On 1 January 2013 – serendipity – I fell into the habit of posting a nightly positive post on Facebook. I stumbled into it by seeing how long I could keep up the streak after the first three days. Each post begins with the Julian date and a theme, such as Day 333 of fun-and-fabulous-40. I continued sharing each night through 31 December 2017 (Day 365 of just-trying-to-be-all-zen-and-shit), and after five years of a habit becoming second nature, my intention was to start this site and let my light shine beyond my Facebook page.
In 2012 I participated in a Facebook “challenge” known as Thirty Days of Thanks. Every day in November, participants share one thing for which they are thankful. If three weeks of intentionally doing something creates a habit, then I was on my way although I did not know it until 2012. December is always a busy month, which facilitated disguising the void left by not posting every night. I was too distracted to recognize what was missing.
2018 came and went without my new blog. I felt disappointed but accepted that the delay was an opportunity to learn and grow through new experiences: a job switch, family changes, challenges with work/life balance… Nightly gratitude served as the breath of being all-zen-and-shit.
I feel honored by my friends who expressed their appreciation of my Facebook posts, particularly when I announced in 2017 that it was time to redirect my energy. I shifted to using Instagram more. I’m the person who posts picture after picture of my pets. I light up because of them! One of my pics of my dog, curled up sleeping, rendered the kindest (and well-timed) comment from @instaheather.d:
I just love that you put your heart out there. Not everyone does that.
17 July 2019, Instagram, @leeniegram9: I do so love my girl #iheartmypuppy #wednesdognight