For This We Are Thankful 

Jordan Klotz | 10/31/23

At our best, gratitude fuels so much of our lives. We give thanks for new days, for shared meals, for sweaters, and for glimpses of good in the insanity of this life. Art is responsible for reminding society just how much there is to be grateful for, despite the chaos that is the 21st century. Regardless of an artist’s medium, we take the every day and interpret it for those around us, for ourselves—we transform the good, the ordinary, and the ugly into something beautiful. 

As a choir director, I am constantly amazed (and grateful) that a few dozen people take time out of their busy schedules to sing with one another and with me. They aren't professional musicians, but they are as much artists as any other. Because my singers see how music can take a mediocre day at work or at home and turn it on its head. For this, we are grateful. 

After rehearsal, when we share time for fellowship, perhaps over a drink! It is mutually understood that we are blessed to be surrounded by people we love. For this, we are grateful. 

When a member is ill, or is confronting grief or loss, it is both the music we make and the company we keep that lifts us. The knowledge that music can be both an expression of and release from whatever we’re experiencing reminds us that being alive is a gift. For this, we are grateful. 

I have the privilege of helping my singers find gratitude for what happens both inside and outside the rehearsal space; For the gift of being alive; For the ways that art speaks to and elevates the human condition. They then can take that spirit of gratitude and share it in word, in song, and in deed.

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What role does gratitude play in your practice? If you’d like to share, email us your responses via artgrovenewsletter@gmail.com