Earlier today, I was reminded of Joanna Macey’s Work that Reconnects, specifically The Spiral:
All of us will be able to use different frameworks for reflection and/or problem solving at different times in our lives, and what I like about the Spiral is its simplicity. Starting from a place of gratitude echoes ideas put forth by many therapeutic approaches: Start with identifying the resources we already have and build our resilience by acknowledging and appreciating them. It is important to strengthen our resilience before tackling difficult emotions and/or problems so that we don’t become overwhelmed.
When we’re feeling depressed and anxious, or we’re in a great deal of pain and distress, it can be hard to remember what it is we can be grateful for so I’d like to suggest that it is good mental health hygiene to start a daily gratitude exercise. I have a ‘gratititude jar’ – every morning I write down one thing I am grateful for from the previous day on a small piece of paper, then place it in an old Mason jar, which sits beside my desk. I get a great sense of wellbeing from this exercise, and it gives me more energy to start my day. Conversely, when I struggle to remember what I am grateful for, or I skip the exercise altogether, I take this as a sign that something is amiss and I set aside some time, as soon as possible, to reflect on what is troubling me.
There are many examples of gratitude jars online, but it is simple and cheap: a big enough container to hold a year’s worth of paper slips, scrap paper, a pen or pencil, and a few minutes at some point in the day or night to do the exercise. I find doing it in the morning helps energise me, but it may work better for some people to do it right before bedtime, so you can drift off with a pleasant thought in your mind…