The Joy of Gratitude

This was one of the first festivals I attended when we moved to Sicily in 2006. It was a joy to return again to Trecastagni as it's among my favorites because as an American I have never been privileged to group gratitude of this magnitude.

What these photos cannot capture is the energy of this event. It's electric - when thousands of people come together passionately thankful- giving credit to a higher source for the miracles and magic of their lives.

I find this notion so foreign having been raised in a self-centric culture that largely (but not exclusively) encourages us to credit ourselves for our own health, happiness, destiny and fortune.