A Morning Walk, a Clean Beach, and What Gratitude Looks Like in Practice

The days before Thanksgiving always have a certain feel to it. People are moving around a little faster. Stores are crowded. Plans are being finalized. There is an energy to it that can be either grounding or overwhelming, depending on how you meet it.

My wife and I decided to start the morning in a quieter place. We went for a walk on a Sarasota beach we both appreciate. The sun was already bright, the sand was warming quickly, and the shoreline was dotted with early visitors setting up chairs and towels. It felt like a good place to slow down before the holiday begins.

Mark Edgington and his wife Laura at the beach

As we walked, we started noticing small pieces of trash. A bottle cap buried in the sand. A snack wrapper caught in the seaweed. A plastic cup that the tide must have pushed in overnight.

My wife picked up the first piece. She said we might as well grab what we could while we walked, so we continued our walk and picked up whatever we came across. We talked about the week. We watched a line of pelicans fly low across the water. And every so often, we stopped to take care of what was in front of us.

Somewhere along the shoreline, I found myself thinking about Thanksgiving, and the idea that gratitude is not only a feeling. It can be an action, sometimes a very small one.

Cleaning up that beach was not a major effort. It did not require planning or attention from anyone else. It simply asked us to pay attention and do what we could. By the time we reached the end of the walk, the small bag we carried was full. It was not a major accomplishment, but it mattered to that stretch of shoreline.

Thanksgiving will always be a day for gathering, reflecting, and appreciating what is good. But mornings like this remind me that gratitude also has a practical side. It is something you carry into the world in simple ways.

A cleaner beach is not a big contribution, but it is a real one. And it is enough to remind me of the kind of attention and responsibility I want to bring into the rest of the season.

— Mark Edgington

This article also appears on Mark Edgington – Medium , where you can learn more about Mark Edgington’s ongoing work.