Listen to this when
Gracias a la vida
You don't have to feel happy to feel grateful. Some days you just count what's still here. 🌾 #GraciasALaVida
Who it's for
The song works like a sung gratitude inventory: each verse turns attention to one ordinary capacity (seeing, hearing, speaking, walking, loving) and treats it as a gift, which mirrors the savouring and gratitude-listing exercises people use to widen a narrowed.
Feelings it meets
What it is
"Gracias a la vida" is a song written and performed by Chilean folk singer-songwriter Violeta Parra, a founder of the Nueva Canción Chilena movement. She wrote it in May 1966 in La Paz, Bolivia, and it opens her album Las últimas composiciones, released by RCA Victor in November 1966.
Where to find it
Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon Music (widely available). The Mercedes Sosa (1971) version is also widely available.
Before you start
Heads up: Songwriter later died by suicide.
Age: All ages
I am certain of nothing but of the holiness of the Heart's affections, and the truth of Imagination.John Keats, Letter to Benjamin Bailey
