There's a lot to be grateful for. And in honor of Thanksgiving, I thought I'd share some nuggets of gratitude.
I am now in the habit of consistently writing down what I'm grateful for. Every morning, I carve out 10-15 minutes in the wee hours of the morning, coffee in hand, and put pen to paper. I've found this helps set me up for a positive mindset before I step out into the world and start my day.
I've journaled off and on throughout my life, but it wasn't until earlier this year that I started journaling daily. I'd say the main inspiration for this daily habit came from reading Buy Yourself the F*cking Lillies, by Tara Schuster. There are a lot of great self-care tips in this book, and one that I latched onto was keeping a daily journal.
So now, after about half a year of journaling, I've developed a structure of three parts that works for me. First, I write down any free flowing thoughts or feelings; anything that has been on my mind; or whatever intuitively comes to me. No rules here, just a brain and feeling data dump. Next, I write my intentions for the day. This can be a goal for the day like do x, y, z task; general intention(s) like give myself grace today; or affirmations—usually it's a combo of all three. Lastly, I end the journal entry with ten things that I'm grateful for. This can be anything big or small or teeny tiny; mostly I try and channel my intuition and inner feelings and think of the blessings in my life. Things that are personally meaningful. And I admit, sometimes ten things don't come quickly to mind, in which case I keep my journal open and dig a bit deeper until I complete ten. This excavation shows that while I may not immediately think there's ten things I'm grateful for, there's always (at least) ten things to be grateful for. It forces me to do the work and acknowledge all the blessings I have in life.
So, today I'll share ten things I'm grateful for.
10 Nuggets of Gratitude:
(In no particular order)
Olive, my 11-month old Golden Retriever (she's usually my top entry each day)
A safe, cozy home. Comfy vibes all around :)
Family and friends that love and care about me
Chats with neighbors and local businesses—a sense of community
Delicious Thanksgiving meal(s) I plan to eat today, and leftovers for the next two days
Access to beautiful nature, allowing me to go hiking or to the beach at any time
Inner peace and intuitive feels. Lots of peeling back the onion, cultivating peace, and paying attention to my inner voice. This is my guiding light.
Doubling down on self care this year. Self care has been my main priority this year, really focusing taking good care of myself. I take baths, write, read, draw, practice yoga, eat the foods I love, wear what I love, connect with loved ones, buy flowers for myself, exercise daily, cook nutritious foods, the list goes on.
Freedom to explore my creative interests. I think this goes hand in hand with the above item. By engaging in radical self care, I'm more in tune with what makes me feel good. And I've found creative things make me feel good. So the more I take care of myself, the more creative things I do. And the more creative things I do, the more I feel good. Things like writing, reading, drawing, and dabbling with oil and pastel art classes this year help keep me balanced and in a good flow.
Overcoming fear of doing things that scare me, like writing a blog or having a business Instagram account, owning a freelance editing business, or facing all aspects of myself holistically head on. This is not to say that I am not scared of anything anymore. Rather, I feel grateful that I've had the courage to face more scary things year. And if I continue, I'll be able to up the ante each year and face even more scary things.
Bonus nugget: You! Thank you for reading this and supporting my endeavors one way or another. This is particularly meaningful to to me.
Overall, there is so much to be grateful for, if you take the time to think about them and write them down. On this Thanksgiving and every day, I hope you all take a moment to give gratitude to yourself and others.
Cheers and gratitude!