It's Friday. Already? Short weeks are the bestest (as C would say).

 

After a trying couple of days. I've had a really lovely week, and I'm feeling particularly grateful.

I wanted to share with you a little something that has been playing in my subconscious, inspiring and reminding me lately.

About a month ago, Design Mom posted a project by Hailey, a photographer from Brisbane, Australia. She's titled her work 365grateful.

As I watched her intro, I connected with her sense of sometimes being dissatisfied for no good reason.

I kept a gratitude journal a few years ago, jotting down five or more moments of thanksgiving from the day (I was always surprised by how much food entered into it). The days of taking the time for such a focus have fallen away, but her story made me long to return to such a beautiful practice.

In her story, Hailey sought out the help of a nun who encouraged her with a simple thought: write down something every day for which she was grateful.

As an artist, Hailey took it one step further and took a polaroid of every day as well. Here are her words:

Taking one photo every day for a year of something I was grateful for really re-programmed my brain. I couldn’t believe how much gratitude affected my life. Seeing and celebrating the good in my life affected not only the way I felt spiritually and physically but it improved my relationships with others, too.

I love how she notices how romantic her husband truly is and that she feels connected to nature through this experience.

 

So, I'm feeling a thankful. Here are my five reasons today:

1. My husband always makes sure my car has a full tank of gas (even if he has to go out at midnight to fill it up for me). I'm quite talented at pumping gasoline, but he's also quite talented at loving me.

2. Lovely people I've never met have stopped by this webhome and made lovely comments and these simple gestures have lightened a rainy day.

3. My children with all of their bumps, dramas, and messes are the biggest delight of my life. And when I've rested my fork from a well-earned dinner, and I look over at their complete faces and watch their eyes, I can understand why the poet Kahlil Gibran described children as life's longing for itself.

4. I have a new(er) sink. And it's really deep. And it can hide hold two full days of dishes without anyone knowing that they're even in there. And I'm really good at testing this capacity.

5. I get to have tomorrow. Another day to start again, to notice all the pieces of Heaven around me, another day to offer my gratitude.

And I will be thankful.

Have a bright weekend, friends.

XOXO,
MJ
P.S. If you're game, I'd love to hear something that's bringing gratitude your way today.

My $1 dream journal is serving its purpose for now, but look at these fabulous pages I found in the aisles of Etsy.  For just a few dollars more, in most cases, you might just find something that fits your style just so.

And with Mother's Day coming quickly, one of these might the perfect spot for your momma's reading lists and to do's.

1. Wit and Whistle, $5.75
2. The Wallpaper Files, $9.00
3. Dandelion Tree, $12.50
4. Chikabird, $24.00
5. Elizabeth Rosemond, $12.00
6. Katie Blair Designs, $11.00 **this one got a lot of repins as soon as I pinned it!
7. Happy Dappy Bits, $5.75 **my personal fave, and I love the name of the store, too.
8. Jadi Hancock, $8.00

Which one's your fave? I might just be able to find a reason to fill all these pages...travel journal, wine list, great recipes, children's firsts...

If you're looking for a hip line of journals and accessories, check out Paige's post on Smash products.

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO, MJ

PS. I don't know any of these Etsy dealers and I wasn't paid to endorse any products, I just like prettiness.

I woke up yesterday singing the Electric Slide. What on earth was I dreaming about the night before?

I've been thinking about dreams quite a bit lately. Not really the kind that have you gliding to silly group dance songs, but more those that ignite the engines and cause real change.

My children are really inquisitive, downright nosey, (where did they get that from, seriously? :) ), and M has taken note that I've been toting around a little blue journal lately with one word on the cover - dream. "What's that for, Mommy?" Excited me, hoping to give a meaningful mom response: "It's a notebook I keep with me to capture all my great ideas before I lose them." M: "Yeah, you do forget a lot." She's always honest.

In my life I've been a journal person and then not a journal person and then back to one again.

Sometimes I expect my journals to be sketchbooks, well designed and interesting to the eye.

I allowed myself to choose only from the dollar bins at the art store because I didn't want the kind of journal that looks pretty with a layer of dust. My dream journal is low stakes. So far it's captured books to read, lists of blog ideas, projects I want to take on, and little inspires. I've given myself permission to let it look uninteresting to the unsuspecting onlooker.

But for you, dear reader, here are two memorables that made it into the pages this week.
Thoreau is so good.
And another that I'm blowing your way on a great dandelion fluff...

I will not die an unlived life. 

I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me, to make me less afraid, more accessible, to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing, a torch, a promise. 

I choose to risk my significance; to live so that which comes to me as seed goes to the next as blossom and that which comes to me as blossom, goes on as fruit.
-Dawna Markova

Happy Tuesday, friends! Are you catching your great ideas? You have so many - I promise - don't let them pass you by. 

Meet 'ya back here tomorrow. Thanks for coming over!

XOXO, MJ