Grow and Be Strong: Gratitude

In 2013, I attempted a gratitude practice in which I wrote at the end of the day three things I was grateful for and three things I had accomplished. For me it is a retraining of the brain to focus my attention away from that which I lack, away from where I have failed, to what I have, and what I have done. At first the list of accomplishments felt silly, trivial. I folded laundry, I did the grocery shopping. But on the other hand these are the small tasks that make up my life. Then there began to be bigger accomplishments. I was about to yell at my son, but I stopped, I took deep breaths. I hid my phone for an hour and stayed present with what was happening. When I started giving myself credit for those small moments that are so important to me, I began to feel better about myself, and to have more of those moments. The gratitude practice and the accomplishments began to dovetail: "I am grateful for my connection with my husband; I put away my computer and spent time connecting with my husband." As powerful as this practice was for me, I let it lapse sometime in the fall, and with the advent of the new year, I decided I'd like to reignite some sort of gratitude practice.

Enter photographer Hailey Bartholomew. Right before the new year I happened upon this video that describes her journey from discontent to a place of gratitude. She decided for one year to take a picture every day of something she was grateful for. The idea spread through social media, and this year I decided to participate in the 365grateful project through instagram, in which I post one picture every day of something for which I am grateful. I thought I'd share a small sampling of what I've noticed in the first few weeks.