Oak Bay man builds 'advent gratitude tree' to provide daily positivity
As the days grew gloomier during the height of the pandemic, so did the mood of Michael’s family.
“Sitting around the dinner table, it was all negative, negative, negative,” Michael recalls.
But then one night, during dessert, there was the advent of something bright.
“We’re sitting there with our advent calendars, eating our chocolate,” Michael remembers with a smile. “And [I’m] thinking, ‘Hey! Wait a minute!”
Powered by the potential of a positive solution, Michael started driving to the hardware store to buy some wood, until his wife told him about a pair of pallets being offered for free online.
“I quickly turned directions and brought [the pallets] home,” Michael says. “I was also trying to make it that [this idea] doesn’t cost anybody any money.”
Priceless positivity was the focus of the project.
“I wouldn’t say I’m the best at being a handyman,” Michael laughs. “But I thought this is pretty simple.”
After cutting the wooden pallets into simple shapes, Michael and his three sons painted the front of them, wired lights to the back of them.
After setting it up in their front yard, they pondered the most important part of the project — what to include on what was to become an advent Christmas tree.
Instead of daily treats or toys, they made wooden signs to hang from numbered hooks on the tree.
“We sit around the dining room table and we brainstorm,” Michael says. “And then frantically make one for the next day.”
The signs included messages with tangible and free suggestions to make one's day brighter, from “Call a family member and say ‘I love you,’” to “Hide a positive note for someone to find.
“We were trying to figure out ways that we could do something positive that anyone could do,” Micheal says.
Last year, they hung 25 daily messages (from Dec. 1 to Christmas Day) on the gratitude tree, and posted pictures of them on social media. It inspired strangers to follow their positive suggestions, and students to create their own tree in a nearby school classroom.
While this year the same thing is happening outside their house, inside Michael says his family’s perspective has transformed from negative to positive.
“We’re always going to have challenges coming our way,” Michael says. “We can let those things get us down or we can lift ourselves up.”
And if we choose to plant seeds of positivity, we just might find a forest of gratitude will grow.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'A beautiful soul': Funeral held for baby boy killed in wrong-way crash on Highway 401
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
Biden says he will stop sending bombs and artillery shells to Israel if they launch major invasion of Rafah
U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt shipments of American weapons to Israel, which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
Rookie goalie Arturs Silovs to start for Canucks in Game 1 vs. Oilers
Rookie goalie Arturs Silovs will start in net for the Canucks as Vancouver kicks off a second-round series against the Edmonton Oilers Wednesday night.
Quebec premier defends new museum on Quebecois nation after Indigenous criticism
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is defending his comments about a new history museum after he was accused by a prominent First Nations group of trying to erase their history.
Nijjar murder suspect says he had Canadian study permit in immigration firm's video
One of the Indian nationals accused of murdering British Columbia Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar says in a social media video that he received a Canadian study permit with the help of an Indian immigration consultancy.
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10K lawsuits over Zantac cancer risk: Bloomberg News
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.
B.C. theatre to pay $55K to neurodivergent actor in discrimination case
British Columbia's human rights tribunal has awarded a neurodigergent actor, who was diagnosed with sensory and learning disorders, more than $55,000 after finding that a Kelowna theatre company discriminated against him because of his disabilities.