Gratitude Journal:
August 2013, in the middle of a bout of depression, I posted three gratitudes a day on my Facebook profile. I did this every day for three weeks. This challenge helped me to look for blessings during a time when I didn’t feel very blessed. In fact, I felt forgotten by everyone, including the Higher Powers. Most days, it was tough. I had to wrack my brain for something, anything, but reflecting on gratitudes that aren’t material objects (because I didn’t have many) helped me to look deep within and evaluate my life and myself in ways I usually wouldn’t
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August 6, 2013:
Someone I know has been posting about 3 things she is grateful for every day, and when she challenged her friends to give it a try for three weeks, I thought I’d do it, because I’d rather spend my day thinking of 3 things I’m grateful for than being depressed about the things I can’t do/don’t have. So here it goes!
1. A healthy computer (...almost had to bring it in to get fixed!)
2. My crazy, funny, and adorable nephews, Mello and Carmello
3. My creativity
Some people keep a gratitude journal going year-round and write in it every day. I did this once in 2020. That may seem daunting at first, but like anything, if you keep up with it long enough, it’ll become a habit, and discovering what you’re thankful for at the end of each day can lift your mood significantly.
Challenge: Document three gratitudes a day, in any way that you want (you can journal them, tweet them, post them on Facebook, or do daily blog posts) for at least three weeks. See how you feel while coming up with these gratitudes each day. Does it get you to look at your life with clearer eyes? When you finish the three weeks, evaluate your experience. What did you come up with on those especially tough days? Realize that even in your darkest moments you can find the light…three tiny beams of light.
Discovery Journal
Throughout this book, I offer several different journaling techniques (morning/night pages, dream journal, gratitude journal, 100 Happy Days), but this one is different from those, because this journal is illustrated. I found out about the discovery journey by reading Simple Abundance: A Day Book of Comfort and Joy by Sarah Ban Breathnach. I picked up this book around 2012 or 2013 and read each day’s passage in the morning after having breakfast. It became part of my morning ritual, which did bring me joy. Her tone is so friendly that you can’t help but feel comforted.
The idea of the discovery journal is to treat it like an “explorer’s log” and to let it nurture your creativity. Fill a blank journal with any sort of image that speaks to you. When I started mine, I got a stack of free National Geographic magazines from my local library. Flipping through my discovery journal, I can tell you that I have images of the Statue of Liberty, pandas, penguins, whales, a ballerina in red ballet flats, and landscapes, most of which are of Arizona and the Grand Canyon. I love the rock formations and all that orange dirt.
When I was a teen, I would tear out fashion and jewelry from Vogue magazines, and I kept them with my notebook where I drew my own designs. Recently, I added them to my discovery journal.
You can do this, too. Whatever you enjoy, get magazines for it. Check your local library for free magazines. Also, try thrift stores where you could probably get a stack for a dollar.
Art Journal
My friend, Lisa Thomson, an author and blogger, has an art journal where, instead of writing, she sketches or paints what she’s feeling or going through. She is a fabulous artist. Her work speaks volumes and makes me feel.
I started my own art journal while healing from surgery, and I used that journal to document what I went through. If you flipped through my art journal, you’d see a drawing of my incisions, a watercolor of the bruise on my arm from the IV needles, and a pencil sketch of a tree from my backyard, which was my view while I stretched out on the couch, healing.
Lisa also has “junk journals,” which she makes completely from “junk” around her house. The covers are cardboard, and they are held together with wired ribbon. The insides contain postcards and free downloads she painted. I love the look of them. They are so artsy.
If you have an artist’s hand, you can do an art journal, too. Better yet, combine all techniques (discovery journal, art journal, junk journal) into one book. Paint and sketch on the days you want to create art. On the other days, create collages of images you found from magazines or on free download sites. In my art journal, I taped in my hospital armbands, because I had four, the most I’d ever had for any surgery.
What to Add to Your Discovery/Art Journal:
- Old post cards (you can find them at antique stores)
- Greeting/birthday cards
- Your own sketches/photography
- Quotes (make your own using cut-out words from magazines)
- Poems
- Encouraging words
- Stickers
Don’t restrict yourself or second-guess yourself. Don’t leave out an image because you think it’s silly or not important. If you tore it out, if you saved it, if it called out to you at some point, add it. Don’t remove anything from your discovery/art journal, either. Keep it there. You needed it when you added it, so that means it’s significant. Even if it doesn’t mean much to you a year later, it may again in the future.
Discover yourself.
One image at a time.
BONUS A TO Z
THEME: AVRIANNA HEAVENBORN
J - Justices
Excerpt from Universal Killer:The Justices, seven neutral individuals appointed decades ago to make fair decisions regarding issues that could impact New Vida. If you wanted to do anything in New Vida—start corporations or open certain facilities, cut down trees or clear land—you needed their approval. Even law enforcement had to go through them to receive access beyond their departments.
You will meet the seven powerful Justices in a later Avrianna Heavenborn novella for a crucial event that changes Avrianna's life and New Vida, Avrianna's world.
You can read Universal Killer, Cocky Killer, and all future Avrianna Heavenborn novellas on Patreon for just $5.00 a month. You get access to special perks, too, and you pay-it-forward to a good cause because 10% of all earnings go to StandUp for Kids, a charity that helps homeless American youth.
Become a patron now.
A - To Be a Writer, You Don't Need...To Be an Adult + BONUS
B - Break Down Your Goals + BONUS
C - To Be a Writer, You Don't Need...a Coach + BONUS
D - To Be a Writer, You Don't Need a Degree + BONUS
E - HappEEEE (Happiness Jar & 100 Happy Days) + BONUS
F - Feng Shui + BONUS
G - To Be a Writer, You Don't Need...To Be a Good Speller + BONUS
H - To Be a Writer, You Don't Need...a Home + BONUS
I - To Be a Writer, You Don't Need...an Interesting Life + BONUS
J - Journals (Gratitude Journal, Discovery Journal, Art Journal) + BONUS
