Join the Writing Gratitude Challenge

by Alissa Lukara

Imagine my shock the other day while I was writing my newest book, when after years of using gratitude as a practice in my life, I realized how seldom I used it for writing. The beloved passion in my life rarely made it to my gratitude list.

This blind spot, this gaping void, in what I had thought was my no holds barred gratitude life revealed itself to me when I was meditating on what to blog about writing at Transformational Writers and “gratitude” popped out.

It emerged on a day I felt stuck writing my novel, not knowing how to work through certain plot issues.

I realized how many times my thoughts had been chomping on what’s “not working” in writing the book, feeding a writing pain body that was already filled with bits about the state of publishing and bookstores, the changing role of the writer, what that meant for me, yada yada.

I had careened down a slip-sliding detour away from how much I love writing, how I know I am called to write this particular novel about these particular characters and subject. How there is no failure, no mistake in writing, how it’s all part of the journey, the learning, a deepening of both writing craft and beingness.

Duh. How could I forget about gratitude for my writing? (Okay, Note to self to write about self-forgiveness in writing books in another blog post.)

But forget I did. Blocked gratitude, my “go-to” tool for maintaining life balance, tapping joy and transforming life challenges.

For years, gratitude has been a way of shifting the energy, of stopping me from racing down the bumpy path of “what if” futurizing or “this will never work out” edicts based on the past. It gets me back to sleep at night if I wake up with racing thoughts. It dips me into my “yes” to life. It reminds me of the gifts of being alive in a body to evolve and grow.

I start and end my day listing what I am grateful for with statements ranging from, I am grateful for the love of my friends to I am grateful for indoor plumbing. I am grateful for the beat of my heart. I am grateful to feel.

Except that I forgot to include writing in my regular gratitude grab bag.

So this is it. Every day now, I am keeping a gratitude journal for my writing, creating my own personal writing gratitude challenge. Every day, five aspects of the writing life and its tools are going on that list. I will end every writing session with the gratitude challenge – no matter how frustrated or devoid of creative juice and flow I feel. And if I don’t write in a day, I will do my writing gratitude practice at the end of the day.

To jumpstart my own writing gratitude challenge, I start with the list below of 25 writing gratitudes. For the three days following that, I will add 25 more gratitudes each day to this post, for a total of 100 writing gratitudes. At the end of one month, I will share with you any changes in my writing or writing life I have noticed from my own writing gratitude challenge.

Want to join me in the Writing Gratitude Challenge? Can you list 5 reasons you have an attitude of gratitude for your writing or for writing in general in the comment section below? One reason to be grateful? Why not add your voice of gratitude to this list? (I would love to learn from you.) Or feel free to borrow some of my gratitude bits. Repeats of what I have written here are encouraged and allowed.

Here goes with today’s first 25:

Day One: Gratitude for the Writing Process, Writing Support, Writing Accomplishment and the “Stuff” of Writing

1. I am grateful for writing as a way to express myself.
2. I am grateful for the rhythm of words.
3. I am grateful for metaphor in shifting my own understanding of life or a situation
4. I am grateful for my imagination
5. I am grateful for the infinite variety of ideas and images for writing.
6. I am grateful for a unique voice.
7. I am grateful to know the depth of what I think and feel by writing it down.
8. I am grateful for inspiration.
9. I am grateful for the self-discipline to sit down and write, to wait for the words that that are not always inspired.
10. I am grateful for messy drafts.
11. I am grateful for the opportunity to rewrite and revise.
12. I am grateful for all the ways writing transforms me.
13. I am grateful for the gift of writing craft that deepens my own craft and ability.
14. I am grateful for my writing mentors.
15. I am grateful for the writers I work with every day and what I learn from their process.
16. I am grateful for the writing critique group I have been part of for 8 years.
17. I am grateful for my writing muse.
18. I am grateful that I wrote, completed and shared the memoir I was called to write.
19. I am grateful for readers who were touched by my memoir, Riding Grace.
20. I am grateful for readers, period.
21. I am grateful for the breadth of publishing opportunities today.
22. I am grateful to be published.I am grateful for special writing pens.
23. I am grateful for different sizes and styles of  journals to carry with me to write and jot down ideas, conversations, and scenes of nature that inspire me.
24. I am grateful for Word processing.
25. I am grateful for writing prompts to inspire me and get me out of my comfort zone.

I invite you to keep adding to the gratitude list in the comment section below. And if you find something you, too, are especially grateful for here, share it on Facebook and Twitter.  Let’s share the writing gratitude love. With gratitude to all of you who read this blog and are part of the update list. Wishing you writing gratitude today and always.

Day 2: More Gratitude for Writing and Process, Writing Support, Writing Accomplishment and the Stuff of Writing

1. I am grateful for the words and images that come from a place beyond the thought and inner noise stream.
2. I am grateful for all the ways writing grounds me.
3. I am grateful for the ability to write.
4. I am grateful I keep showing up.
5. I am grateful for a voice to read my writing out loud.
6. I am grateful for the meaning writing brings to my life.
7. I am grateful for the characters in my novel.
8. I am grateful for what I have already written of my novel.
9. I am grateful for mind mapping as a tool for writing and this novel.
10. I am grateful for silence.
11. I am grateful for listening.
12. I am grateful for the grace that occurs in writing.
13. I am grateful for every word I write, every piece of punctuation, every step of the process.
14. I am grateful for the miracles and synchronicities that happen with writing and publishing.
15. I am grateful for the cups of tea that nourish my soul as I write.
16. I am grateful for the community of writers who love what they do, who love to write, to talk about writing, to explore craft and writing process.
17. I am grateful for the maple tree I look at and that guides me when I write.
18. I am grateful for the support of all nature for my writing.
19. I am grateful for literary agents.
20. I am grateful for bookstore owners.
21. I am grateful to the pioneering writers who inspired me to write.
22. I am grateful for the joy of reading other writers.
23. I am grateful for cut and paste.
24. I am grateful for delete.
25. I am grateful for libraries.

Day 3: Writing Gratitude

1. I am grateful for stillness.
2. I am grateful for the opportunity to write.
3. I am grateful for my persistence to write.
4. I am grateful for my courage to write.
5. I am grateful for the joy I feel in writing.
6. I am grateful for that timeless space writing takes me to.
7. I am grateful for how much better my whole life seems to flow when I write.
8. I am grateful for creative flow.
9. I am grateful for writing my way to a solution to a writing issue.
10. I am grateful for dreams that inspire writing.
11. I am grateful for the healing power of writing.
12. I am grateful for how writing can change a person’s life.
13. I am grateful for the right brain for its creativity.
14. I am grateful for the left-brain for its ability to follow through and manifest a book and writing life.
15. I am grateful for the beauty of writing by hand.
16. I am grateful for files and folders.
17. I am grateful for Search and for Search and Replace.
18. I am grateful for fonts.
19. I am grateful for the books that have changed my life.
20. I am grateful for my husband, Jonah, for being an amazing in-house editor and person with whom to explore and brainstorm ideas.
21. I am grateful for my husband Jonah for understanding my need for silence and no interruptions while I write.
22. I am grateful to live in a community filled with writers, artists of all kinds and outlets for creative expression.
23. I am grateful for my ergonomically correct office chair with arms.
24. I am grateful for post it notes and story boards for the novel I am writing.
25. I am grateful for coffee houses.

Day 4: Writing Gratitude

1. I am grateful for a room with a door to close in which to write.
2. I am grateful for the wiser self who writes what I could not write alone.
3. I am grateful that the opportunities for self-publishing are greater than ever.
4. I am grateful that writers can reach out to their readers and other writers via the Internet.
5. I am grateful for Google and other venues for online research.
6. I am grateful for my laptop for doing my creative writing.
7. I am grateful for computer programs and apps that support writing.
8. I am grateful I am not alone in the writing process, that I have inner and outer guidance.
9. I am grateful for fingers to type and vision to see the computer screen.
10. I am grateful I learned to type.
11. I am grateful for all the people who encouraged me to write.
12. I am grateful for hands and arms to support my fingers in writing.
13. I am grateful for paper.
14. I am grateful for printers.
15. I am grateful for printer ink.
16. I am grateful for USB drives and cloud storage to back up my writing.
17. I am grateful for 3 ring binders.
18. I am grateful for book titles.
19. I am grateful for book covers.
20. I am grateful for writing collages.
21. I am grateful for online writing communities.
22. I am grateful for the diversity of fonts.
23. I am grateful for e-publishing and e-books.
24. I am grateful for publishers.
25. I am grateful for all forms of creativity in the arts and in life as art.

Are you called to write? Find out how writing can change your life by registering here for the free eCourse, Write Your Book — Transform Your Life: 7 Key Steps on the Writer’s Journey. Registering for it automatically subscribes you to Transformational Writers updates with Alissa Lukara. Alissa Lukara, the author of the memoir, Riding Grace: A Triumph of the Soul, supports writers to write and complete their books and transformational stories in her online writing workshop, Writing Books that Transform Lives. Find out about the next session of Writing Books that Transform Lives that begins the first Monday of the month.  Early registration ends the preceeding Thursday.