If you took the time to read G’s blog the other day on cultivating gratitude through a happy journal you may have been inspired to go out and buy some new, colorful pens and a notebook.  I love Target and office supplies so the temptation was real, but I was in the middle of painting my house so I needed to wait.  Today I read the blog again to see if it was something I really wanted to do.  I have to say that I love the idea that there are five sections to choose from each day.  If I am really feeling it I could spend a long time writing and creating in my happy journal.  I could also shove a concert ticket or movie stub in there and call it good.  It’s the best of everything if you think about it.

While I sat there contemplating this process I started looking up other ideas for being grateful which sent me down a rabbit hole that lasted for hours.  At one point I had a mini panic attack because I had no idea what time it was and thought surely I was late to something like picking up my daughter.  Now, if you were to visit me right now you would see that I already own a plethora of books on the subject of gratitude and I have read all of them.  The thing is, there are so many MORE books, ideas, blogs, Facebook pages, TED talks and Instagram stories on the subject that I haven’t experienced yet and I tried to squeeze them all into an afternoon.  I actually bought one book on my kindle and read 20% of it in the midst of traveling down this rabbit hole.  You, too, can read Maria Shriver’s book, I’ve Been Thinking…at the click of a button at Amazon.com.  Okay I’m only a little bit in, but it’s about gratitude, faith, prayer, family, introspection, etc…totally worth the read.

Then I started searching for more gratitude and stumbled upon a site called 365 gratitude.   This is where I came dangerously close to purchasing a mini smartphone printer along with enough photo paper to last an entire year.  I mean have you been to the website www.365grateful.com?  You must go and watch the videos that people have made of their entire year.  You will likely be able to relate to something or at the very least be inspired to create something of your own through the lens of gratitude. One of the videos is about finding heart-shaped rocks on the beach.  Literally, my first thought when I saw the title was that I have never found a heart-shaped rock on the beach and then I read their tagline: “my reminder that you will find what you are looking for.”  Obviously, I have never looked for heart-shaped rocks, but what a fantastic reminder.

Life is full of moments.  Some of them are difficult and some are amazing, but most are just ordinary, everyday snippets of time.  When we string all of those moments together we create something beautiful IF THAT IS WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR. 

So, thanks for the inspiration G and for inadvertently sending me down a rabbit hole of gratitude.  I don’t know exactly what medium I will use to create my gratitude project, but I do know the title will be: Finding What I’m Looking For.

Sunshine & Sarcasm,

Lowi & G