Give The Gift of Journaling this Holiday Season....

Give the Gift of Writing to others during this Holiday Season.

Writing your thoughts can help you reflect and get a more objective look at things.  Your journal can help improve your self-talk and it can help remind you what you think is important.  It can also help you declutter your emotions and your mind.    As Oprah Winfrey said, “I not only want to fulfill the mission of my purpose this trip to the Planet Earth, I want to do it consciously—so that I can revel in its splendor.”  Writing in a journal can help you accomplish that.  

  

Journal Seeker Gift Certificates are now available for your friends and loved ones.

Pick from 1 hour Journaling Session to a series of sessions cultivated to your own special needs.   Some examples:  Keeping a Gratitude Journal, De-clutter my Life and Journaling,  Food, Mood and Journaling,  Poetry and Journaling,  Creating more Mindfulness through Journaling, or it could be something as simple as Jumpstart to Journaling.   

Journaling is a great tool for children 8 and above because it teaches them tools to listen to their voices and a deepened love for writing.  

Sessions can be done via email/phone or in person.  

Gift Certificates start at $25, $50, $75 and $100

Included is your own special notebook, journaling prompts for optimum wellness, creativity and mindfulness.  

Email: Journalingcircle@gmail.com for more information or call at 201-658-3829.

In service,

Anjali Mani 

 

Gratitude Prompt Day 13

If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.”

― Meister Eckhart-

Today is Thanksgiving! Let us give thanks again and again. Create your own, ‘Be Thankful’ collage that you can read every day. Fill it with quotes, sayings, and pictures that resonate with you and keep it in a place where you can read it everyday. It would be a great family activity.

Gratitude Prompt Day 12

We human beings don't realize how great God is. He has given us an extraordinary brain and a sensitive loving hear. HE has blessed us with two lips to talk and express our feelings, two eyes which see a world of colors and beauty, two feet which walk on the road of life, two hands to work for us, a nose which smells the beauty of fragrance, and two ears to hear the words of love. As I found with my ear, no one knows how much power they have in each and every organ until they lose one - Malala Yousafzai-

Journal Prompt: Make a list of all the things you have. Let this list go to a 100!

Gratitude Prompt Day 11

I slept and dreamt that life was joy.
I awoke and saw that life was service.
I acted and behold, service was joy.”
― Rabindranath Tagore -
Journal Prompt:
Do an act of service/giving today. Write about the experience after.

Gratitutde Prompt Day 10

I am so glad you are here.  It helps me realize how beautiful my world is.
-Rainer Maria Rilke-

I love this quote.  Such simple words yet so profound. 
Journal Prompt:  What would I do if had not met .......?  Be specific about the person and the relationship.  
 

In Remembrance.....

“Let my thoughts come to you, when I am gone, like the afterglow of sunset at the margin of starry silence.” - Rabindranath Tagore-

13 years ago we said goodbye to your physical body...but like i say every year - you are physically gone but so very close and more present than I have ever felt. Time is a strange thing- sometimes it feels like just yesterday that you were in our midst and at other times it feels like it has been ages.  And in between all this, your presence in its own majestic way exists like an invisible hand.  I feel your hand of protection on me. On my family, I feel your wisdom come thorough when I least expect it, I feel your compassion bloom because of moments that I shared with you that taught me over and over again that there is no greatest act than the act of service.  So just like we say goodbye to the physical presence of the sun as it sets , I said goodbye to you 13 years ago.  But just as i am still astounded by the beauty that the sun has created in the sky - the reds, the oranges, the pinks, all of that leave us speechless..so too I am speechless by your never ending love even when your physical presence is no longer there.   And for that in debt gratitude over and over again!

For some this may be a time when we are truly missing a loved one - a couple of weeks ago,  I did a writing piece on capturing my favorite memory of thanksgiving and I went back and wrote about special memories of Thanksgivng.  After my dad died,  it was difficult to really give it the same meaning because it always coincided with his death anniversary- but it remembering him, I realized that we were celebrating him and his ideals, and that we were grateful for having had him in our lives for as Long as we did- especially the last couple of years. And so this is for those that may be in the same boat - we celebrate the person. - we celebrate and acknowledge their love- and that is where we begin to find grace, gratitude, blessings, abundance, beauty, love manifest in our lives - we rise above the physical presence and connect with spirit/soul. 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Gratitude Prompt Day 9

Letter to a Friend

I am your friend
and my love for you goes deep.
There is nothing I can give you
which you have not have:
but there is much, very much
that while I cannot give it,
you can take.

No heaven can come to us
unless our hearts find rest
in today. Take heaven!
No peace lies in the future
which is not hidden
in this present little instant.
Take peace!

The gloom of the world is but a shadow.
Behind it, yet within reach, is joy.
There is radiance and glory
in the darkness, could we but see,
and to see we have only to look.
I beseech you to look!

Life is so generous a giver,
but we, judging its gifts by
the covering, cast them away
as ugly, or heavy or hard.
Remove the covering and
you will find beneath it
a living splendor,
woven of love,
by wisdom, with power.

Welcome it, grasp it,
touch the angel's hand
that brings it to you.
Everything we call a trial,
a sorrow, or a duty, believe me,
that angel's hand is there,
the gift is there, and the wonder
of an overshadowing presence.
Our joys, too, be not
content with them as joys.
They, too, conceal diviner gifts.

Life is so full of meaning and purpose,
so full of beauty,
beneath its covering—
that you will find earth
but cloaks your heaven.

Courage, then, to claim it, that is all.
But courage you have,
and the knowledge that
we are all pilgrims together,
wending through unknown country, home.

And so, at this time, I greet you,
not quite as the world sends greetings,
but with profound esteem
and with the prayer that for you
now and forever, the day breaks,
and the shadows flee away.

Letter written by Fra Giovanni

Journal Prompt: Write your own poem to a Friend.

Creatively Grateful! A nice holiday idea.....

Looking for a little inspiration - make thank you notes with your favorite quotes. Pass them on to colleagues, friends, or better if you have kids- make one with them. This is dedicated to my son- together we came up with a creative way to honor this season:)

Happy Journaling! 

Gratitude Prompt Day 8

Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts." Henri Frederic Amiel

Journal Prompt: Write about being touched by an act of kindness. Describe every emotion, thought- pay attention to the details of that particular act that touched you, surprised you, and found you speechless.  Now, pay it forward- spread the kindness in your own way.  It doesn't have to be the same exact thing, but kindness spreads. It is contagious. 

Happy Journaling! 

Gratitude Prompt Day 7

I like to walk alone on country paths,

rice plants and wild grasses on both sides,

putting each foot down on the earth

in mindfulness, knowing

that I walk on the wondrous earth.

In such moments, existence is a miraculous

and mysterious reality.

People usually consider walking on water

or in thin air a miracle.

But I think the real miracle

is not to walk either on water or in thin air,

but to walk on earth.

Every day we are engaged in a miracle

which we don’t even recognize:

a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves,

the black, curious eyes of a child–

our own two eyes.

All is a miracle.”

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Journal Prompt: Continuing with the theme of miracle, give thanks for this beautiful earth we walk on. Write a poem about walking on earth beginning with:

The real miracle is to walk on earth.....

Happy Journaling!

Gratitude Prompt Day 6

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” — Albert Einstein

Journal Prompt: Miracles are all around us, they just need a little special attention. Think about the miracles you have noticed, and the ones you take for granted. List 5 miracles in your life happening right now.

Happy Journaling!

Gratitude Prompt Day 5

Take full account of the excellencies which you possess, and in gratitude remember how you would hanker after them, if you had them not.” — Marcus Aurelius

Journal Prompt: We all have our unique talents and gifts. Take time to be grateful for your special gifts, your special talents and write about your gratitude. 

Write a poem in gratitude of just being you.

Begin with: I am .........

Happy Journalng!

Abundance and giving thanks quote...

You simply will not be the same person two months from now after consciously giving thanks each day for the abundance that exists in your life. And you will have set in motion an ancient spiritual law: the more you have and are grateful for, the more will be given you.” — Sarah Ban Breathnach-

Journal Prompt: How do you see abundance in your life? How do you define abundance? Write about abundance. Question Prompt:

How do I invite more abundance into my life?

Happy Journaling!

Saying Grace...

You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.” — G. K. Chesterton

Journal Prompt: Say Grace before every activity you engage in today. Write about Grace in your Life.  The idea of offering everything you do to a higher power. Think about it as a practice. 

I say Grace..........

I see Grace....

Happy Journaling!

Gratitude prompts:

Gratitude Quote followed by prompt:

At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” — Albert Schweitzer

Journal Prompt: Take the time to recognize someone who has ignited that spark in you. Who has lit that flame in you, and how can you tell them in your own words what they mean to you. This can be more than one person, because there are many individuals who have sparked that flame in us.

Happy Journaling!!!

I Give Thanks....

Thanksgiving is in two weeks to be exact.  It feels as if it has come too soon.   November has flown and here we are once again all gathering around to give thanks for all that we have.  Whether we go to our families or not, whether we choose to eat bountifully or not, one thing each of us will do in our own simple way - which is give thanks.  Give thanks for what? For this life.  This life that has been given to us and we continue to live each day is precious because it is ours to live.  And we are able to make it through another day and for that we give thanks.  We give thanks for the many wonderful surprises that have come our way.  We give thanks for the not so many wonderful surprises and for the work that is never ending and keeping us on our toes.  For in this too there is a meaning.  We give thanks for food that sustains us and keeps us whole.  We give thanks for our jobs if we have one, and if we don't have a job, we still give thanks for surviving without one -for there is a meaning of mercy behind that too.  We must give thanks for being able to eat, breathe this air, and be with our loved ones.  We give thanks for our health and that we are healthy, and for those of us struggling with a medical/health issue, we also give thanks for the support we receive from our loved ones, for the medical care we are receiving and the message that this illness may bring in order for us to make some lifestyle changes.  We give thanks for our friends who will be the ear we need when we are almost at our wits ends.  We give thanks for our sibllings, cousins who make us laugh and understand the craziness in us - because we are family.  We give thanks for our parents - they gave us life, and provided for us to the best that we can.  We give thanks to our grandparents who have created a tradition for us and a sense of history.   We give thanks for the things we take for granted that we see everyday before our eyes -the beauty that we see, the people in our lives - the joy and sadness both in our lives.  We give thanks for our partners, spouses, significant others without whom we would not know ourselves better and who accept us for who we are fully.   And last but not least, we give thanks to the ones we have lost -for having known them, for having them be such a big part of our life, and for creating an imprint.  We celebrate them and we give thanks for their presence.   We give thanks to so much more.   But more than anything, we give thanks to the Higher Power that sustains us, protects us, and loves us unconditionally. 

While it is not Thanksgiving day yet, what I want to stress with this is the idea of gratitude and what this can do for us.   And for the next two weeks begin to think of the little things that you are thankful for, and begin to notice your mood, your energy, your optimum well being.   The idea of gratitude only on thanksgiving day needs to extend beyond that day.  By being grateful, we begin to expand beyond ourselves, we begin to understand other human beings, and begin to look at things without taking it personally.  Oprah Winfrey stresses the importance of a Gratitude Journal.   A Gratitude Journal will make you perceive whatever difficulty that comes to you in a larger context.  It will give you the motivation to face whatever you face calmly and without fear.  It will help you look at what is really important in life and it will set your priorities straight.  What you once thought was important may not be as important back than and you come out a different person.   

As we begin to prepare for this annual tradition, let us look at the deeper meaning behind this holiday - the values, the togetherness, the community, and more than anything the ideal of living in gratitude each day.    For those of you who want to join me, I will be posting a Journaling Prompt each day through Thanksgiving that can deepen your sense of gratitude.   I will be posting it daily through The Journal Seeker and on my Facebook page.   I hope you join me, or better yet, think of your own prompts that can deepen this practice of  gratitude.  

Journal Prompt: Write your own Gratitude Poem beginning with the line:
I GIVE THANKS TO.............

Happy Journaling!

Heart Strings...

We make our way to the Church.  The concert is supposed to start at 7, but there is a huge crowd outside.   There is no assigned seating, and I say to myself - I hope we get good seats.  We go inside to obtain our wrist bands, and the lady says to me, there are some seats still availalbe in the balcony.  I rush up, and we find two chairs waiting for me and my husband.  I really won't be able to see the performer, and this time it is okay, because I am there to listen.  To close my eyes and listen.   I have waited for so long to hear him sing. I have him on my pandora collection, but to hear it live is something diffferent and I am excited.   And then it begins.   There is something beautiful about this evening.  We are in a spiritual place - a church, and there is a sign that says, " How Good it is when Brothers and sisters dwell together in harmony." This is a place of peace.  There is happiness, joy in the air. It is a wonderful moment.   Even more special because I am sharing it with my better half. And then it is time.   The opening act begins and have never heard them before but there is something soothing with their voices. And then it hits me, they are singing the Serenity Prayer, the prayer I say to myself many times a day -and have crafted a beautiful melody to it.   The lady next to me looks and me and smiles almost as if we were having the same thoughts.  And then it was time for the main act.  I am thrilled beyond words.   The first because in my natural element - with a similar community that have two loves - the love for the divine through music -and in this instance devotional chanting.   And then he begins:  "My Foolish Heart, Why do you weep? You throw yourself away again, Now you cry yourself to sleep.  My Foolish Heart, When will you learn? You are eyes of the world, and there's nowhere else to turn, Nowhere Else to turn."  I close my eyes and listen, and just like in meditation one is aware of the breathing, this time I begin to become aware of my heart slowly stirring.  It is almost as if my heart is the guitar and the strings are being played and with each string, I begin to feel an energy in me that is opening up. And so there I sat for the next three hours allowing myself to enjoy this total bliss not thinking about anything else but just being there. And that's what devotional music does to me.  It connects me to the Divine in a special way - that perhaps rituals may not, or a book may not, or a sermon may not.  The music speaks to the heart which is love and God is Love, and we are love.

That feeling I had in there was special.  It took me to a higher place, and I am sure at one point in our lives all of us have felt a sense of ecstasy for a fleeting moment, for an hour, for an event, and want to treasure onto that forever.   And that is what life is - we forget who we really are and what our real purpose is until we experience something that reminds us again and again.   

Think of something that captures the essence of Love.  Reflect back on an experience where you felt that joy, that unconditional love, that feeling where your heart was full of love -Close your eyes - and let that experience come back to you.  Imagine what you were wearing, the colors, the sounds, your thoughts - and as it comes back to you, slowly when you are ready begin to open your eyes and Write about that moment in the present.  Write for 10 minutes nonstop. 

Happy Journaling!