Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

I’ve probably mentioned it before, but back in 2018, I started keeping a daily “journal of good things.”

It’s a really simple project. Each night, I grab the notebook that I keep by my bed, and I write down a quick bullet-point list of everything that made me happy that day before I go to sleep. It’s anything from “cooked a nice dinner” and “got a lot of work done” to “chatted with a friend” and “watched an episode of an interesting new show.” Some things I write down a lot, while others are one-time-only experiences.

Even on bad days, I can manage to find at least one thing to jot down in the notebook.

My intention when I started was to remind myself to remember the good things and to leave any bad stuff in the past. Because it can be easy to get bogged down in all the little annoyances and frustrations that pile up each day, right? And it’s easy to forget a fleeting moment of joy you experienced that brightened your mood.

Most people’s brains are just wired to easily remember the bad stuff over the good stuff. (It’s why so many people seem to tell me that we only print “bad news” in the newspaper when, in reality, there are plenty of good stories there as well! Check them out!!) But when I flip through the pages of my journal, I don’t remember the days when I was feeling sick or was really angry over something. Instead, I see little notes that say “dinner with my parents” or “saw a rainbow on the way home from work” and those make me smile.

This method of appreciating good moments in life doesn’t work for everyone. But it’s a system that works for me, and I’m glad I’ve been able to keep going with it six years after I started it. I pack it with me when I’m traveling, no matter where I’m going, and I’ve even had to get a second journal after I ran out of pages in the first.

I’ve had some trouble thinking of what to write about this week, so in the spirit of my journal, here’s a few good things I’ve enjoyed recently:

1.) My garden is winding down for the summer. Pops has already kindly disposed of my dead tomato plants for me, and my bell peppers are looking like they’re about done too. But my eggplant plants are still going strong! They were the first plants I was able to harvest this year, and it looks like they’ll be the last ones too.

This garden was a bit of an experiment this year, since I planted everything in large pots instead of directly in the ground like usual. The weather posed some challenges – not enough rain in June and then too much rain in July – but I did what I could, and I’m happy with how it turned out.

The biggest thing I learned, however, is that I need to find more eggplant recipes.

2.) Good weather for good walks. Much of this summer has felt like Mother Nature stuck us in a casserole dish in the oven and then forgot to set the timer and take us out again. But in the past few weeks, we’ve had a bit of a reprieve from the heat. And that means I’ve been able to spend some extra time outside to do some walking.

I’ve never been all that good with exercise in general, but I do like to walk when I can. It’s good for your body and good for your mind, and there’s the added bonus of getting to enjoy the beauty of nature as you go. I’ve seen some really pretty sunsets on my walks, and sometimes, I get a glimpse of a rabbit or deer venturing forth.

Walks are a very simple joy, but I wouldn’t trade them for anything.

3.) Community events bringing people together. Despite the fact that some people would say “nothing ever happens here” in our little corner of the state, that just isn’t true. There are plenty of activities happening all throughout our four-county area. You might not be interested in every one of them, but chances are that you can probably find something fun to check out all throughout the year.

In this job, I get to attend plenty of events all around. (You’ll spot me as the lady with the camera!) Recently, I took photos at the Hertford-Gates Relay for Life event as well as Northampton County’s first Liberation Day event (which is their county-specific version of Juneteenth). Both events gave me the opportunity to meet new people and reconnect with others I don’t see very often. I was glad to see all the people who came to support the events.

Even though I go to these events to work, it’s nice to be a part of the community too. I’ve lived here all my life (minus college), so I love to see it thriving. It’s a little exhausting to an introvert like me, but that doesn’t dampen the fun!

There are still a variety of events to enjoy throughout the rest of the year. Maybe I’ll see some of you there!

I could keep going and list several more good things, but I think I’ll run of out space here before I finish. What would you write down in your own journal of good things?

Holly Taylor is a Staff Writer for Roanoke-Chowan Publications. Contact her at holly.taylor@r-cnews.com or by phone at 252-332-7206.