Click to download Free How to Keep a Joy Journal pdf
3-17-2021
My Beauties,
THIS Friday, March 19th I’m revisiting Joy as a Devotional Practice.
When I began my Beautiful You classes and the Beautiful You Project blog in 2013, I decided to invite more JOY into my life.
I’d kept a Gratitude journal for years, but never a Joy journal. What would happen if I paid as much attention to Joy as I did to my gratitude practice, might the Joy in my life grow like my appreciation had?
I’m delighted to say it did. I created my first Joy Journal and for 100 days, kept a nightly record of those things that brought me Joy. Talk about a perspective shift, everything seemed more full of light and love and the brilliance of living.
With my re-imagining what it means to Dream a Bigger Dream, this March felt like a wonderful opportunity to invite all of you to join me in conversation about what it means to invite Joy into your every day with the promise of recognition and an extra dose of searching out what’s going right.
Starting March 19th through April 19th, I’m going to be keeping a Joy Journal again. If you’d like to share in this journey of (re)inviting more JOY into your everyday, check out my How to Keep a Joy Journal pdf and my ebook, Journaling for Joy (you can download them both by clicking the button links below.)
You don’t have to have anything extra special to start a Joy Journal, just a pen and paper (or whatever you like to use to record your heartfelt thoughts) and a few minutes at the end of the day to write them down.
Wouldn’t it be awesome if we all invited more JOY into our lives as Spring blossoms and the newness of all things fresh and bursting with life surround us?
I’ll be sharing Journaling for Joy prompts and pictures of things that bring me Joy on my Instagram page (instagram.com/shannonleehorn) starting March 19th. I hope you’ll share your own images and insights into your own devotional practice of Joy.
If you don’t have an Instagram account, you can share with me the things that bring you Joy via this email or direct message me. I’d love to hear all about what makes Joy tickle you the way a fine glass of champagne does.
For a kick starter on Joy, make sure to watch my FREE video called, Joy Is Your Superpower ~ The Mysterious Connection Between the Bionic Woman and a Life of Joy I created the video as part of my participation in Samantha Bennett’s Signature Summit program in 2019.
You can also check out my MemberVault site (https://dreamabiggerdream.vipmembervault.com/) to access many of my other offerings.
Happy Spring!
InJoy,
Shannon
How to Keep a Joy Journal 3-15-2021
*3-1-2016 ~ Journal for Joy ~ ORIGIN STORY
Hello My Beauties,
So I woke up one morning in December with this idea, Journal for Joy. I’d been thinking a lot about happiness, the practice of happiness; joy, what is it, how I can cultivate more of it… hence the dream. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since… hence, this blog post.
In November, I wrote a blog post called, Build on Joy, Hot Damn! “What if we start everything, and I mean every thing we do with the intent of building… growing… cultivating joy? Can you imagine if we all did this how the world would change?” Can you imagine how doing this could change your life?
All too often JOY is relegated to the back seat of our lives when really, I think, JOY should be driving.
But how do we get to this place, where everything we do comes from a place of JOY? I mean, picking up a year’s worth of dog pooh is not exactly a joyful thing—kind of stinky and messy—but still it must be done. How do you get from ‘Oh, I sooo don’t want to,’ to ‘I get to?’ For me, it’s JOY.
I try to find something within the task that I can be joyful for, and then I cheat. Yes, it was a gorgeous fall day, yes, the sun warmed my shoulders and face, yes, I was moving, but really, dog pooh? Yes. Picking up the dog pooh gave me the time I needed to listen to a podcast on writing I had been putting off because I didn’t have any time. And guess what? I actually found the task of picking up the pooh kind of enjoyable and was hugely satisfied by my now poop free yard.
Speaking for myself, I know I over multi-task, but sometimes this can be a joyful thing. Watching Ellen while I’m on the treadmill moving, brings me JOY. Listening to HayHouseRadio.com in the morning, as I get ready for work brings me JOY. Singing in the car to Taylor Swift makes going to work that much easier. Silly things, but they all make the task at hand more enjoyable.
Most of you probably know what a gratitude journal is, whether you keep one or not. The intention behind a gratitude journal is to take notice of the things you are thankful for. Some days you might be grateful for something as simple as stepping into a hot shower. Others, the gratitude goes as deep as being thankful to still be alive and kicking.
In the act of writing down what you are thankful for, you are solidifying your belief in gratitude, in its healing power. Taking notice of the little things that make your day easier, i.e. the dish washer, the water heater (oh, man, I am sooo thankful for hot showers on early mornings,) my car, the fact that I have money in the bank, that my son is happy and healthy, that I am in a loving and kind and cherished relationship with my man. Okay, these things aren’t really little, but big or small, being grateful for them makes my life fuller.
Now, what if we extended this act of writing it down, to JOY? What do you think it would do for you—your heart, your soul, your psyche—to take a few minutes of each day and contemplate what brings you JOY and then to act on it, to bring positive, loving attention to it by writing it down? I think this can be transformative. I know keeping a gratitude journal when I was going through one of the toughest parts of my life made all the difference in how I chose to face each day, to live and love each day, to cherish the little things.
So, starting today, March 1st, for 100 days I am going to be Journaling for Joy. I’ll keep you all posted as to what this act of writing down my joy does for me, to me. So please, stay tuned.
In case you’d like to join me in Journaling for Joy: I’m saying this to me, as much as I’m saying this to you—there is no “right way” to do this, just as there is no “wrong way.” It is just to be done—no guilt if you miss a day (just keep track of the total up to 100.) The purpose is solely to bring my focus and your focus to what brings us joy, what makes our hearts sing, what makes us catch our breath.
Magic—it’s all around us, we just have to open our hearts and minds and souls to be able to see it. And then if/when we are able to look for JOY with intention… there are no limits.
Love and Light, Grace and Ease, and eternal gratitude.
Blessings,
Shannon
*You can see the follow up posts to Journal for Joy by clicking on the links below (and thank you!)
Journal for Joy Update ~ April 1, 2016
100 Days of JOY! ~ June 8, 2016
100 Days of More Joy Challenge! ~ November 7, 2016
