We’ve all heard that gratitude is good for us. But for those of us who cringe slightly at the idea of having a daily gratitude practice (#blessed), there are alternatives! I am a) British and b) not an especially “woo-woo” person. So things like this collide with my cultural upbringing and my own internal scepticism. You can have too much of a good thing, and sometimes the pressure to be grateful can slide into toxic positivity and spiritual bypassing territory. Even so, it’s well documented that gratitude is connected to emotional wellbeing and a more optimistic outlook on life, as well as decreases in things like anxiety. I read about all the benefits and I want to experience those benefits, but I also find the idea of doing a gratitude practice… fluffy.
Forcing myself to do something I don’t really believe in while inwardly rolling my eyes sky high is somewhat antithetical to the whole spirit of being grateful. At the same time, I do believe it’s valuable and important to appreciate what we have, value the small realities instead of chasing after the big hypotheticals, and generally focus on the good. And I know that writing about these things can be super helpful. Here’s what I’ve found (and I wonder if it’s the same for you): My past feelings around practising gratitude don’t stem from truly believing gratitude is BS (I don’t), but rather because I need to take the core message (focusing on the good) and find my own way of making it feel relatable to me. With that in mind, here are a few ideas for focusing on the good in our journaling that fall somewhere outside the box of a regular gratitude practice. I hope they’re helpful!
- 3 good things/Small joys list: Write down 1-3 small things each day that brought you joy, like a warm cup of coffee, a funny joke or meme, or anything that gave you the warm and fuzzies. The point of this list is that they are small things. Sure, if you happen to win the lottery that day, why not include it?! But the point is to focus on the small things that happen consistently, most days, and cultivate pleasure in those.
- A gratitude snapshot: Describe a moment from your day in which you felt particularly content or fulfilled. Go into as much detail as possible: where you were, what as happening, what made that moment so special in its own way. One great way of honing in on these moments in writing is to capture the sensory details: sights, sounds, smells, textures, temperature, and so on. Evoking these details not only helps evoke a sense of that moment while you’re journaling, but it can help you relive it any time you read your journal entry back too.
- A commonplace journal: This is a notebook or journal especially for tidbits of advice, wisdom, quotes, and ideas that capture your attention and imagination. There are lots of different ways to keep one (like most things in journaling, the “right” way is the way that works for you). You can create themed pages or sections, keeping all notes, quotes, and advice about, for example, relationships in one, parenting in another, and so on. Or you can work chronologically through the notebook, keeping an index at the front for future reference. You can find more ideas for different ways to set up a commonplace journal here and here.
- Write about one thing you love: Parent and educator Susy Allison suggests this as a way of encouraging kids to practice gratitude. While the concept of feeling grateful can be a little abstract for some kids, instead she suggests asking them to think of things and people they love. I think this tip is helpful for adults too!
- Start a gratitude alphabet: Start at the letter A and challenge yourself to come up with something for each letter all the way to Z! Whether you decide to complete an alphabet a week, one a month, or fill it in as and when, it’s a fun way to invoke a more positive mood. I think this is really useful for reflecting on the more mundane aspects of life that end up blending in with the background because we take them for granted (b for blanket, c for car, for example). It’s also a good way to have a little fun!
Further reading: 5 creative journaling techniques for non-artists & 3 useful questions to take your journaling deeper
Photo by Finde Zukunft on Unsplash
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