A Guide for Bountiful Thanksgiving Conversations

We’re going to use a few of our own photos to reflect on the question, “Who and what are you grateful for?” It’s a process that can help us reflect on what’s important and meaningful as we celebrate Thanksgiving.

  1. Find Photos

The first step is for everyone to choose a photo from your camera roll you can use to share a story about gratitude. Don’t over-think it. Whatever comes to mind when you think about who or what you're grateful for will work.

2. Set the stage.

Here are a few ground rules to help guide our conversation. They are inspired by a practice at Snap called Council—yeah, the people behind SnapChat:

  • Listen from the heart: listen with curiosity and a desire to understand.

  • Speak from the heart: be authentic.

  • Get to the heart of your story: you don’t need to share all the details, just the parts that matter most. In other words, err on the side of brevity.

  • Follow your heart: be spontaneous with your story, don’t plan what you’ll say.

3. Show and tell.

We’re going to go around the table. Everyone who wants to share has a few minutes to show us a photo and use it to tell a story about gratitude. Please connect your story to your own beliefs, values, or worldview if you are comfortable doing so.

During storytelling we’re going to follow one rule: when it is not your turn, we’re going to keep silent. No questions, no comments, just listening. There will be time for that afterwards.

4. Reflect on what happened.

We’re going to go around the table one last time. When it is your turn, share what came up for you during this time of sharing about

gratitude. (Choose one of the following or come up with your own.)

  • Share a word or phrase that describes how you’re feeling because of what we

    just did.

  • What did you learn about yourself, gratitude, or the people around our table?

  • What are you taking with you from this time of show and tell about gratitude?