thankful journal

i found this little scrap of paper on ivy's bed this morning...she is always drawing, journalling, writing to process stuff she is going through. SO sweet! and reminded me of the daily gratitude journal i kept for a year. it made a difference, to list the good stuff like that. i'm going to make a new one for this year - and thought i'd share with you here an old article + simple instructions i created for a website a few years back, if you feel like making a daily gratitude journal for yourself (or a friend)...

wake up (noo!), make food, clean, make more food, drive people to the places they need to go, trip over toys, listen to screaming, respond to screaming with some of your own screaming, pay bills, wipe snotty noses, clean bottoms, chase chickens out of the house, try to get to the post office, hunt for missing shoe, make more food, get mad because someone didn’t come home at the time he said he would, respond to embaressingly overdue email, clean kitchen, find chicken poop in the house, put kids to bed, fold laundry, sort out recycling…

you know, the daily grind...whatever yours consists of - it can start to feel like it sucks. and bad things happen, people are mean to you, loved ones get sick, you run out of money...again!! life feels unfair and there is always someone who appears to have it better than you...stop me if this sounds familiar - i have the pity party for one planned out quite well!

every time I have stopped to think about what I DO have, instead of the life i don't have...it has been a much needed wake up call. choosing happy and choosing thankful is something as needed and important as breathing for me - so, in an attempt to eliminate pity parties, and in honor of thanksgiving – i have created a ‘thankful journal’, to ensure that I am consciously counting my blessings each day and building up a source of inspiration and strength for myself.

because my day does resemble the above, i need something simple and manageable, one ‘spot’ per day to record a snippet, even just one word – something from THAT DAY, no matter how crazy or busy or depressing. i believe there is always something to be thankful for. some beauty. in my journal, each page represents a week, and i made 52 pages so that i can continue this journey for a year.

this journal was fast and fun to make – best of all can be done with all kinds of bits and pieces you already have at home. you might want to make a few simultaneously to give out as gifts this thanksgiving to family or friends.

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

Assorted notepaper, cardstock, envelopes, tags, anything that can be written on!

Number stamps

Pen

Hole punch

Book rings or ribbons.

Rub-ons or other embellishments if desired.

PUT IT TOGETHER

1. Start with the largest piece for the back page.

2. Layer all the tags, sheets, envelopes etc on top in desired fashion.

3. Punch holes through the ‘wad’ of pages and bind with rings/ribbon/zip ties (you may need to do this in sections).

4. Stamp/write numbers 1-7 on pages ready for your grateful list.

5. Embellish pages with stickers, rub-ons etc.

Comments

[Shayna Proctor]

I love this. I need to do it. I think it will make me happier every day.

[lisa]

Hi Em, love this idea!

Just wondering about the "remember when" journal you started awhile back, and if you mightbe going to continue with it.

[Monique]

"listen to screaming, respond to screaming with some of your own screaming. you run out of money again" ha, ha, have you been staring in my windows? this sounds like probably everyone's life and yes we can all do the pity party for one quite well. (i have mastered that art) so true i am so lucky to have so much and i am so thankful. thank you for the wake up call. at least you didn't have to scream it to me! ;)

[Anne-Marie]

I have a lot to be thankful for and yet I often forget that. Thanks for the reminder! I'm going to begin a gratitude journal for the new year.

[Zi]

Great post Em....Happy Thanksgiving to you all,
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[Carole R]

Great post - we all should be grateful for our blessings - sometimes life just gets in the way. Happy Thanksgiving!!

[Beth F.]

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your sweet family!!

[Judith Weldon]

I made a gratitude journal from your original idea a couple years age, it truely changed the way I looked at my life.
I am ready to make another, everyday after I was tucked safely in my bed, I'd reflect on my day and I could always find something to be grateful for. (often lots more than just one thing).
PS I do believe you were the one who started the junk journal craze. There should be royalties in there somewhere don't you think??

[kate]

oh em... i love how you share the real part of life but tap into a deep love of life even more so. i've been keeping a gratitude journal for years, when i am going through depression (because some of us just do), i go back through my journals to remember the past month, year, or years have had many blessings in them. looking forward to a peek into yours soon.

[Amanda]

You know, your party sounds SO familiar to this broke mama. I have to say that so many blogs can actually bum me out when I read them because they seem to create this impossible ideal for me. I mean, I *know* they are just the highlight reel of someone's life but I LOVE to read the behind the scenes. The really REAL moments that we all deal with. Because when we look at it and laugh at it together, we get perspective. And really, it's not so bad...not at all. <3

[Amanda]

I just had to add that you are such a beautiful person and an inspiration to me. I love all of the crafty projects that you share here and I'm sending out a little prayer to the universe tonight to send a lovely person like you into my life. Becoming a new mom has changed a lot of my relationships and I'd just love to meet some earthy, creative souls like yourself. xoxo