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As we grow older, our thank you's become more perfunctory - professional courtesies, a quick e-mail, a call to a friend. Often in a busy life one forgets altogether. It takes time and the intuition grown from experience to understand what truly being grateful means. So this summer, take a deep breath and connect with the spirit inside. Find a quiet place, perhaps the table by the window, a pillow filled bed, a blanket on the lawn or a chair on the porch. Now set the stage. Fill our featured watering can with flowers you love (perhaps dried eucalyptus) and breathe in the fragrance. Put on music evocative of your mood - Kitaro, cool jazz, music of the rain forest, whatever relaxes your mind and body. Perhaps you'd like a cool drink and bowl of grapes? Now you're ready.

With the immediacy of phoning, and the speed and accuracy of computer spell-check, many of us have forgotten the lost art of letter writing. So choose note cards or monogrammed stationery (or even plain old white paper)! Let your spirit open up to the gratitude you feel for friends, the kindness of a relative or the relaxed thoughtfulness of a neighbor. We honor ourselves when we honor others. Search your heart for that special one to whom you are grateful. Perhaps the teacher who spent extra time with you or your child, a friend with whom you shared a special memory, the mentor who inspired you to be what you are now or the vet who helped your ailing pet. Write from your special home - your heart - and say … "Thank you."