts: there is no god, just an empty Universe. So they cling tightly to their dogma, and crow their "blessedness" to us heathens.  I think this is why so many people throw words around like blessed; and they are doing so to prove that their god loves them more. 

I also see this as an even better reason to take that word back. 

Mindfulness is a practice many neo-Pagans, Atheopagans, Witches, atheists, and other non-religious people engage in, along with those who follow a faith tradition. Mindfulness doesn't have to have a deity, it's just being where you are, when you're there. "Be here now" isn't just a mantra, it's the whole point of mindfulness. It's also a way to cultivate that feeling of thankfulness. By taking time every day to sit with yourself, you can take stock of all the "blessings" you have: your home, your loved ones, your pets, All The Things. You can cultivate that grateful feeling, that mindset of being appreciative, even while you know you did the work to have the things

Here's a way to look at it:

I was lucky enough to have access to school-- so I can read, write, math, all that. What a blessing! There are people in the US who have trouble reading and writing, so I can be thankful that I can do both (and relatively well).

I was in the right place, at the right time, to get the job I have. I love working with animals, and I've been able to bend my brain to learn so much! I can be grateful for the medical team for teaching me so much over the past decade, and for the volunteers who'd been my friends and teachers. 

I had the space to choose my own partner, and I can be thankful for that blessing! There are people in the world, and in the US, in 2023 who have arranged marriages (whether they're called that, or "courtship" or something else altogether). I chose, and even <gasp> lived with him before we decided to marry! I can be thankful that I had enough education and support to make that decision-- and enough savvy to know how to think for myself.

Not too had. I chose three big things: education, work, and partner, but I usually focus on the small stuff. You don't have to jump in with the big things, and really, you'll run out of them sooner rather than later. 

So, let's take a look at some small things, or at least small in the scheme of the US in 2023:

In the writing of this, I have been sitting at my second desk, the at-home-office desk, the desk where I work part time. I have a super cool set of Star Wars coaster (The Cantina from Episode 1!) and sitting on one of them is a freshly brewed cup of imported Irish tea. This tea was brewed from my electric water-boiler that my partner bought me with "points" a couple years ago (I love "points", and I bet you do too!) This tea was brewed from a specially measured bag that I grabbed from a cupboard full of tea (literally, full!) and I casually threw a couple teaspoons of sugar in it. I can drink 10 cups of tea and not drink the same brew twice in a row. 

The blessings that I'm thankful for:

An office!

A desk in the office!

Spiffy coasters (these really are awesome!) 

The R2D2 pen holder right next to the coaster!

The cupboard to hold the tea

the "kettle" to hold the water, 

Water I get from the tap, FFS! Water flowing from the tap!

Sugar that I can just drink in my tea, whenever I want

The tea, OMG the tea blends! From All Over The World, brought to my door!

The electricity to turn on (and keep on) the kettle/water warmer

The electricity to write this entire essay

The senses to explore the world, to make the tea, to enjoy the tea

I think you get the idea! 

Our world can be broken into teensy little moments, and those moments can be things to be grateful for. I am grateful that my cats don't fight over the one spot on this desk where they can sit (on the desk calendar, of course). I can be grateful that I have a home big enough to have this separate space, where I can retreat when I need quiet. I feel blessed that a franchise I love and grew up with has such silly things as pen holders and coasters, so I can enjoy Star Wars on my desk.

So, while I'm not going to extol the virtues of meditation-- I will recommend finding ways to stop and be mindful of your blessings. These things you and others have worked so hard for, things that our ancestors didn't dare hope for, things that make our lives easier, fuller, richer, happier-- these are our secular blessings, our Thankful-Fors, our Grateful-Things. 

I have said before that Witchcraft is a way of looking at the world, it's a framework. Thankfulness and gratefulness-- appreciation, is too. Incorporating this, on purpose, into our practice of Witchcraft is another way to act with Intention. It can be hard, sure, but everything is hard sometimes.

I hope your day is blessed, as you think on all of your amazing blessings! I hope you feel thankful for the great things, and small ones. 

Remember, I am also grateful for you!