Today: Listening to Norah Jones - Feels Like Home and reading Summer Rommates by Holly Chamberlin 

 

I have always found gratitude tricky. While many may see it as a form of self-growth and self-awareness, many also see it as a way of perhaps boasting their blessings and in one form or another may choose to be discreet about what they consider their blessings. Would that make them perhaps somewhat superstitious? Which one do you fall under? 

 

I wonder, where books fit into all of this? Do we learn more from non-fiction books or fiction? Surely, history, sociology and psychology books are incredibly useful. However, I always question if we can truly learn everything there is to learn from textbooks and non-fiction books alone or do we need fiction to cultivate our compassion and empathy and perhaps even help us raise a more aware future generation. Can we not develop such skills without reading? Does gratitude really help us be more attuned to others or does it just become another form of self-gratification. Are gratitude and empathy directly related? 

 

Would it serve a higher purpose to reach for a pen and paper every morning and just write three additional things we're grateful for that day. Personally, I'm very inconsistent with gratitude journals or journals in general. I'm either completely motivated and determined and work on journals months at a time or I give up on journaling entirely and don't even miss it. 

 

What do you think? Are books the only answer or perhaps an important factor? Do you keep a gratitude journal? Do you feel the need to work on one daily? How do you keep consistency?

 

Wishing you a lovely day,

 

Loba

 

Summer Rommates by Holly Chamberlin 

A rambling house on the coast of Maine is the perfect setting for this poignant novel of self-discovery and renewal, as four strangers decide to spend a summer together . . .