The Joy of Journaling


I’m a pretty positive person who tries to see the positive in every situation.

I do have my moments though like anyone who is in a job transition.

One thing that helps to lift my mood is journaling.

I was recently reminded about journaling via an article that Shawn Achor wrote called “How to Be Happier in Just 5 Minutes a Day.” 

Every day, for six months now, I make it a point to look out for moments that give me joy. I scribble down the moment on a piece of paper and elaborate on it in my journal.

I suppose you can journal anytime you want. For me, I prefer to journal first thing in the morning. I find it gives me perspective when I let my thoughts percolate overnight. 

I’d like to share a couple of moments that gave me joy in October 2016, because maybe there’s something on my list that might give you joy.

I watched “Identity Thief” on TV, a comedy movie with Melissa McCarthy and Jason Bateman. I was curious to watch this movie, because I liked Melissa McCarthy in some other movies: “Bridesmaids”, “The Heat” and “Spy.”  I recommend "Identity Thief", especially if you’re a Melissa McCarthy fan. 

I like Michael Buble’s new song “Nobody But Me.” I heard just a tiny portion of it, liked what I heard and I immediately needed to hear the entire song which I was able to do on YouTube.  This song is upbeat, rhythmic and catchy! 



I am a fan of Star Trek (the original series). I get excited whenever I hear that a Star Trek movie is coming out.  I noticed in the newspaper that TIFF was organizing talks around the topic of Star Trek. I got doubly excited when I found the talks were recorded and put on YouTube. I enjoyed a talk that Jeremy Hansen gave at TIFF called “An Astronaut’s Voyage to the Final Frontier.” Mr. Hansen is a Canadian astronaut who works at the Canadian Space Agency.



I saw a comedy play by Michael Frayn called “Noises Off” at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts in the Distillery District (in Toronto). It’s a very funny play. It was like an adventure for me to attend this play, because I was going to a theatre that I hadn’t attended before and I wasn’t exactly sure where the theatre was. I thought I left in plenty of time (around 12 noon) to get to the theatre by 1:30 p.m. I was lucky to have arrived just 10 minutes before the performance started! If you like silliness and comic mayhem, I recommend “Noises Off”! 

I get joy when I share what gives me joy.

I suppose you get what you give! :-)


Originally Published on LinkedIn: October 26, 2016
Image Credit:  Pixabay


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