30 days of thankful with cathy zielske

Oh Cathy.

I adore this woman. Some of you know Cathy Zielske, but if she's new to you ... you should know that she's been in this "memory-keeping space" for quite a long time. I've known her for most of my 22-year career. She's just a fantastic human being and crazy talented. And funny. Cathy makes me smile. And today she's giving me a whole new reason to smile. I've known about this "30 Days of Thankful" thing she's been doing for a while but only from the peripheral. As I read through what she is kindly sharing with us here today as a guest on our blog, I have a renewed excitement about documenting my own gratitude in a way that I haven't before. You'll learn more about that at the end of this post.

Turning it over to Cathy now ...

In the late 2000s, the holidays were approaching and I was feeling less than excited about the onset of the season. In an attempt to find a way to center myself before the holiday hoopla was in full swing, I had a little idea: make an album of what I was grateful for, documenting one thing each day during the month of November.

I shared the idea on my blog and little did I know, a new scrapbooking tradition began for me, a tradition that I call 30 Days of Thankful.

The idea is simple: you document one thing you’re grateful for each day and find or take a photo to accompany your person, place, idea, or thing. The key is to not overthink it! You can have really BIG things, like your family or your faith. And you can have really small things, like the smell of chocolate chips cookies in your oven that will soon be in your belly. One thing each day.

Each year, I create my record of gratitude in various mini album formats. I’ve used 6 x 6, 6 x 4, and 4 x 4 albums. I find that smaller albums are less intimidating and you have to keep it short and sweet with what you are documenting. No need to write a daily essay. Keep it simple; that’s my motto. In addition to my mini scrapbooks, I’ve also made printed books using Artifact Uprising. I love the results of those, too!

For my photos, I take nearly every shot using my iPhone. Again, the best camera to use is the one you have on hand. It’s super simple to pull out a phone, snap a pic and then sit down to journal some words. I love using mini layered templates, but this project also works great with printable pages where you just print a blank page, grab a journaling pen, and go.

The other thing that is so cool about this project, aside from reminding me of all the blessings I have in my life, is that it serves as an annual time capsule for my family, and I love going through these small albums and seeing my little family grow and change.

And yet what doesn’t change? The core things I am so grateful for every day.

I’ve had people ask me, “Doesn’t what you write get repetitive from year to year?” To which I reply, “Yep, and I wouldn’t have it any other way!” I like to center myself again and again on what really matters to me.

I have long held the belief that gratitude changes attitude.

If you are looking for a way to really jump into the holiday season with a hopeful heart, consider creating your own document of gratitude! You can even do this on social media using Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Just take a photo each day, write something in your description and come back to it later to use for your album content. A tag book would be a fun way to go, as well! Use or design some large shipping tags, add a small photo using an Instax Mini, and hand write your entries, binding the whole album together with a ring or ribbon.

Here’s to a season of gratitude, friends! I’ll be sharing entries every day on Instagram, and then using those entries to create my album this year. You can also follow along on my blog this month.

To learn more about this project, visit Cathy's site here.

To see Cathy’s collection of 30 Days of Thankful digital and printable products, visit her shop here.

my spin on the idea!

Becky again.

Now, on a personal note . . . Inspired by Cathy's idea, and combining that with my lifelong belief that gratitude is the grounding virtue for all other virtues, and given that I'm a documenter, I'm going to kick something off today too! Every day throughout November AND December, I am going to record one specific thing / person / whatever that I am grateful for. I'll make a quick page in the Project Life® App with the picture + a small bit of journaling. And because I don't usually keep memory-keeping things to myself, I'm going to be sharing most (if not all) of these on social media. Between taking the picture, making the page, adding the journaling, and sharing on social media, this will be a 10-minute effort (and highly valuable use of my time) each day.

Beginning with the end in mind, I want these expressions of gratitude to be in one pretty little package and in my hands, and available to share and pass down through generations. In other words, these things aren't meant to be stuck on our phone or social media platforms. I'm going to print these pages into a Soft Cover Photo Book through the Project Life App. Why do I have a feeling this will quickly become one of my most favorite memory-keeping projects ever?? I'm so excited. I hope you will consider joining me and Cathy in documenting / recording / expressing / sharing what you are thankful for each day this month (and possibly beyond). However you choose to do that -- regardless of your approach or format -- what a beautiful way to become even more aware of how great life really is, you know?

When we are truly grateful ... we are happier. That's the truth.

So, thank you Cathy. Thank you for inspiring this idea. My hashtag to follow along on Instagram if you're interested is #BHGrateful. I'll kick that off today.