Gratitude Practices for the Creative Soul
I have a confession: Thanksgiving can be hard for me.
Not because I don’t have things to be grateful for—I do, abundantly. But because this season has a way of highlighting the gap between what culture tells me success should look like and what I know, deep in my bones, success actually means for me.
Culture says success is the six-figure business, the five-figure month, the explosive growth, the viral post. Culture says if you’re not constantly climbing, you’re falling behind. And when Thanksgiving rolls around, it’s easy to look at my creative work and ministry and wonder: Should I be further along by now?
But here’s what I’m learning, slowly and imperfectly: God’s faithfulness shows up most clearly not when I’m hustling harder, but when I stop striving long enough to actually see what He’s already done.
My husband’s single income gives me the freedom to pursue creative ministry without the pressure of profit targets. My books sit on library shelves in multiple systems, reaching readers I’ll never meet. My Substack community grows steadily with women who resonate with this soft, sacred, slow way of living. I have the margin in my schedule to take a friend to lunch and cover the bill. I can donate to causes I care about. I can show up for my apartment community and co-lead a mom’s ministry at church.
None of these looks like what Instagram would call “crushing it.” But they are evidence of something far more valuable: God’s abundant provision overflowing into blessing for others.
The practice that keeps bringing me back to this truth? Gratitude. Not the fluffy, “good vibes only” kind that culture peddles, but gratitude as a spiritual discipline—a commanded practice that creates protective boundaries around my heart and my creative calling.
Gratitude as God’s Will, Not Optional Extra
Scripture doesn’t suggest gratitude. It commands it: “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
Read that again. Give thanks in all circumstances. Not just when your podcast downloads are up or your book sales are strong. Not only when you feel inspired or see the results you hoped for. In. All. Circumstances.
This isn’t toxic positivity that denies real struggle. This is spiritual warfare against the enemy’s favorite weapon: discontent.
Paul wrote these words from prison. He wasn’t speaking theoretically about maintaining gratitude when life gets hard—he was living it. And he frames thanksgiving not as an optional spiritual practice for when we feel like it, but as God’s explicit will for us. It’s a discipline, not a feeling. A choice, not a circumstance.
When we choose gratitude as an act of obedience rather than waiting to feel grateful, something shifts. We’re no longer at the mercy of our metrics, our comparison traps, or our cultural definitions of success. We’re anchored in something unshakeable.
The Boundary That Guards Your Heart
Here’s where gratitude connects beautifully to the Waters Retreat garden space and the Genesis Day 2 themes of boundaries and containment. On the second day of creation, God separated the waters—creating structure, order, and sacred space amidst chaos. He established boundaries not to restrict, but to protect and enable life to flourish.
https://www.softsacredslow.com/p/day-2-the-waters-retreat-creating
Gratitude functions the same way in our creative lives. It creates emotional and spiritual boundaries that protect us from the chaos of discontent.
Paul understood this when he wrote, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).
Notice that word: guard. The peace that comes through gratitude literally stands watch over our hearts and minds. It’s a protective boundary against anxiety, comparison, and the relentless cultural pressure to achieve more, be more, produce more.
When I practice gratitude—when I actually name the ways God has provided and blessed me—it creates a container for contentment. It draws a line in the sand and says, “This is enough. God is faithful. I am held.” That boundary protects me from the lie that I need to hustle harder, that my worth is tied to my output, that success looks like what everyone else is doing.
Without this boundary, discontent seeps in like water through cracks. We start measuring our calling against someone else’s highlight reel. We second-guess our creative choices. We lose sight of the sacred in pursuit of the impressive.
But gratitude—practiced as discipline, commanded as God’s will—creates the structure we need to flourish.
Gratitude in Our Creative Work
The Colossians passage takes this even further into our creative calling: “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly... And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:15-17).
Whatever you do. Whether in word or deed.
That includes every Instagram caption, every podcast episode, every client project, every piece of art. Our creative work—when done with thanksgiving—becomes an act of worship. Not because it’s perfect or impressive or successful by cultural standards, but because it’s offered with gratitude to the One who gave us the gifts in the first place.
This is where gratitude stops being just a personal emotional practice and becomes integrated into how we actually create and serve. When we approach our work with thanksgiving, we’re freed from the need to prove ourselves. We can create from overflow rather than depletion. We can serve without keeping score. We can share our gifts without attachment to specific outcomes, trusting that God decides what “good results” actually look like.
I see this most clearly in the small moments. When I write a Substack post from a place of gratitude—thanking God for the words, the readers, the opportunity to share what He’s teaching me—the process itself feels different. There’s less striving, less anxiety about whether it will “perform.” More presence, more peace, more trust.
This is what it means to enter His gates with thanksgiving (Psalm 100:4). Gratitude becomes the threshold, the entry point into creating with God rather than for approval.
Practicing Gratitude According to Your Design
Because we’re all designed differently, gratitude will look different for each of us. Here’s how different DISC types might express gratitude in their business and ministry practices:
For the D (Dominant) creative: Your gratitude practice might look like taking action on what you’re thankful for. Thank God for the opportunity to serve? Channel that into decisive next steps in your ministry. Grateful for your platform? Use it boldly. Your gratitude is active and results-oriented—let it fuel your courage rather than complacency.
For the I (Influential) creative: Gratitude likely flows naturally through connection and celebration. Express thanks by sharing wins with your community, celebrating others publicly, creating content that highlights what you’re learning and appreciating. Your gratitude is verbal and relational—let it overflow into authentic community building.
For the S (Steady) creative: Your gratitude practice thrives in consistency and rhythm. A daily gratitude journal, regular thank-you notes, and maintaining relationships over time—these steady practices align with your design. Your gratitude is patient and faithful—let it ground you in sustainable rhythms rather than the pressure to constantly innovate.
For the C (Conscientious) creative: Gratitude for you might include detailed tracking of answered prayers, analyzing patterns in God’s provision, creating systems that honor thankfulness (like a structured giving plan). Your gratitude is thoughtful and precise—let it inform your strategic decisions and quality standards without perfectionism stealing your peace.
Want to learn more about how your DISC type shapes your creative calling? Check out the Sacred Design introduction post to discover how your personality influences your ministry approach, or take the Christian DISC assessment in my shop to understand your unique wiring.
The Challenge: Name What You Have
Here’s what I’m learning in this season: Gratitude isn’t just about feeling thankful. It’s about the practice of clearly naming—out loud, in writing, in action—what God has given.
When I name the blessings, I see the overflow. When I see the overflow, I recognize God’s abundance. When I recognize abundance, the cultural definitions of success lose their power over me.
So as we head into Thanksgiving, I want to invite you into this practice with me—not as a one-time holiday sentiment, but as an ongoing spiritual discipline that creates protective boundaries around your creative calling.
Reflection Questions:
What cultural definitions of success am I still measuring myself against, even unconsciously? What would it look like to release those and trust God’s definition instead?
Where in my creative work or ministry am I most vulnerable to discontent? What specific gratitude practices could create a protective boundary in that area?
What has God already provided that I’ve stopped noticing because I’m focused on what I think should come next? Can I name three specific ways His provision has overflowed to bless others through me?
How does my unique DISC design shape the way I naturally express gratitude? Am I honoring that design, or trying to practice gratitude in ways that don’t fit how God made me?
Give thanks in all circumstances. Not because everything is perfect, but because God is faithful. Not because we’ve arrived, but because He’s already provided everything we need for this moment.
This is the boundary that guards our hearts. This is the discipline that protects our calling. This is the soft, sacred, slow way of creating—rooted in gratitude, sustained by His abundance, overflowing in blessing to others.
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