I was talking about journalling with a friend over the weekend.  It is something I have done for years but now I tend to just do so on here.  I do tend to keep some items more private than being on my blog and do those things in a journal.  I tend to keep my poetry and such in a journal.

Then, I got to thinking about a variety of different reasons for journalling.  I like to put my thoughts down as they just fill my head so full.  When I blog or journal, my thoughts come out and leave room for new ones.

When I did the twelve week book by Julia Cameron – The Artist’s Way – I did what Cameron called morning pages.  These were basically just a brain dump.  I always found it amazing what I would find on these stream of consciousness pages.  I would go back about once a month and see what was there.  It was very interesting to look at what was written and, then, at the calendar to see what was going on in my life at that time.

The many years that I read Sarah Ban Breathnach’s Simple Abundance, I always kept a gratitude journal.  This would take many different formats.  Anyway, today I saw the quote below.

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. ~Melody Beattie

I think we should all start a gratitude journal.  Even if there are days when all we are thankful for is to be alive, that is enough and makes everything else seem better.  In finding five things to be grateful for each day, you will find your world is looking much better than when you are not full of gratitude.