Rewire Your Brain With This Simple Daily Practice
Move over “gratitude journaling” this is the next big thing.
Watching my cats play together. Sipping hard kombucha. Sunbathing in the backyard. Finding my favorite nail polish when I thought I’d lost it forever. Taking time to do yoga in the morning. Voice notes from friends.
Moments don’t have to be extreme to be important. Bear with me here, but I’m convinced I’ve found the next evolution of “gratitude journaling.”
No shade to being grateful, but I recently stumbled upon @frankandfeel’s Instagram post on the joys of documenting tiny moments of delights. And you guys, I’m sold. In her post, Frank + Feel talks about the “should” that often comes with the idea of gratitude. We “should” be grateful for most things in our life, but sometimes, in our own lived experience, things can get pretty bad, and that “should” starts to weigh heavy. That’s why I was so intrigued by the idea of listing ten tiny delights instead.
The pandemic has been hard on my mental health. I think it’s been hard for most everybody. So, I was in the market for something small I could do in the mornings to put me in a clear and present mindset. My anxiety tends to pull me into a dark painting of the future, and I’ve been searching for ways to stay in the moment. Listing ten tiny delights has been the light at the end of the tunnel.
I wasn’t convinced at first. Was this just another fade that I would take up for a week and then forget about it? I had to try it for myself. The first week, it was actually difficult to remember the small things that had brought me joy the day before. I had to rack my memory to make it to ten small delights. I noticed that the moments standing out for me were when things had been difficult or not gone my way. I could churn out a list of ten tiny moments of discomfort but not moments of joy.
As the weeks progressed, I got better at it. I started to move through my day, noting the things that brought me joy rather than fixating on the negative. My life started to seem less like moving from one inconvenience to the next and more like a balance of some small trials but many small joys.
I haven’t given up on listing ten tiny delights, and it’s been almost four months now. Nothing is too trivial or too small for my list. A new episode of Ted Lasso? It’s going on the list. A beautiful night sky? On the list.
It’s incredible how one small practice helped me notice, feel, and appreciate the joy I thought was missing in my life. It has been such a gift, and I want to share it with you. If you’re looking for something to ground you in the present moment, and dare I say, rewire your brain to notice the joy in your life, this is it. Trust me. Break out your journal or even the notes section of your phone, and get started. I promise you won’t regret it.
If you’re looking to dive deeper into journaling, check out the Frank + Feel website for journaling workshops and a podcast I can’t stop listening to.
