Idea Creation Part 2

Another good idea for breaking writer’s block (and just a good way to focus on the positive aspects of life) is to keep a “Thankful Journal.” Set a goal so that every day you record 3-5 things your thankful for in a notebook or journal. This keeps an even more precise account of your every day life than a journal does because in a journal you’ll usually write about the big events and gloss over the every day miracles that take place. That’s where your “Thankful Journal” comes in. Being a late bloomer, I didn’t get braces until after I graduated from high school. I absolutely despised them. The only thing that helped me out of my depression was writing 5 things I was thankful for every day for six months straight. Some days, it was really hard, but it forced me to focus on good things instead of sad things. And now that journal serves a double purpose. As I reread it, I find tiny events that spark ideas off spontaneously in my mind. Here are some examples:

• Stayed up late to make a banner and a cake for my roommate’s birthday.
• People admired my sweet rubix cube skills.
• My mom took me to get a make over and $30 cover up.
• Got random free cookies in the library with cream cheese frosting.
• The butterflies in my stomach as the time of the blind date approaches.
• Pancakes I made perfectly all by myself.
• Attending a jazzy Christmas music night.
• Having a “boring” night with my roommates.
• Real rain where I could use my umbrella.
• Holding a three-day-old infant and him falling asleep in my arms.
• Eating a chicken heart at a Brazilian restaurant.
• Going for a walk down my own private “duck alley.”
• The nice security guard with the salt and pepper hair who was “twice as friendly as Santa Claus with a tickle.”

What kinds of things can you be thankful for in your own life?