100 Days of Gratitude, and What I Learned From it

Gratitude can be a superpower — but only if you mean it.

Photo by Marcus Wackel for Pexels

#1 of 100 days of gratitude.

In October, aware that my usual bleak mid-winter mood would probably be darker during quarantine, I decided to post something I was grateful for, on my personal Facebook feed, every day for 100 days.

I started by thanking my friend Jo Rawbone, the calm voice behind the excellent podcast The Flourishing Introvert, whose own 100 postings had inspired mine.

Then on day two, my extremely needy cat Amber, who was sitting in her usual place on my desk, watching my hands move across the keyboard and hoping for attention.

#2 of 100 days of gratitude: Amber the needy cat (pic by author)

(This provoked the kind of storm you often get on social media, when someone who doesn’t know me or my cat suggested quite forcefully that I was obviously neglecting her, and should put her up for adoption immediately.)

If possible, I also decided to post a picture, and write a few sentences on why I was grateful.

I wanted to really feel it, not just say it.

I knew that it would be all about celebrating the small, everyday things that made life feel joyful, even in lockdown. Because the big stuff we usually take for granted — the parties, the holidays, the events and social gatherings — were no longer an option in quarantine.

So I posted pictures of books I was reading, stills from The Queens Gambit, Schitt’s Creek and other shows I was enjoying, details from walks along the beach and through the beautiful English countryside that surrounds my little coastal town.

#35 of 100 days of gratitude: a walk by the sea (pic by author)

I celebrated the flowers in my study, meals cooked by my husband or son, my writing and book groups, virtual talks and workshops. (There were an awful lot of screen shots from Zoom.) In November, I also confessed to crying when earnest young…