An Ecology of Gratitude

Book Review (and reflection on journal-keeping)

My first diary had a lock, gold-edged pages, and a slender red ribbon to mark my page. I wish I had been more diligent in recording what was happening to little kid me.

I started my first journal when I was 8 years old. I was woefully inconsistent as a child diary-keeper – and had the most unfortunate habit of writing anything remotely interesting (Jennifer has a crush on Simon, or I’m mad at Mom) in code. I have long since lost my decoder key, so there are some mysterious entries I have no idea how to interpret.  

At some point, I wrote in hieroglyphics – the meaning of those entries, too, is lost.

But once I started scribbling in notebooks, I never stopped. Yes, there are gaps – but over the years, the journals have piled up and, if nothing else, serve as proof that I existed. They also provide evidence as to how I have both changed and stayed the same through many moves, various relationships, kids, careers, losses and failures, triumphs and accomplishments.

So. Many. Notebooks. I also write on my tablet and laptop, but there is nothing quite like the scratch of pen across paper when it comes to journalling.

In our Writers on Fire community, we have always had a journaling group. We gather each week to read a short selection from a writing-related bookand then write a response in our journals. Depending on the book we’re working through (Writing Down the Bones and The Artist’s Way are a couple of examples), we may or may not share the content of our musings, though we will often have a more general conversation about the topic of the day.

These discussions are always enlightening and have brought us close together during the time we’ve been taking part in these weekly meetings. Being part of a community of dedicated journal-keepers is one of the great joys of my life and has helped see me through some significant life changes over the past several years.

At the conclusion of each week’s meeting, I’m always left with a deep sense of gratitude – a feeling of belonging and kinship that I don’t experience in quite the same way anywhere else.

What a delightful fusion of good feelings and inspiration we stumbled into when we started working our way through An Ecology of Gratitude: Writing Your Way to What Matters, by Lorraine Widmer-Carson, a writer, journal-keeper, and gratitude advocate who believes,

Gratitude is like a corkscrew that touches our hearts and souls. It is also a hinge to the world beyond, connecting our soft spots to the larger universe. Through gratitude, we can look deeper inside ourselves, and simultaneously see our place within the greater ecosystems beyond.

Widmer-Carson explores gratitude through various lenses – science, psychology, ecology – and encourages readers to pick up their pens and start writing in their journals, filtering their experiences and reflections by cultivating a daily gratitude (and writing) practice.

Complex and multi-layered (but always accessible), the writing (and the prompts for the readers) transcends some other books of journaling prompts I’ve come across (many of which are predictable and dull with prompts that feel as though they might have been created by AI even before AI was a thing). Though the book is organized in 30 short chapters (to be tackled in 30 days), our group has been taking our time and reading and responding to one chapter and set of prompts each week.

Over the past weeks, I’ve caught myself more consciously practicing gratitude between our scheduled journaling sessions. Opportunities for deep appreciation happen many times each day and, in general, I feel a calm acceptance about whatever is happening in my world.

That’s not to say I don’t still fret and worry about stuff that isn’t quite going the way I’d like it to, but it seems I’m able to settle down and move on more quickly than in the past.

The content of my journal has also taken a turn toward the lighter and brighter. In the past, the bulk of my personal writing tended to happen when I was grappling with a dilemma or challenge. The tone often felt grumbly or whiny. These days, there’s more optimism, and more time is taken to delight in what’s good and positive rather than obsessing over what is going sideways.

An Ecology of Gratitude: Writing Your Way to What Matters is Widmer-Carson’s first book. I hope she continues to write and share her message. I’d love to read more about her travels and experiences, her passion for nature, and her deep commitment to community-building, family, and making the world a better place. She touches on all of these topics in this book, but I find myself wanting to learn more.

For those who want to do a deeper dive into the theory and practice of gratitude, the author provides references for further reading throughout. Though the extra reading would no doubt be enlightening, it is the practice of paying attention and then capturing those reflections on the page that seems to me to be most valuable.

How about you? Are you a gratitude practitioner? Have you combined journaling and gratitude? Do you have a favourite writer in this space?