Practising Gratitude day 1

Day 1: Create

Quote
Living creatively is really important to maintain throughout your life. And living creatively doesn't mean only artistic creativity, although that's part of it. It means being yourself, not just complying with the wishes of other people. Matt Groening

Bible Verse
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Eph. 2:10

Inspiration
What is being creative?

Gratitude Link
21 quotes

To think about or journal
What does creativity mean to you?
How do you express your creativity?
What in particular are you thankful for in the creative areas of your life?
How creative do you think you are? Do you struggle with fear where your creativity is concerned? If you have dealt with this fear, how did you tackle it?

Action
Start a gratitude list. Each day this month add something to this list that you are thankful for. You could take a photo each day and put it on Instagram or Twitter using #21daysofgratitudepractice2018

PDF
Download today's PDF

#21daysofgratitudepractice2018

From November 1st we are going to start practising gratitude. Each day there will be a suggested action that you can take. You could make a Gratitude Journal or you can include some art on the way if you wish. I originally set up a separate blog called The Art of Practising Gratitude in 2014 which included suggestions for art journaling. I have removed the suggested art techniques this time round but if you want to use them then click on the link to the original blog.

Please read this blog post Practising Gratitude to see why I set up suggested actions rather than just having an attitude of gratitude.

So how will this work?
Each day for 21 days in November there will be a blog post with links and prompts. To ensure you get each post sign up for emails by putting your email address in the subscription box. Or follow along in whichever way you normally follow blogs.

Each post will include:

A Theme
Rather than just leaving you to think up 3 or 5 things that you're grateful for on that day I have chosen a daily theme. Each theme is a verb so it involves an action of some kind.

A Quote
There will be a quote either related to gratitude or more likely related to the day's theme. Some will be serious and some will be a bit off-beat.

A Bible Verse
As a Christian myself I want my Gratitude Journal to be about thanking God and so I have included a Bible verse each day. However just ignore it if it doesn't mean anything to you.

Inspiration
Where possible I have found videos, blogs or websites to provide inspiration for the day's theme. Some might be a bit silly.

A Gratitude Link
This will be a link to a blog or a website about gratitude.

A 'To thin about' Prompt
There will be questions for you to think about on the day's theme. You can answer them or just use them to get you thinking.

An Action
Each day there will be a suggested action for us to take to practise gratitude.

Facebook Group
There is a group on Facebook (which was set up in 2012) where you can share your work or ask questions. Or if you are a member of EveryDay Journals and Living Your Word of the Year please share any pages you do or thoughts you have there.

PDF
There will be a PDF each day to download (and print) with all the day's information and links so that you don't have to be continually looking at the blog.


For information about how you might make your Gratitude Journal click on the link below to see my previous post. It can be as simple as getting a small notebook and writing down things that come to mind as you read the blog. It need be no more than that. Or you can get involved in the techniques and challenges.

Make Your Own Art Journal

Remember the only rule is: this is your journal and you do it the way you want to. Other than that there are no rules.

If you are sharing your gratitude practice on social media please use this hashtag: #21daysofgratitudepractice2018

I do hope you will join me on November 1st.
Bernice

300 metres turn right

The last three days of our Australia trip was spent driving along the Southern Ocean Road and the Great Ocean Road.  Lots of photo today.

Day 1: Adelaide to Mount Gambier
As we drove along we saw this amazing pink lake.  Pink due to carotene in the water!

We stopped off to see where the pelicans nest but there were no pelicans.

A very long walkway

A table made from rolling stock

The Blue Lake in Mount Gambier which turns out to be blue only for a very few days in November

Buildings in Mount Gambier

Day 2: Mount Gambier to Port Campbell
Before leaving Mount Gambier we climbed up to this tower.  Roger went to the top of the tower but I didn't have the energy.

The view from the top

We went down the easier way but looking back the way we had come it didn't look (or feel) much easier.

The sunken garden in the centre of Mount Gambier

Along the coast road

As we drove along the Great Ocean Road there were signs to each different coastal formation and the signs always said 300m turn right.

The Petrified Forest
Not trees but hollow tubes of limestone

The Bay of Islands

The Bay of Martyrs

The Grotto

London Bridge

The Arch

Overlooking Port Campbell, our stop for the night.

Day 3: Port Campbell to Melbourne Airport

Loch Ard Gorge

The 12 Apostles

We stopped for a late lunch and I couldn't resist taking photos of the toilets (as you do!

And as we drove towards Melbourne Airport we saw this sign.

And we were crossing!  From Melbourne to Singapore to London and a drive home.

That's all for our trip to Australia for 2018.

Coming up on the blog tomorrow: Practising Gratitude - 21 days of gratitude

Thanks for joining me today.
Bernice