Gratitude, though deeply meaningful, isn’t always simple.  It lives both as a genuine inner posture and as a cultural expectation—and those expectations can uplift or burden, connect or silence, depending on how they’re held.  Gratitude can be a social glue, cultivating warmth, reinforcing respect, and guiding us to look beyond ourselves.  And gratitude can be used to silence, pressure, or control.  How can we find the balance between genuine gratitude and performative thankfulness?  How can we welcome gratitude with authenticity and sincerity?