Last week I dove into the secret chapter of books- the final few pages of acknowledgements and why I read it like I’ve just met the author’s entire Family. Check out my take on the secret chapter.
Today, I’m sharing my own credit reel.
As we know from reiki and science, energy moves up to 6 feet in all directions. That can linger as you walk past someone on the streets. Or when you’re sitting next to someone in a restaurant. The same applies to words on a page, living on past the day you type or write it out into a journal, book, the back of a napkin or journals. The energy of that gratitude on paper can be incredibly long lasting and important to the sender, aka YOU!
This might be shocking but I’ve tossed many of my journals from younger years. It was a mental and physical purging when I had kids. Plus, it was filled with notes about boyfriends or travels in my twenties I was sick of thinking about. Kelsey Patel’s book, Burning Bright, even says to remove old photos from frames and your walls so you stay in the present at all times. Without going to extremes ditching it all and tearing our house apart, I have let go of the old ideas in exchange for seasonal (read: Quarterly), more recent, thank you notes.
Pro tip: Staying energetically fresh without going back too far develops an energy exchange that will lift you up in a way that those old pictures cannot.
According to anyone and everyone who studies happiness through gratitude, thanking people for their contributions at work and home not only helps the recovery out of Depression but this practice gives the author of the thank-you notes physical Health benefits, too.
A meta-analysis of gratitude practices revealed benefits– increased life satisfaction, 6% better Mental Health, 10% lower Anxiety and depression symptoms. That’s about a full week of month feeling better. Sign me up.
I’ve been testing these Harvard-studied theories out.
One powerful technique—writing and delivering a gratitude letter, text or email boosted the happiness dramatically and held for at least a month of the person sending the thank you. If we all did six thank you’s per day (2k/year) imagine our uptick in happiness, deep gratitude. The researchers say you’ll be eight times happier every week.
Can I say thank you 6 times a day in person, text or at the end of a call, no I cannot! Instead, I dive into my journal quarterly and make it rich with details.
My secret chapter from the book I lost as I have moved into my best summer yet.
Samples from books I Love.
To Milly, my first dog, gone now but never really gone, who was a puppy until the end. Thank you for coming to me in rainbows on the floor when I need the reminder to keep going. Your love of Nora especially, shows me the bond that we have with all living creatures.
To my 8th grade English teacher, Mr. R, from Nitschmann Middle school, with the nicotine-stained fingers, the horrible bowl cut that was never in style, who never softened the edges of his raspy voice but somehow managed to hand me the spark that told me writing could save me if I let it, that words could open a door even when the room felt locked. Thank you for forcing me to analyze the hell out of every word and character.
To the redwoods, their silence is louder than any sermon, which held me when I lived in California and didn’t yet know how to hold myself in my late 20s, their roots teaching me what steadiness felt like, their height reminding me that growing tall sometimes means first reaching down, deeper and wider.
To my many doorman in New York, who probably never knew he was a witness to my unraveling and my survival, who kept me safe enough to live another day, safe enough to meet Jon, and because of that one simple daily kindness the entire shape of my life bent towards feeling real love and chosen family in a place that is way too harsh.
To Jon, to Nora, to Sloane, who are both the reason and the reward, who remind me that the story is not finished, who make me laugh in ways that writing never could. To Nora whose perfection reminds me to slow down and speed up. To Sloane, whose observations and humor are unmatched. To Jon who can fix literally anything and forces me to adapt my communications every day.
To my parents, who in the 90s showed me that careers ladders existed and that climbing was possible, even if the rungs felt slippery, even if sometimes the ladder leaned against the wrong wall. Thank you for my inherent love of Relationships and networking before I knew what that even meant to live a life full of people I can count on.
To my friends in 2020 who called bullshit on the whole thing and reminded me that sometimes titles, promotions and ladders are illusions, that sometimes what we need is not to climb but to step sideways into something truer.
To Kristine, who is my Voxer bestie by way of Instagram. To holding me up, patting my back and motivating me to think bigger, bolder. Steady as we go, social media works to build lasting birthday friendships. 1124 forever.
And to all the unnamed, the background players, the steady forces and brief appearances, the ones who showed up once and the ones who stayed for years, the strangers whose names I’ll never know, thank you for being part of this life, thank you for being part of my credits, thank you for holding me in ways you might not have even known mattered.
Nature & Your Environment Thank-yous to the places, landscapes, and elements, your yard, hiking spot or even a room in your home that hold and ground.
Intimate & Personal- The close circle — partners, children, parents, chosen family.
Community & Connection – People who show up in daily life from the grocery clerk, the UPS man, the work bestie, the neighborhood book club or walking crew — sometimes quietly, sometimes profoundly.
Inner & Invisible Forces – Universal life force energy should be noted! Acknowledgments for what can’t be held but still shapes us.
Objects & Charms – The lucky pens, books, a stone, a lip gloss, a sweatshirt or tools that carry meaning sound silly but they have energy too.
