Editorial Update: Gratitude Begins with Recognising the Energy Exchange

Thank you for being here for another issue. Autumn in some countries, summer in others, and sadly, monsoon season in some. Our thoughts and prayers are with our readers in the Philippines affected by earthquakes and flooding. 

As we change and grow, Michelle Wollaston mentioned "energy exchange" a few weeks back and it got me thinking. 

We often talk about gratitude in simple terms—say thank you, be appreciative, count your blessings. But what if gratitude isn’t just an emotion, but an awareness of energy exchange? Because nothing in life is free. Everything we receive, even quietly, is the result of someone, somewhere, pouring in time, effort, emotion, or sacrifice. That is energy. And energy always moves. It never appears out of thin air.

We are quick to question life when things don’t go our way—Why me? Why now? Yet when things do go right, when life hands us a win or a comfort, we rarely ask the same why. We just accept it. We assume it landed there “just because”. But nothing just happens. Behind every outcome is an invisible thread of exchanges—human hands, emotional labour, late nights, quiet tears, brave decisions, unspoken kindness.

That coffee you sip every morning? It’s not just a coffee. It’s farmers rising before dawn. It’s workers sorting, packing, shipping. It’s baristas on their feet, serving cup after cup. It’s not an object—it’s an exchange of energy.

That message of support from a friend? That didn’t arrive by chance. It came from their emotional energy, their time, their willingness to carry your pain for a moment. That, too, is energy exchange.

We live in a world obsessed with outcomes. We crave results, praise efficiency, expect convenience. We want things now. But the more we fixate on what we receive without acknowledging who paid the energetic price, the more detached we become from humanity itself. When we stop seeing the exchange, we start believing in entitlement.

Every blessing carries a cost—maybe not to us, but to someone. An hour given. Sleep lost. A boundary broken to make space for us. Even love is an exchange—someone choosing to show up, to care, to hold space. That is energy. The purest form of it.

And maybe that’s where our world has unravelled. We’ve become consumers of energy without consciously giving any back. We scroll past effort. We expect service. We demand ease. We forget reciprocity.

So what if we brought awareness back? What if, instead of taking, we paused and asked: Whose energy made this moment possible? What unseen effort travelled to meet me here? How can I return what I’ve received—not the object, but the energy?

Gratitude, then, becomes sacred. It’s no longer politeness—it’s participation. It says: I see you. I see the energy you extended. I honour it.

Because every transaction in life—emotional, physical, spiritual—involves exchange. And if we keep accepting things without acknowledging the current behind them, we risk becoming spiritually bankrupt in a world that is already overflowing with imbalance.

Perhaps it’s idealistic to believe this level of awareness could change anything. But maybe it’s exactly what’s needed. To heal entitlement. To rebuild connection. To soften the chaos of a world that keeps taking without remembering to give.

So today, when something reaches you—an opportunity, a gift, a moment of peace—pause. Honour the chain of energy. Offer something back, even silently. A prayer. A thanks. A thought. A promise to pay it forward.

Because nothing is free. Everything is exchange. And gratitude is how we keep the flow alive.

Love and light, till the next issue.