#23. Confessions of a Job Seeker – Dec. 2013
This series is based on a design journal that I kept between 09/12 – 02/13. New? Start here.

While this experience taught me a lot about my friendships, it also made me acutely aware of the ways in which it had worn down some of my relationships. As the holidays approached I decided to try something different. Instead of buying gifts, I wrote gratitude letters to my family and to a handful of friends who had really shown up for me.

These letters were well received and my sense is that they were very much appreciated. Over the months that followed, I even received a few letters in return. This was unexpected and deeply moving. It’s easy to assume that our implicit gratitude or a passing remark is enough. I find that it’s less and less common, however, that we pause to be vulnerable and to explicitly share our gratitude and love for each other. It can be a simple act, but a very powerful one.