Easy way to finally start your gratitude journal!

Inspired by my convo with Cat Cohen, I'm sharing the hack that helped me!

Happy Friday Heauxmmunity!

Updates:

Baby, this week nearly took your messy mom OWT with how much work there was to get done! But I’ve made it to the end of the week, and I’m so excited to share some of what I’ve been up to with you. Yesterday, I recorded an episode of Tell Me Something Messy with my friend and mentor, Lena Waithe!

We had the most amazing conversation about parents and choosing your family that I’m excited for you to hear next week! A perfect way to kick off pride month. Yesterday I dropped an episode with my fave, Dr. Raquel Martin where we answered Messy Mail and dove deep into a conversation about abuse. I’ll leave a clip at the end of this post. I got to speak at an event Substack hosted in LA bout all the lovely things we’re doing here. And on Monday evening,

Zachary Zane

will be joining me on the livestream!

Also I changed the name of my substack pod from Hey Everybody! to The Messy Mom Pod! If you’re a paid subscriber you’ll have access to it, where Ill share messy stories, or answer your messy mail, or give you BTS tea on what’s happening in my Messy Mom world! Special shout out to the paid subscribers! It helps me continue doing the work I love and making the art I want! I can’t express enough how much that support means to me.

The Main Mess:

Speaking of Messy Mondays at Night, I had the most wonderful livestream with the hilarious and brilliant

Cat Cohen

. During our chat we pulled Tarot, discussed writing, and also talked about learning to combat the negative self talk. Cat asked about how you get out of those days where you’re just spiraling about your body, your life, your worth. I gave a few solutions but one that was probably the most important is gratitude.

Now I know you’ve heard about gratitude journals before, but I’m sure you’ve also struggled with how to begin them. First of all, it doesn’t have to be in a journal. Meet yourself where you’re at! It could be a notes app, google doc, scratch pad, post it. Whatever works for you. Secondly, you don’t have to come up with forty things to be grateful for a day. I do three a day. You can start with one. Finally, it doesn’t have to be elaborate. Cat gave an example of a teacher who said they were grateful for their refrigerator that is running and keeps their food cold. Absofuckinlutely!

There is no “right” or “wrong” and nothing too big or too small to be grateful for. If you’re drawing a blank, here’s my hack! You ready?

Think about: A person, place, or thing! Yes baby, a noun!

For example:

I’m grateful for my husband.

I’m grateful for my apartment.

I’m grateful for scented candles. (tell me you’re a Taurus without telling me you’re a Taurus!)

Once you feel like you’ve got that part down, let’s advance it by expressing why you’re grateful for what you listed using the gorgeous word “because.” Note, I encourage you to be as specific as possible.

I’m grateful for my husband because he took out the trash last night, and Lord knows I hate to do it.

I’m grateful for my apartment because it’s a safe place to lay my head at night.

I’m grateful for scented candles because they calm my nervous system and make me feel like I’m staying at a luxury hotel.

Ta-da!!!

BTW, you can do any combination of a person place or thing. Maybe it’s two persons, and one thing. Maybe it’s two things, and one place. Maybe it’s three places! Endless possibilities baby!

Here’s why I like gratitude journals (notes app, post its, google docs, scratchpads) because no matter how shitty life gets, it’s