Initial Thoughts

When Lori and I were planning Weekly Gratitude and what we might want our blog schedule to look like, I thought it might be interesting to have each of us post a little blog post of our thoughts. I know she plans to post sketches and other goodies, but I have no idea what my intention for these posts is. Some weeks it might just be a collection of random thoughts on gratitude. Other weeks, it might be a pep talk. Or a gratitude-related story that happened to me that week. Or something I find inspiring. Or some goodies I made.

I am really not sure yet. While a part of me is itching to create some kind of pattern for these posts (I am a computer programmer, after all), another part of me really wants to make these posts fluid. I want this to be the excuse for me to sit and take a moment each week to jot some thoughts down. To observe my week. To reflect. In my insanely-busy life, I don’t do that nearly as often as I should. So, for now, I am forcing myself not to over-plan these posts.

All this is to say: the quality of these posts might vary wildly from week to week and I apologize in advance for that.

I wanted to start by thanking all of you for taking this journey with us. Committing to a year-long project is a big deal. But I have every reason to believe that you will get more out of this than you put into it. There’s something magical about declaring an intention and doing it in a group. It’s like when you do your daily walks with a friend, you’re way more likely to actually do them than if you’re going at it alone. Think of us as your gratitude-buddies. When you feel like you might give up, leave us a comment, email us, ask for help. We’ll be here to cheer you on. We believe in this project wholeheartedly and we’re committed to it and to you. And your presence makes it easier for us to work on our project, too. So thank you for being here. Thank you for doing this with us.

I know the next few weeks will be easy. All projects start with a high level of enthusiasm and take at least a few weeks to frizzle out. So take advantage of these weeks. Pay extra-close attention to the little things. The “seemingly ordinary” miracles of life. Enjoy the process and take a moment to reflect. Remember this project is about gratitude. It doesn’t matter if your art didn’t turn out the way you had envisioned or hoped, it only matters that you took a moment to express gratitude. Focus on that.

There will be new ones to come but in case you don’t regularly read my blog and haven’t already downloaded these, here are two sets of digital downloads I had made with the theme of gratitude. The first is a set of photo-overlays and the second is a set of journaling spots. Hope you enjoy them.

gratitude overlays
gratitude journaling spots

I want to remind you to please share links to your projects. We would like to regularly highlight your art/words on Wednesdays and if you’re not participating in one of our communities, the only way we can find you is through the comments you leave.

Thank you again for being here with us. Here’s to a year filled with gratitude!