Express Your Gratitude
Pick up a copy of Financial Wellness to play Gratitude Bingo and read on to learn more about the activities and ideas from that page—plus a new, free activity for Thanksgiving.
We could go on and on about the importance of connecting to and expressing yourself, and why we think creativity is a great way to do this! Today we want to focus on a positive aspect of your feelings and self-expression—gratitude.
Gratitude is a self-soothing practice that encourages you to recognize the good in your life, in yourself, and occurring all around you. Shown to increase internal happiness as well as your recognition of the sources of light that surround you, it can also help improve relationships, sleep better, accept yourself and others, feel more content, and change negative perspectives.
In our finances, it can help us appreciate what we have and seek out less, and the mood enhancement and mindfulness it brings can reduce stress and its negative impact on our overall health. Gratitude changes everything! It is a contagious feeling that grows the more we engage with it, and it is a personal self-care practice that is within your control and adjustable to your interests.
At this time of year when loved ones are gathering for thanksgiving and celebration, we wanted to take an extra moment to highlight this transformative ability that you can harness for your wellness.
How To Gratitude
One of the things I like best about gratitude is that it is accessible for everyone. I don’t mean that it is easy, just within reach. It is a choice to make for yourself, and one you can make at any time. You don’t have to buy anything or prepare in advance, it is a present action you can start right now. Even better, you can choose who you give it to, and you can choose to keep it for yourself as well.
Another thing I like about gratitude is that you can be grateful for anything you want to! There isn’t a “right” way to do gratitude and it’s hard to go wrong. It starts with deciding to accept and practice it, and expands with your efforts. Some ways to engage with gratitude include: thanking someone else, appreciating yourself, noticing things you are grateful for, sharing these feelings with others, doing something creative to express your enjoyment, and using intention setting to get yourself on the gratitude path.
In our book, Financial Wellness, we include a page to help you practice gratitude in your life that is set up to play like bingo. The page is divided into a grid of activities that guide you into bringing gratitude in your life and allow you to choose any activity at any time that feels good to you. Some of the suggestions include:
Give Someone a Compliment & be specific about what you admire & why.
Reflect on Your Best Traits & Skills. Make a list & keep it handy.
Take a Walk & Notice the Things You Are Grateful For. Say them in your mind. Notice your connection to nature & the outer world.
Take a Grateful Picture & Post It on social media with a description of why you are grateful or a quote about gratitude.
Make a list of Things That Bring You Joy using emojis.
Set an Intention of Gratitude & tune into your body with meditation or exercise.
Gratitude is a feeling that strengthens with exercise like a muscle. With actions that include noticing good things, expressing appreciation, performing acts of kindness, and acknowledging our good fortune, you can work this muscle and strengthen the good energy they bring. If you are using your bingo card, color the spaces as you complete them in whatever order you’d like. When you finish a row or column, reward yourself with a little something that makes you feel good—a small treat, an extra break in your day, or anything that boosts your endorphins in the present moment.
I Am Grateful For Design
As a designer by trade, it might be a little bit obvious for me to say that I love design, but let me talk about why I am grateful for it. Design expands the scope of what we are able to achieve. Good design improves and shapes the experience of the person or people involved. It becomes a language and it can be used to literally communicate a specific message in a better way and/or to silently guide the actions or feelings relevant to the product, service, or interaction. I express myself through design and I love to help other people express themselves and improve understanding on both sides through design and creativity as well.
One of my favorite design elements that is available to improve communication and overall experience is icons. Icons are simple symbols and illustrations meant to be recognizable communication tools that cross language barriers and assist in conveying meaning. They can be very effective in any kind of messaging, and they are especially helpful in learning settings. In addition to supporting the underlying meaning of text, it has been posited that icons can also help people recall concepts more easily, since they draw upon both visual and verbal memory (rather than just hearing or reading something).
We use icons in our book, Financial Wellness, to help guide the reader through the concepts and return to them as their knowledge builds. We also think they add a little bit of interest to the lesson text and give you something to interact with—visually and creatively—while you learn.
My favorite icon resource is the Noun Project, a huge database of icons supplied and maintained by individual artist contributions from around the world. Their mission is “to build a global visual language that unites us all.” In addition to this noble intention that speaks to accessibility and representation, I also love that they have a large and diverse collection of styles and options, so it feels like I can find just what I’m looking for to say what I want. It feels like I’m in on the creativity that is being shared with me. And one of my personal missions it to spread creativity, so sharing creativity in any aspect is a big win in my column.
A Design Gift For You
As we touched on—and you are probably aware—the season of thankfulness, togetherness, and celebration is upon us. Whether those are the only feelings you have about holidays and turkey, it’s still a great time to reflect on and connect to the positive things in your life, and share them with the people you care most about.
As a bonus to help you get in the spirit, we want to share the Thankful Bot by Noun Project! We love this little creativity quickie because it gives you everything you need to think about a couple of things you are grateful for, make some creative choices about how you can express them with icons, and easily share them with people you are connected to. You can also ask them to share with you, knowing that the simple process is not a big ask with tons of steps and supplies needed.
Visit the Noun Project Thankful Bot page and take a moment to reflect on what brings you joy. Express your gratitude by typing in two things you’re thankful for and the bot will create an icon spread of those items. If the mood strikes you, browse different icon options to find the ones that resonate with you the most. When you are all set, click the share button and you will be able to download the image, share it on Facebook, or tweet it out at the click of a button—all for free. Share your gratitude with the world! It’s good for you.