Welcome!

You may have seen multiple posts every last Monday of the last four months displaying ✨Gratitude Junkies✨ and wondered what it is, how it started or why we write about gratitude…

Or perhaps you are new here and would like to find out more…

Grab yourself a cup of your favourite drink, a snack of your choice (whether healthy or not we don’t judge) and most importantly get comfortable as we dive in together to share our thoughts on gratitude, why it’s important to us and how this group started!

Disclaimer

There are brief mentions of grief in this episode so if you are grieving please do take care when listening.

Video Focus:

0:17 - How Gratitude Junkies Started

Andrea describes how we started our club four months ago.

0:48 - Being part of Gratitude Junkies

Amy expresses how she finds being part of the Gratitude Junkies and what it means to her.

1:25 - Introductions

We introduce ourselves - how long we’ve been on Substack and our publications. *Update* Andrea’s publication is now called Moments of Grace with Andrea Thorfinson, formerly known as Mouse and Meditation*

6:30 - Answering questions on Gratitude

We all answer two questions about gratitude sharing our thoughts, experiences and what gratitude looks like for us.

31:23 - Free flow conversation

Further conversations on gratitude, manifestation and books. Duncan shares some quotes from his collection, Andrea invites all listeners to share a story for her upcoming anthology When the Light Broke Through, you can read about this using the link below if you have a story you’d like to submit:

When the light broke through

Andrea’s example story can be read on The Stranger Series | Split Second

Thank you!

Andrea and I would like to thank our members who were able to join us, thank you so much Amy for hosting and a shout-out to the members who couldn’t make it, we hope you can next time!

A huge welcome to all our new Gratitude Junkies Club members, we hope that you enjoy being part of this club and that it inspires you to reflect and practice gratitude more frequently.

Life is to be lived and gratitude makes it feel even more beautiful.

If you’re new here, this club is open to anyone who wants to express gratitude each month as a reminder that we all have so much to be grateful for! Simply message myself or Andrea.

With love & light ✨

Interested in reading Andrea’s book? Wait no more!

Living Life is Easy with Eyes Closed by Andrea Thorfinson is available on Amazon and is now in Spanish! 🎉

Order your book:

In English | In Spanish

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This is our fourth take on sharing our gratitude as part of the ✨Gratitude Junkies✨ club created by Andrea Thorfinson and myself.

If you’re new here, this club is open to anyone who wants to express gratitude each month as a reminder that we all have so much to be grateful for!

The theme of this month is: Intuition chosen by

Intuition

Intuition is a silhouette mother that wants to reveal herself.

Intuition can often be hidden in the shadows. She is the one with a faint voice often drowned out by desire, fear, logic, reasoning, indecisiveness, social conditioning and more…

This leaves people struggling to recognise or trust her yet she offers wisdom beyond measure.

She instantly recognises what your conscious mind doesn’t…

She aims to guide, protect, and warn you despite the many times she had been ignored, misunderstood or unrecognised.

She doesn’t always give you all the answers immediately as she yearns for you to learn through experience to trust her.

Intuition, you have always been right!

I am so grateful for you, for all the lessons I have learned from you and even for the questions that remain unmet as you have always been there and I wholeheartedly trust you!

There are multiple times your advice was unheeded yet there are times I instantly trusted you and here is one of those moments…

I had a group of friends who I thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with, we always came home with the strangest, wildest stories of the nights we enjoyed.

We’d purposely test the limits of our fear by going to places which most wouldn’t, for example the night we ran into the depths of Epping Forest and almost got lost. For those who don’t know of this place, it’s not one any parent would want their child wandering around in at night!

We were all rebels in our own ways.

One of those nights we weren’t running through any woodland or lost in the middle of nowhere, we were in a place that should’ve been safe - our friend’s cousin’s home, let’s call him Michael.

We were talking and laughing away as we usually did. Throwing banter in the air, while listening to music.

Michael was in and out of his room and sometimes we’d have a chat just outside.

Have you ever been around someone who you are memorised by yet at the same time there’s something you can’t pinpoint that your reasoning checks off as mysterious?

Michael was that person.

He was slightly older than the rest of us, I used to speak with him for hours on the phone, several times a week - a bond quickly blooming that would be short-lived.

Our conversations were different to all the other male friends I had at the time.

Instead of the usual jokes, recounts about what they did last night type of stories or sports, Michael spoke with a bit more depth.

He loved books and documentaries, often he would lead me down his rabbit hole research he was digging through.

Intelligent felt like an understatement for him, he was chilling on the edge of genius.

Well at least that was the side of him I had gotten to know…

That night, one of our friends brought up a subject that none of us knew would cause the reaction that came next…

Michael jumped up and before my eyes could register his series of actions, a gun was pointing at her.

I had never seen a gun in real life before that night. I don’t believe any one of us had, most of us were only 17 and plus it’s illegal in the UK.

His whole demeanour was like that of a madman.

I couldn’t conceive how the words of our friend could have triggered an instant character change to somebody ready to threaten her life!

Instead of a familiar pattern that would emerge in the face of fear where my reasoning would tell my body to panic or feel shocked, something else took over.

I instantly noticed I had a feeling, almost a sensation of incredible calm.

An absolute contradiction to what I would have expected myself to feel.

It was like a weird peace in the presence of a weapon of war.

That night I didn’t just choose to listen to the guidance of my intuition, her power worked through me, reasoning had no premise.

I signalled to our friend to avoid saying another word.

She immediately stopped talking.

I could see the panic and fear etching into her face. Her eyes also expressed confusion at the whole situation.

She hadn’t said anything negative, nor anything that would have offended him or anyone else present.

Her comments were based on the subject that a few were having and although Michael had been silent during that topic, none of us, not even his cousin had seen any signs that he was uncomfortable, frustrated or even furious by it.

I remember Michael shouting a repetitive, nonsensical monologue.

He stopped his insane act and then placed the gun beside him like a warning or a reminder that he had it and none of us wanted to stick around to find out.

I don’t know what would’ve happened if any of us reacted, would it have been met with uncontrollable laughter as if it were a deranged prank?

Or would it have escalated?

Those questions are the mystery of this experience and because of my intuition, I know it’s something I will never find the answers to and I am incredibly grateful not to know.

It kept me calm in a situation that screamed danger.

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Author’s note

I haven’t always listened to my intuition as my reasoning and especially giving people the benefit of the doubt had been stronger influences at those times.

During that night, I just remember calling it “a calm feeling” I had.

This is the first time I have realised that this was my intuition. I hadn’t thought about it in this way.

When I reflect back, I imagine my intuition as a silhouette which suddenly beamed so brightly that a clear motherly figure became revealed.

I had written about my past experience which took place a year after this where a gun was present in The Stranger Series | The Disappearance yet I hadn’t thought about intuition. In that moment my mind was focused on the stranger who helped, however upon reflection intuition was also a huge part of the assistance too.

I’ve found that my intuition arises in situations with a clear contradictory sensation to my regular patterns e.g. a feeling of calm in a moment of madness and at other times unease when everything appears great.

For you it may be a sudden thought, a weird feeling you’ve never experienced, a dream, a shift in how the environment feels e.g. a sudden chill on a warm day that only you felt. If you struggle to recognise intuition, check out the videos below.

Intuition is there to align you with a better path.

Thank you for reading and thank you Monica for this topic.

With love and light,

𝓒 𝓢𝓲𝓶𝓸𝓷𝓮 ✨

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The Science of Intuition Revealed | Dr. Tara Swart on Healing & Hidden Wisdom 🎧

How To Use Your Intuition (The Inner Voice) - Teal Swan -🎧

This is our third take on sharing our gratitude as part of the ✨Gratitude Junkies✨ club created by Andrea Thorfinson and myself.

If you’re new here, this club is open to anyone who wants to express gratitude each month as a reminder that we all have so much to be grateful for!

The theme of this month is: Body chosen by Andrea Thorfinson .

Body

When my amazing friend Andrea chose body, I had so many ideas about this topic as it is one that is daily presented to the world with a hierarchical order, some bodies are celebrated, elevated and lusted after, some bodies are ridiculed, tortured and overlooked.

Then there is the personal relationship we have with our own body, this is very different for each person, today I’ve chosen to write to my body and our body.

My Body

Dear Body,

I closed my eyes and reflected on you. I heard the sounds of my daughter breathing as she laid asleep. I heard her movements as she adjusted to the side and as I listened closer I heard you, my heart beating to a rhythm of your own beat, your own music.

I reflected on you, how you work, how you take care of me, how I use you to take care of others. I remembered times when I didn't fully take care of you, where I let others hurt your heart and how I too hurt you with my mind and for this I am sorry.

I closed my eyes again, counted the beats and felt the sensation of the pulse vibrate into my ears. I realised when we use the word "still" we never really are, with each breath and flow of pumped blood, you move various parts of our body, some felt and others not. A thought sprung to mind; when alive, when do you rest?

Even when we sleep you are at work, every ecosystem plays its part, every organ, cell, tissue, nerve, every breath and much more has its job to keep you, my body, alive.

You are the home of my soul, my thoughts, my skills, my emotions, my memories, my dreams...

You have been with me for 4 decades, a metamorphosis of stages, there's so much of you I don't remember or see. With time memories slip and others remain...

However, you mean so much to me! You are resilient and strong even at times when I have felt weak, you are so loyal, never allowing me to give up. You are so giving, regardless of when I close my eyes, you, my body you continue on.
 
I am sending you gratitude in every language I can in my mind as you have gifted me with so much; you have kept me safe, held and released emotions, heard all my thoughts, connected me with a diverse array of people.
You started this journey by developing inside my mother's womb granting me this life, a multitude of experiences... 

Thank you for healing past pains, for providing me with the ability to recognise your inward light that you carry throughout all seasons, throughout all thoughts, throughout all my time left. 

Thank you for teaching me to also appreciate others regardless of outward appearance to connect with their hearts and minds and some with their soul.

With you I connected with my amazing husband, you gifted my womb with two precious souls, with a precious daughter we can raise and our angel who helps protect her. You provided me with incredible friends and some wonderful family I'm close to and for this I am so grateful!

I promise you, I will try to never take you for granted, I will continue to help you with goodness and kindness. As you are my home, my companion, my witness, my protector, my art, my confidant.

Body the day you do take rest, I will remember you in my soul, as you my body, were chosen. 

Thank you for holding me
For allowing me 
To experience vitality

Thank you 
For my health
For my strength
For my anatomy

Thank you for giving me skills
For breathing so abundantly

You add new stories and lessons
To my Akashic records

I'm thankful for you

I love you 💜

Our Body

When someone looks in the mirror at their body, they never see its entirety. Often what is seen is a reflection of a perception.

A story we tell ourselves and a story of our journey expressed back. There is a focus on parts whether to observe, to celebrate, to criticise or to compare.

For countless people, the body is an afterthought, one to simply dress, “to fix” or to avoid.

For numerous people, the body is a canvas, one to adorn, to place art on, to express their personality, status or culture.

Each body speaks, more than words can convey.

Our body is a celebration 
One of life
A miracle 
Not just flesh
If only every body
Would embrace themselves
And celebrate the rest
Regardless of skin tone
Age, gender, height, 
Disfigurement, disability, scars
Features, proportions, weight 
We have differences
that we can learn from
Yet much more 
In common

We are designed to learn
Adapt and grow
This is why externally some features
Transform 
Settled over many years
of different environments 
lived in not just roamed

With differences
There is strength
Our bodies 
Can help each other rise
Where one is unable
Another can assist
An outstretched hand
Is such a selfless gift

Our bodies are incredible
Unique and evolutionary
So with my brain and heart
I will continue to connect
To other bodies
I'm sending gratitude 
To body diversity 
Our collective body
One that holds the souls
Of humanity

Thank you for this topic! 💜Thank you to all who read this, let’s continue to love and show gratitude to the body we have and to body diversity.

With love and light,

𝓒 𝓢𝓲𝓶𝓸𝓷𝓮 ✨

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Songs related to this theme:

• Sinéad Harnett - Body | A COLORS SHOW

• Maluma - La Reina (Official Video)

• BODY LANGUAGE - SUKHA | MANNI SANDHU (OFFICIAL AUDIO)

• Christina Aguilera - Beautiful (Official HD Video)

This is the second take on sharing our gratitude as part of the ✨Gratitude Junkies✨ club created by Andrea Thorfinson et moi.

If you’re new here, this club is open to anyone who wants to express gratitude each month as a reminder that we all have so much to be grateful for!

The theme of this month is: Confidence chosen by .

Confidence - the friend that can be hard to find

Confidence is a companion that cheers us on
Hidden among anxiety, doubt, and fear in us all
Showing up quietly, and at times loudly
Like laughter after swinging and missing the ball

They hold our hands when we feel weak
They whisper 
"You can do this
I'm here, just seek."

Confidence is incredibly near
Yet can feel so distant, overwhelmingly far
It yearns us not to focus on discouraging words
Or cynical actions that left their etched scars

The taunts, filth, intense negativity
The disapproving looks, the fall
Followed by shame and embarrassment
Confidence holds them all

It reaches its hands through the thick layers
And strokes your heart
Yet your mind and nervous system
Wish to protect you from falling apart

I am grateful that I connected with you
Confidence, my loyal friend
Because without leaning into you
I doubt I would have been able to transcend

Author note

At this stage of my life, I consider myself to be a fairly confident person and I never actually sent gratitude to this part of me. It was refreshing to do this as leaning into my confidence has taken me on many adventures, achieving goals and speaking up when no one else would.

I have learnt to find confidence firstly from my parents who cheered me on in school performances and encouraged my creativity by sending me to dance classes where I got to perform on stage. I was also sent to Anna Scher theatre school as a child as part of the summer classes, where I got to meet young British actors who were on our screens at the time in shows like Casualty and Eastenders.

My grandmother also encouraged me to sing and write songs I had co-written with a friend at her events as part of The Eastern Star.

One of my uncles used to call me “Brain box” when I was a child, which is a term used to call someone intelligent and this helped me to really focus on my studies while at school.

I owe a great deal of my confidence to my family - thank you so much! 💜

This is not to say that confidence has always been present, In my 20’s I endured a relationship with a manipulative person who slowly edged away at my confidence for almost a decade so I do deeply know how it feels to doubt your ability, your mind, your being.

Thankfully I still had a great set of friends and support from family to remind me of my worth. I also continued my creativity through singing, dancing and acting on stages and boy did confidence have no chance of hiding!

When training to be an actor, you have to let go of fear, shame and embarrassment. These won’t bring out the best in you and trap you from bringing life to characters. A lot of exercises in drama school are embarrassing, you may have to make strange noises, sing in front of a full room, act in a provocative way in front of strangers, kiss a stranger, cry, change in front of strangers…😅

Confidence wraps you up in a “Who cares?” bubble, you strive for things others may hesitate about, you do things people may wish to do and this is part of experiencing life to its fullest so I am incredibly grateful for confidence!

Learning to tap into confidence has ultimately helped me go for goals and to face scary situations both spiritual and physical such as quad biking up a mountain, one wrong turn and I could’ve fallen off the edge - so yes I had to connect with confidence!

Thanks Kevin for this theme and thank you to all who read this!

𝓒 𝓢𝓲𝓶𝓸𝓷𝓮 ✨

If you’d like to join us every last Monday of each month to share gratitude, please:

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For my eclectic music lovers - songs that bring an atmosphere of confidence:

• Maluma - La Reina (Official Video)

• Raja Kumari - BORN TO WIN ( OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)

• Sa-Roc - Forever (Official Video)

• amel bent - eye of the tiger (cover)

We started this from Andrea suggesting it and although it may have been said in jest, we started to actually take it as a sign to do it!

We’re not here to have miserable lives, we’re here to actually love, grow, learn and a huge part of that is embracing and expressing gratitude.

Here is what I’m grateful for today:ℒℴ𝓋ℯ 💜

𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓮

Love without you, what would life be?
Who would I share my heart with?
What would my eyes see?
Would they be blind to the joys of this world?
Would they despise life itself?
Would I question my existence?
Would I isolate myself?

For love you come in many forms
You show up in our inner core
You show up in laughter
In hugs, in beautiful words
In all

You shine a light so bright
Yet some still don't see
You're not just here for me
You're here for every soul
To be free

You show up in the songs
In the rhythm and the beat
You show up in the lyrics
In every form of art, what a treat!

Love you show up in nature
Sometimes fierce, sometimes calm
You show up in strangers
The kind gestures
A door opened, a sprinkle of charm

You show up when we open our eyes
To live another day
Pleading us to remember 
That life is so much better your way

You show up in the putting down of weapons
You show up in forgiveness
In safety, care and support
A gift
Beyond measure

Love I am so grateful for you
You are my teacher of life
And I hope I've been a good student
A good person, mother, relative, friend and wife

I wish to mirror your essence
For you can reach the hearts and minds
Of those afar
Faces we may never see
Yet when you show up
It's unmistakable who you are 💜

Thank you for reading and being here!

𝓒 𝓢𝓲𝓶𝓸𝓷𝓮 ✨

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Songs that touch my heart with love:

Love talking to us:

• Madonna - Frozen (Official Video)

• Michael Jackson - Earth Song (Official Video)

Love for humanity:

• We Are The World: The Next Generation

Love for another:

• You for Me - Johnny Gill (My & Isaiah’s wedding song 💜)

• Michael Jackson - I Just Cant Stop Loving You - Live Wembley 1988

• MICHAEL STERLING “ Lovers And Friends”

• WanMor - Alone With You

• Paula Arenas, Manuel Medrano - Puro SENTIMIENTO

• ZAYN, Becky G - Un mundo ideal (Versión Créditos) (De “Aladdín”/Official Video)

About losing love or loss:

• Sinead Harnett - If You Let Me (acoustic)

• Amel Bent - Ne retiens pas tes larmes

• Toni Braxton - Un-Break My Heart