Here’s a simple practice for bringing attention and gratitude to those aspects of the natural world that we often overlook… simply because they support us so well in their transformed state.

This practice arose during a Radical Joy for Hard Times five-day vigil that Judy Todd and I led in 2016 in a clearcut forest on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Our group camped together in a protected old-growth part of the forest, and we went out every day to spend solo time in the vast acres of cut trees. One of our participants visited the same “grandmother tree” every day. In the process of communicating and sharing stories with this ancient being, she realized that she had never expressed gratitude to the cedar paneling that she and her husband had put up in the living room of their new house. She made a decision to rectify that omission as soon as she returned home.

No matter where you live, the natural world is part of your home. If you have house plants or pets, they may be the most obvious examples that come to mind. But there is probably wood in your house as well, in the windowsills or on tables and the legs of chairs. The pipes that supply water and heat are made of lead or copper. Sheep may have contributed to wool blankets. And of course, nature awaits your dining pleasure in your refrigerator.

Open your awareness to the forms and circumstances in which so many plants and animals have entered your home and your life. Imagine the plant and animal beings whose lives contributed to your well-being and thank them.