You may have noticed the blurbs in my gratitude journal have gotten longer over the past month. That’s because I learned from gratitude expert Robert Emmons in Gratitude Works! that there’s a nice benefit to being more descriptive: you get to relive the things you’re grateful for not only when you’re writing about them—but when you reread them months and years down the road. The more details you can add, the more vivid a picture you’re creating, and that can result in a bigger boost of happiness, especially when you’re looking back and may have forgotten some of the specifics. It also helps prevent gratitude fatigue. As Emmons writes, “Go for depth over breadth. The journal is more than just a list of stuff.”
So what am I grateful for this week? Here are a few things:
>> Friends who did a huge favor so that our family could stay at the beach for the week and enjoy our last few days with the six of us together.
>> I am grateful to everyone associated with Guild Hall in East Hampton for the exceptional range of cultural experiences they’ve offered this summer. This past week alone I had the opportunity to personally meet legendary Chef Thomas Keller from The French Laundry and Per Se and attend his enlightening conversation with NY Times food writer Florence Fabricant…as well as enjoy a performance by The Doo-Wop Project, featuring lead cast members from one of my Broadway favorites, “Jersey Boys.” In fact, the longest-playing “Frankie,” Jarrod Spector, treated us to some Jersey Boys hits! The voices, the music, the musicians, the arrangements, the harmonies—all delicious. Thank you to everyone who makes it all happen.
Here’s a video I captured of three members of The Doo-Wop Project—Jarrod Spector, Dominick Nolfi and Dwayne Cooper—singing Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons’ “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)” from Jersey Boys. Apologies for the giant head of the guy in front of me.
>> It was a four-ferry night, but well worth it for an amazing family dinner at North Fork Table as a send-off for Ben, who leaves for college today. I never get tired of looking around the table at the faces of my babies as they laugh together, tease each other and savor what we’re fortunate to be eating.
>> So grateful for my friend and gratitude partner Michelle, a truly extraordinary human being filled with kindness, compassion, and such positive spirit. She continually inspires me, teaches me and encourages me. It was awesome to hear her voice this week and I’m so excited to continue our discussion about collaborating on something cool and useful in our shared area of interest.
>> Ohhhhh…the beach. The cool, refreshing water on my sun-warmed skin; the warm, powdery sand between my toes; the whoosh of the waves; the kiss of a gentle, salty breeze; endless blue skies; quiet serenity. I’ve been blessed to spend every summer of my life at an ocean beach, and there’s no happy place like it for me and my family. It’s a relaxing oasis, rejuvenating and carefree. So grateful to live by such a beautiful beach and to have been able to spend time there with my boys this week before we head back to “real life.”
>> Most grateful for the extra hugs and kisses from my college-bound firstborn this week. I will miss those smooches and bear hugs when he’s living in Washington, DC, but I’m so proud of him and I know he’s bound for great things in his new adventure. Couldn’t be more excited for him!
Are you grateful for something big or small this week?