November 26th, 2023
We trust you are having a wonderful Thanksgiving week, whether you are traveling to visit family and friends, preparing a festive “Gratitude Day” feast, or just enjoying some quiet time to reflect on the goodness of life that came your way during this past year. Living a joyous, satisfying life rests in gratitude. Yet having an ever present “attitude of gratitude” requires practice for sure! It’s easy to lose sight and feel hopeless by what’s happening on the world stage or in one’s own teeny tiny corner of the Universe – we know! But oh, doesn’t being in gratitude feel awesome – when we take the time to be in the present moment and notice and accept all the beauty and abundance that is ours? This Sunday, we’ll affirm this blissful state and discuss ways to keep it alive the whole year through. Hope you can join us if you’re in town!
Happy Thanksgiving! Colleen and Mark
Quotes to ponder
“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.”
~ Marcus Tullius Cicero
“Being grateful does not mean that everything is necessarily good. It just means that you can accept it as a gift.”
~ Roy T. Bennett
“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.”
~ Epicurus
“Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.”
~ A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh
“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.”
~ Eckhart Tolle
Looking Ahead/Notes of Interest
***Dates subject to change! Please always refer to latest newsletters for latest information and updates***
November 1st – 30th – YOU MATTER Marathon. More info at https://youmattermarathon.org/
We hope you are enjoying sharing your YOU MATTER cards and have had some beautiful moments doing so!
Sunday, November 26th – In person POH Gathering, 10:30 a.m.
Tuesday, November 28th – GIVING TUESDAY! Please consider a donation to Paths of Heart on #Giving Tuesday, “a global generosity movement unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world.” This continues to be one of our biggest fundraising efforts, especially through our Facebook Campaign. You may also donate on our website https://www.pathsofheart.org/donate/ Thank you!! We are a 501(c)(3), non-profit so all donations are tax deductible.
Sunday, December 3rd – NO Paths of Heart Gathering, 10:30 a.m.
Sunday, December 10th – ZOOM POH Gathering, 10:30 a.m.
Sunday, December 17th – In person POH Gathering, 10:30 a.m.
Sunday, December 24th – no morning gathering, but we WILL be celebrating the Season of Light and Peace at our Christmas Eve concert at 7 p.m. Myles and Emma Sloniker will join us! Please RSVP as space is limited. Donations to Paths of Heart that night are most appreciated.
Sunday, December 31st – NO Paths of Heart. Happy New Year!!
Please mark your calendars for the above scheduled dates!
Guest Presenters and Musicians Wanted! Now that we’re meeting on a more regular basis we’d love to get back to having other folks present a topic on some Sundays and having other musicians sit in as well. Please get in touch if you’re interested! A small honorarium is available.
Paths of Heart Song Circles, usually the third or last Tuesday of every month, 7- 8:30 pm. Come join us for group singing in an informal and safe space. You are welcome to bring an instrument and song suggestions of love, life, and peace especially! $5.00-10.00 suggested donation. We will provide a variety of teas to drink. You are welcome to bring other beverages of choice. Please RSVP at least a day or two in advance! Since attendance has been rather inconsistent of late, we’d like the opportunity to make alternate plans if sign-up is light.
Our last Song Circle of 2023 is December 19th (Songs of the Season). We hope you’ll join us for a holly, jolly time!
Giving Opportunities
Paths of Heart continues to welcome and appreciate your generous donations as we work to bolster our finances and return to regular Sunday gatherings. During the pandemic, online donations became increasingly important to our organization, and are always gratefully accepted on our website, https://www.pathsofheart.org/donate/. There is an option for recurring monthly donations, if you so choose. We have also added Venmo as an easy way to donate to Paths of Heart! Just type in @PathsofHeart to find us in the Venmo app. Thanks so much for supporting the continuation of Paths of Heart. Remember, we are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, so your donations are tax deductible!
Another easy way to further support Paths of Heart is through the King Soopers Community Rewards Program – If you shop at KS and have a rewards card, you can “link” it to Paths of Heart and King Soopers will donate a portion of your dollars spent (around 5%) to our non-profit. Go to https://www.kingsoopers.com/i/community/community-rewards to sign up and link your card. Our organization name is Paths of Heart and organization number is RG782. Let us know if you want help signing up! This one small gesture (by just 25 or so families at this point) helps to generate over $1,000 a year for Paths of Heart, so we appreciate your consideration in participating in this valuable program!!
“Paths of Heart” Labyrinth and Zen Meditation Garden
This was intentioned to be a community space, so know that you are always welcome to drop by and walk or sit – you do not need to let us know in advance. Do note that we have experienced the outer “halo” of glass blocks in the labyrinth to be slippery when wet, so it’s best to walk it on a dry day.
Gratitudes
The “Holiday Season” is officially upon us and we’re grateful for a heightened sense of gratitude, good cheer, and fun family time ahead. We pray for those in complicated, difficult, and dangerous situations around the world, and that peace and love will prevail.
What are you grateful for today?
I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness – it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude.
~ Brene Brown
What I’ve learned is there’s a scientifically proven phenomenon that’s attached to gratitude, and that if you consciously take note of what is good in your life, quantifiable benefits happen.
~ Deborah Norville
“If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.”
~ Meister Eckhart
“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Just an observation: it is impossible to be both grateful and depressed. Those with a grateful mindset tend to see the message in the mess. And even though life may knock them down, the grateful find reasons, if even small ones, to get up.”
~ Steve Maraboli
About Paths of Heart…
Paths of Heart is a high spirited, heart-centered community where we gather together (in new and creative ways!) for music, poetry, commentary, and dialogue to create and nurture joy, compassion, gratitude, and love – in our own lives and throughout the world. Paths of Heart is a 501(c)(3) Human Services/Educational non-profit organization that uses the arts, especially, to encourage and propel seekers of a better, more peaceful world to find ways to serve, while becoming more kind and compassionate human beings.
We welcome you as we collectively and individually explore the sweet mysteries of life – this is an invitation into co-creation!
Visit us on the web at https://www.pathsofheart.org
We hope our physical paths may cross soon!