2023 is already one month old - almost hard to believe! The 4WW have been with you in this ‘conversation’ for some time now and we continue to be delighted and grateful you’ve chosen to go on this adventure with us. (And, of course, we have been writing about this exploration with you in our journals; it is, after all a gratitude journal).
This blog post is a quick check-in with you after you’ve just spent one month with your journal to see how the practice has been for you. For those of you who have yet to put pen to paper, there’s no finger-wagging coming from us – you’re probably pretty good at doing that to yourself all by yourself. What we CAN tell you is that we firmly believe part of the magic of the lives we live comes from being able to look back at our entries of the things that stood out for us. We get to feel again and again the wonder as we count our blessing of what can sometimes feel like a rather blah, boring existence until we stop to look.
The 4 of us – and perhaps some of you as well – have been keeping a gratitude journal for many years now and one thing we know for sure: keeping a journal and consciously looking for and putting what we consider to be blessings on paper has been a game-changer in how our lives show up.
In whatever way you spent the first month with your journal, it was exactly right. No guilt-tripping from us because we know being true to our journal is a practice of muscle-building (to use that tired cliché) – and you’ll get there. You learn the benefits of journaling when you do it. Then you will find you want to do it more. And slowly but surely your journal becomes a companion with whom you want to spend time and to whom you want to tell your life.
Here are a few of my reasons for being true to my journal; perhaps some of it may resonate with some of you:
I get to say what I’m grateful for each day: that my appointment went well (or not but I learned something and now I can take action); I returned home safely; got to stay indoors in a warm house and watch the snow storm; lovely lunch out. Whatever the day held that you notice and give thanks for.
I get to look for the good in not-so-pleasant things, in the presence of difficulty. What did I learn from that negative interaction? My package didn’t show up – so how do I ‘show up’ - with acceptance and grace in this moment of frustration? What was the Universe trying to teach me? What did I learn?
This may seem like a simple matter of writing a few bullet-points each day. But those points are my LIFE - and that is important to me.
My journal does not judge; it accepts what I say and, should I want to, it provides me a space to reflect.
As us 4WW have ‘built our muscles’ doing this work I believe we have been changed for the good. Each of us finds it easier and easier to see and live in to the goodness of what is – with gratitude.
It is a place to record my New Moon card (I think of it as a chance for a do-over) and my intention for the coming month based on the teachings as well as my Full Moon card and release.
In feedback to us – and this might be familiar to others - someone mentioned she hasn’t started writing yet but loves taking the time to think of 3 things she is grateful for each day, and she gives thanks. This is a lovely practice, and we encourage you to take it a step further: write it down. Why? Because, by the end of the week/ month (and just doing the math), the likelihood you’ll remember those 21/84 gratitudes is, well, pretty slim. For sure some things will be remembered. Having done this practice over the years we’ve learned - the hard way sometimes - that with our full lives, it is so easy to forget lots of the less dramatic moments which also make up those lives. Writing it down makes space (in my brain anyway) for other stuff, and I can still get to reflect on the abundance in my life. And without any exaggeration, at the end of the year when we try to come of with our top 13 gratitudes for the year, well, let’s just say it is an awesome problem we face.
Although this is (mostly) a daily practice for the 4WW, some of you have said it is hard to write every day. Again, no worries. Build your practice to write every other day or when you can and use your calendar to jog your memory. But write.
Something else I did this past month: I started making my journal my own and something I’d want to spend time with. I removed some pages, decorated the cover and some of the pages inside as well. I glued in (and decorated, of course) a black elastic band to keep it closed and got busy with stickers. I’ve glued in our Words-Heart from a former blog, and a couple of business cards from two restaurants visited last month. When our theatre subscription starts up again, ticket stubs will go in there as well. All to capture the moments of joy and learning – which all give me my life! - and to make my journal something with which I want and like to spend time.
So. do you like my journal all dressed up? I do. At the end of the day, it only matters that you like and become friends with your own journal, right?
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