By Amy Colver, LCSW, and KrisAnn Talarico, LCSW

Happy Social Work Month to all of our social work colleagues! It feels quite fitting that our first issue of 2023 centers around the theme, “Gratitude in Personal and Professional Practice.” It is with tremendous esteem and appreciation that we extend an enthusiastic THANK YOU to every social worker who chooses our field of oncology social work. Your energy, your voice, your passion, and your advocacy impact not only people in our community facing cancer, but also each of us. When the job feels too draining, the system feels too broken, or the losses feel too great, it is often our colleagues within our organizations and across AOSW who offer rich sustenance. This month especially, we thank and honor each of you.

Throughout this issue, you will find information, context, strategies and ideas for the possibilities inherent in one’s authentic experience of gratitude. President Leora Lowenthal starts us off with a truly honest evaluation of gratitude, “I don’t believe that one must be grateful for a cancer diagnosis because no matter how many silver linings and wonderful life lessons there are to be found, at its best cancer is still usually frightening, disruptive and costly.” Through her article she not only gives permission to have a complicated relationship with gratitude, she also makes it very easy to connect with and feel gratitude for all of the aspects of AOSW and a career in oncology social work that are worthwhile in pausing to appreciate.

The Spirituality SIG offers a terrific primer on gratitude, complete with resources to learn more about gratitude jars, walls, huddles, letters and gratitude journals. Kerry Irish details a very beautiful and heartfelt gratitude letter, and encourages us to invite the recipient to a conversation where the letter is read aloud. What a moving way to put gratitude into personal, professional and relational practice!

Kailie Sullivan’s article, “Gratitude at Work,” offers multiple ways that gratitude can be formalized as a practice within organizations at various levels. AOSW President-Elect Brittany Nwachuku’s article delves into practical approaches one can take quite simply during a day or a week, recognizing the role gratitude can play in coping with or preventing burnout. And Kara Joseph illustrates her use of a “spiritual pause” throughout her days to more deeply understand and appreciate each individual person.

As you read through this issue and glean inspiration, nuggets of wisdom, and bright ideas for how to incorporate gratitude more deeply in your own life, we have one more challenge for you:

Take a moment to reflect on how you receive the gratitude and appreciation that is and has been offered to you. Let yourself feel it. Steep yourself in it, even for a moment. Savor – without judgement or explanation – the gift that has been given to you. Receive it openly. Just as we can take for granted the simple pleasures in life, we can often overlook or explain away another’s deep thank you. Let this one sink in.

Happy Social Work Month and thank you!

As you may have seen on SWON or in an email, AOSW Connections is looking for writers! If you are interested in writing for the newsletter or in being part of our team, please reach out to Amy or me. Likewise, if you are reading the newsletter online and are not receiving the newsletter in your inbox, simply update your profile to subscribe to general AOSW emails here: https://portal.aosw.org/profile/edit. Simply login and go to privacy settings to update your profile.