ON GRATITUDE

March 6, 2020

(The following is a journal entry from dora callahan, summit’s director of retail operations. although, she would prefer her title to be director of fun.)

Last week I was in a class at Yoga on Davidson (my once-a-quarter yoga practice), and my friend + yoga teacher for the evening, Annie, began the class by asking us to come up with an intention as she always does. She suggested gratitude if we couldn’t think of something else, and prompted us to think of things we were grateful for throughout the class. So I started thinking - okay, I just moved so I’m gonna focus on that: my new home. Then after another 20 minutes and some really intense moves, Annie prompted again, and this time I thought: I’m grateful that my body can move like this! Right at the end of class, Annie asked one more time and I thought of one more thing: my job and the people I get to do it with.

It’s hard to fully explain what that last one means to me - hard to explain all the roles it has played in my life in the past 4ish years of being at Summit. But, that’s because it’s remarkable. My job (Director of Retail Operations) involves working with a lot of people to make sure our cafés and our people are thriving. I have so much gratitude for the people that Summit has brought into my life. I took a yoga class at YOD for the first time three years ago because another Summit employee recommended it, and I’ve met some awesome people because of that - like Annie, who taught the class and is a regular customer and friend of Summit. I’ve found places to live because of connections and associations with Summit. I ended up in my new home because the woman who lived there beforehand met her boyfriend at Summit trivia and highly recommended me because of that connection!

And then there are instances when Summit people have showed up when I needed it most, like a few weeks ago when I had to rush home for a funeral. I was met by incredible care and support. Brian encouraged me to do what I needed to do and gave me days off work with no notice so I could go be with my family. Plus, since I was supposed to move that same weekend, Jamie, Ashley, and Betsy helped me move and settle in. There are countless acts of kindness that come from being a part of this place, far too many to list here and explain.

A few months ago, a few of us took an online Yale course called “The Science of Wellbeing,” essentially learning about why, and how, to increase happiness and make our lives more fulfilling. Gratitude, it turns out, is one of the keys to doing both of those things. When we get used to things in life and the magic seems to fade a little, practicing gratitude can snap us out of that and help life feel better and more exciting. It’s science! I promise! There’s a reason people talk about gratitude so much, from religion to yoga classes to therapy to inspirational quotes floating around the internet. Gratitude can’t cure every ailment, it can’t completely make up for really hard things in life or make you forget them, but it can help your mindset.

I’m not always good at being grateful and I can often forget how amazing things can be. But I’m practicing, and the Summit community makes it easier because there’s so much to be grateful for. So, just as I’m trying, maybe you can try, too! Find one thing, two things, three things to be grateful for and hopefully it will help you too.

There are so many beautiful parts of being here. It’s no secret that community - one of the things I am so grateful for at Summit - is also one of our key focuses. It’s in our mission statement, in our core values, but also totally present in our daily operations and in people on all sides of our counters. Working at Summit, and spending time with Summit people, can really make you a better person. It certainly pushes me to be better - to think bigger, to be more curious, to care for people better, and to continue to invite people to the table because there’s always room.