Gratitude Conversations #1
David Sawyer, Liesl Carter, Seana Murphy
Why Gratitude
In 2017, heartbroken and eyeballs deep in despair, I started searching for things for which to be grateful. I asked myself the question asked by poet Katie Farris
“Why write love poetry in a burning world? To train myself, in the midst of a burning world, to offer poems of love to a burning world.”
I reached out to people who — in the way in which they live — write love poems to our burning world. I cast my net far and wide amongst my heroes — those I knew personally and those who teach us all by their example. I invited artists, philosophers, psychologists, politicians, professors, yogis, writers, clergy, and others into a dialogue about gratitude. I am deeply grateful to those who said yes. Read more about my gratitude project here.
David Sawyer
I met David Sawyer when I was an AmeriCorps member and had been selected to participate in the New Generation Training Program — a 1 year, multi-session, leadership initiative which brought together young leaders from across the United States to build a network of support and expertise within the National Service movement. David was a co-developer and leader of that program. As a 23 year-old, that early experience learning about cultivating an ethic of service amidst a breadth of existential concerns, finding my voice in a sea of needs and noise, and walking with others to move toward a better world changed my life.
It is possible to name drop the powerful people with whom he worked. Those who run major cities and those who run multi-national corporations looked to him for guidance. Sharing this conversation in these times feels profoundly important. As a person committed to service, and teaching others the ways in which we all are called to serve and can serve, David’s light shone bright. David passed away in in November of 2022. I am beyond grateful we got to have this conversation in 2019. Read more about David here.
Liesl Carter
I have known Col. Liesl Carter my entire life. Her family is my family. She has always been a guiding light since we played in her backyard as children. Following the decorated path of her grandfather and father, she wanted to be a pilot and became one earning her pilot’s license as a teen ager. Just being a pilot was not enough. She graduated from the Air Force Academy. While being a mother, wife, and leader she rose to the level of Colonel in the United States Airforce. Read more about Liesl here.
I celebrate Liesl. Her service and friendship. Her leadership and example. Right now, when the role of women in the military is being attacked — their contribution minimalized — I want to tell her story. I want to remind us all. I am grateful .
Seana Murphy
In September of 1994, I became an inaugural AmeriCorps member in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Read about my AmeriCorps experience, here.) AmeriCorps was my first job out of college. Seana Murphy was my AmeriCorps Program Supervisor. Flash forward to February, 2025. I am sitting in a restaurant with a group of friends in Atlanta, Georgia. Seana Murphy walks in. I have not seen her since I left Indianapolis in 1998. (The circumstances of how we were at the same restaurant at the same time makes me believe in Divine Intervention.)
The earth stopped when she walked in. I don’t make that statement lightly. I truly lost my breath for a moment.
We hugged for a million years as tears welled in my eyes. She was in Atlanta to work on a book about abundance. We talked for a few minutes, but our conversation was beyond words. I felt the love in my bones. If I remember correctly, the last time we talked was when I interviewed her about gratitude in 2018. (Read about my Gratitude Project, here.) I immediately decided to republish our gratitude conversation. Right here. Right now.
Seana received her bachelor’s degree in Sociology from DePauw University and her master’s degree from Christian Theological Seminary where she studied philosophy and Christian ethics. She enjoys creating opportunities for all members of the community to use their talents and resources for the creation of a better world. I have watched from a far as she has parented her son, built her community, and shared her unmistakable love with the world. She has been on my holiday card list a long time. She planted the seed of community in me that I have planted wherever I have lived, and I have lived all over the United States.
I am beyond grateful to have recently hugged Seana. Her hugs are the best. May this conversation hug us all. May this conversation remind us to connect with our mentors on whose shoulders we stand. May this conversation be a balm to ease anger and isolation and fear. May her words connect us to what matters most in our lives.