In her study of human emotion, researcher Brené Brown found that we are hardwired to seek novelty and newness, such that our positive emotions tend to “wear off quickly.” The exception here is gratitude, which offers us something different: an appreciation for the value of something. The result here is then a sort of chain reaction where we 1) extract more benefits from that something, 2) celebrate its goodness rather than adapting to it, and 3) are moved to participate more fully in life.
It is hard to imagine a more spot-on example of this than the story of Donna and Dustin and their five young kids. The couple has a history with Primland Resort in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains for years, both as employees themselves and as family members of several other Primland staffers. And so, figuratively and literally, the resort community is nothing short of an extension of their family – a phenomenon that has been proven time and again, and in which gratitude has been abundantly bred.
In the overnight hours of December 12, 2016 (Donna and Dustin’s wedding anniversary), a flaw in their home’s chimney caused a fire. They credit their oldest son, Jay – just three years-old at the time – for waking them in time to escape with their lives. Still, the fire burned their house to the ground, taking everything else they owned with it. Within the first day of this devastation, their Primland colleagues rallied around them, literally putting shirts on their backs and shoes on their feet.
As if that wasn’t enough, the couple’s second-oldest child, Early had been diagnosed with a rare disease known as LCH, which forms tumors and aggressively damages bones and organs. Following a lengthy regimen of relentless and punishing but effective treatment, Early – now eight years-old – is celebrating one year of being cancer-free. And the Primland family has again put their arms around Donna, Dustin, and their extraordinary children.
On a gently overcast day this past August, resort staff and the Primland leadership teamed up with Prestige Global Meeting Source and KLH Group to build a clubhouse for Early. On the stunning grounds of Primland, Early and his family worked alongside familiar faces and new friends to construct a kid-sized haven with “real house” details like paned windows and roof shingles. Big and little hands maneuvered tools, applied paint, and patted soil into precious window box gardens. And the crew from Leica Camera, which had participated in a previous Clubhouse Build, was so moved by this family’s story that they came to Early’s event to chronicle the special day and its extraordinary background.
Hard, joyful work was paused only to share a meal around one long table set with 25 chairs. Fittingly, it was a configuration reminiscent of Thanksgiving, matched by a spirit blending the curative factor of altruism with, of course, heartfelt gratitude. By day’s end, with the sun beginning to lower behind the Blue Ridge, Early and his siblings were christening the new play space with laughter and imagination. And though the clubhouse was novel, the value of what was shared that day was certainly not vulnerable to “wearing off” anytime soon. They – we – all benefitted, celebrated, and participated in truly sustainable ways.
