Every December, I notice something in myself and in almost every woman I work with.

We forget.

We forget the good we created.
We forget the moments that made us stronger.
We forget the ways we showed up with courage when no one else saw it.
We forget the quiet obstacles we climbed, step by step, all year long.

And we forget something else that matters deeply when we’re reviewing our year.

We forget how many people we helped.

Even on the days when we felt tired, stretched thin, or unsure of ourselves, we made an impact.
We supported, listened, encouraged, guided, and held more people than we realize.

This year has been heavy in a way that’s hard to even articulate. Every day, it feels like there is another sucker punch headline... rising prices, policies that harm vulnerable people, families torn apart by ICE, entire communities living in fear, protections being dismantled, and discrimination aimed at women, transgender people, and people of color. Stories of violence, cruelty, and...

I don't remember how it started exactly.

I was living in Okinawa, Japan working on a Marine Corps base as a psychotherapist. Our work was demanding and stressful.  

Right away, I realized that if I was going to make it, I'd have to do something different than getting worked up over the frustrating and unnecessary hoops we had to deal with.

So every morning as I got in my car and drove away from my home, I started thinking of the things that WERE going right. I started a list of 10 things in my head I was grateful for. 

It became a ritual. I'd drive by the ocean on the way to work (which was enough to be grateful in itself) and say 10 things I was grateful for. By the time I drove through the security gate at the base, I was grounded and ready to go to work to help the Marines I was there to help. 

Later I started writing those 10 things in my journal every day, and since then I've discovered many things about keeping a gratitude journal since then. 

A gratitude journal can do s...

“The only thing I have done religiously in my life is keep a journal, I have hundreds of them, filled with feathers, flowers, photographs, and words – without locks, open on my shelves." 

Terry Tempest Williams

1. Get creative 

This is Kate and me on safari in Africa, having fun with our journals!

Fill your journals with stickers, use colorful pens, paint in your journal… nothing is off limits. Let your creativity take over, be playful and have fun.

2. Use images from magazines

Cut out images that speak to you. Imagine that a picture of a young child is your younger self and you “talk” to this part in your journal… it can lead to great insight.

3. Choose your favorite quotes

"I believe, every day, you should have at least one exquisite moment."

Audrey Hepburn

Maybe they are quotes from your favourite people or maybe they are around a theme, like forgiveness or confidence, or issues that are important to you. 

4. Pick the poems that you love 

Like with the quotes,...

“Who writes journals? Women who live deeply and reflectively, who regard lives as modern mythic quests and spiritual journeys, women who want to find their own voices and write their own lives.”

Marlene Schiwy, A Voice of Her Own

Journaling isn't like keeping a diary

Many people think that a journal is a diary. This is what I thought many years ago.

But a journal is so much more than keeping track of your daily events.

A journal is a conversation with yourself… your true self.  

Journaling is a time to focus on what you love, what you hate, what you fear, what you long for.

It’s a way of knowing yourself on a deep level.

An answer to feeling unstructured and directionless

With everything that’s happening in this unpredictable and scary world, now is the best time to keep a journal to help you deal with your emotions and thoughts.

For many, you are on a sort of ‘pause’ with many activities cancelled or on hiatus during the quarantine.

What better way to use this extra t...