A woman sits at a desk in front of two computer monitors, each showing a video call grid with smiling people. She types on the keyboard as she participates in the virtual meeting. Text across the center reads “Ecosystem Gratitude + Connection.” Colorful geometric shapes and the Collective Agency logo appear in the bottom right corner.
Ecosystem Gratitude: A Practice for Community Wellness
Inspired by Joanna Macy’s “Work That Reconnects,” offered with deep respect for the many cultures, especially Indigenous, Black, and global majority traditions that center reciprocity, interdependence, and relationship with land, ancestors, and community.
Why We Need a Different Kind of Gratitude Right Now
Every year, the holiday season brings the same message: “Be grateful.”
Gratitude becomes a performance, a mood we’re supposed to switch on, no matter what we’re carrying.
But in the small-business ecosystem, this pressure can hit especially hard. Microbusiness owners, solopreneurs, and even resource partners are navigating financial instability, caregiving responsibilities, policy uncertainty, and community needs that often go unmet.
And dominant culture responds with:
“Stay positive.”
“Push through.”
“Others have it worse.”
This is , toxic positivity the pressure to bypass real feelings and systemic challenges in the name of appearing grateful or resilient.
Gratitude isn’t something we have to force, but a practice we inherited. It can be traced at any moment to access resilience, problem-solving, and whole system thinking.
It reconnects us to the ecosystem of people, land, histories, and systems that make our work possible.
That’s where the Ecosystem Gratitude Practice comes in.
Close-up of two hands planting a small green seedling into the soil. Other young plants and pots sit nearby on a bed of straw. The scene feels calm and earthy. Text across the center reads “Ecosystem Gratitude + Connection.” Colorful geometric shapes and the Collective Agency logo appear in the bottom right corner.
Where This Practice Comes From
This exercise builds on the ecological-spiritual teachings of Joanna Macy’s “Work That Reconnects.” Macy invites people to choose an everyday item and trace its origins, from soil to sunlight, from labor to culture, from systems to community.
While Macy popularized this written reflection, the heart of ecosystem gratitude has long been alive in many cultures - particularly Indigenous, Black, and global majority traditions where relationship, reciprocity, and collective well-being have always been central.
It's also true that pre-dominant-culture European ancestral traditions, Celtic, Baltic, Slavic, Nordic, Mediterranean agrarian cultures - practiced seasonal gratitude, communal harvest rituals, ancestor honoring, and reciprocal exchange.
We name this to honor the plurality of lineages.
How the Ecosystem Gratitude Practice Works
Step 1: Choose one everyday item or moment.
Your morning tea.
A client referral.
A moment of rest.
A tool your business depends on.
Just one thing.
Step 2: Trace all the layers that brought it to you.
Ask:
“What had to happen for this to reach me today?”
Nature & land: soil, water, minerals, ecosystem support
Human labor: growers, drivers, resource partners, emotional supporters
Cultural knowledge: seasonality, recipes, craft, trade skills
Infrastructure: roads, postal systems, digital tools, public utilities
Community networks: fellow business owners, neighbors, informal support
This is where the story deepens.
Step 3: Notice your place in this network of relationships.
Microbusiness owners often realize they are less alone than they feel.
Resource partners often realize their work ripples deeper than they knew.
This shift from isolation to connection is grounding and healing.
Step 4: Name the gaps without judgment.
This is the step that interrupts toxic positivity.
As you trace origins, you may notice where:
Systems failed
Care was missing
You were expected to carry too much
Funding or access was uneven
Community support was unavailable
Gratitude becomes a lens for truth.
Step 5: Choose one act of reciprocity.
Not repayment.
Not people-pleasing.
Not over-functioning.
Reciprocity.
Examples:
Share a resource
Uplift another business
Thank a partner for unseen labor
Ask for support
Contribute to a local collaboration
Small acts strengthen the local ecosystem.
A man wearing an apron sits at a worktable, carefully stitching a small piece of leather. Tools, thread, and a larger sheet of leather are spread across the table. Plants and shelves fill the background, giving the workspace a warm, handcrafted feel. Colorful geometric shapes and the Collective Agency logo appear in the bottom left corner.
How This Practice Supports Community Wellness
1. It reduces isolation.
Both business owners and resource partners benefit from remembering they are already in relationship with many others.
2. It moves people past toxic positivity.
Instead of “focus on the good,” the practice asks:
“Where were you supported and where were you not?”
This invites honesty instead of emotional bypassing.
More recognition → more connection → more resilience.
4. It respects diverse gratitude traditions.
This practice honors:
Indigenous and global majority relational traditions
African diasporic and Caribbean communal care
Asian seasonal and ancestral rituals
Latin American reciprocity practices
and early European agrarian gratitude traditions
5. It supports both microbusinesses and resource partners.
Microbusiness owners gain clarity about support systems and gaps.
Resource partners gain insight into impact and areas for ecosystem strengthening.
Both groups move toward shared understanding.
When microbusiness owners and resource partners practice ecosystem gratitude, they begin to notice the quiet architecture of support beneath their work, and the places where it needs reinforcement.
This practice helps us imagine ourselves not as isolated entrepreneurs trying to survive alone, but as part of an interwoven community strengthened by shared care, shared labor, shared lineage, and shared possibility.
Try the practice this week.
Notice what it reveals.
And imagine what we can build when we start with relationship, not pressure to perform gratitude.
If you find the practice helpful, our online community, Connara Commons™, is where small business owners can practice ecosystem gratitude and find others to share the journey with. Hop on the waitlist to be the first to hear when registration opens.
In Community,
Tricia + Chandra
Collective Agency
P.S. Know a business owner or resource partner who’d love this kind of support and community?
Feel free to forward this email or invite them to sign up - we’d love to welcome them in.
