How To Create a Book of Thankfulness

I’ve decided that from here on out, the entire month of November is about thankfulness. And I plan to make a photo book that chronicles a month of gratitude each year. Here’s what inspired me to create my book of thankfulness.

November crept up on me this month. And I can’t say I gave it the gracious welcome it deserves. I should have breathed in the crisp air, taken in the beauty of my flaming-orange persimmon tree, and anticipated the cozy, low-key celebrations that will define the coming weeks. But I was far too preoccupied with ridding my house of fake cobwebs and eradicating candy from the premises to take a moment and appreciate the beginning of my favorite month of the year. I’m a proud Scorpio, after all, and Thanksgiving has been my very favorite holiday for all of my adult life.

Feeling overwhelmed and frazzled, I did what anyone would do. I checked Facebook. I was expecting my mental chaos to mount as per usual, but scrolling through my newsfeed first thing in the morning on November 1st, I noticed that several friends were posting about something they’re thankful for. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but then November 2nd came around and I saw more thankfulness posts. And it occurred to me that they were going to do this all month.

What a wonderful idea for a photo book. Not only are you making a deliberate effort to take note of what you’re grateful for, you’re inspiring others to take stock of their own gratitude. Not only will you have visual, tactile, written proof of all that you have to be thankful for, you’ll have it next year when you have a new set of entries to compare them against. And you’ll have it for those inevitable days when you really can’t think of anything to be thankful for. And your children will know that you’re thankful, and, in turn, learn to take stock of their own gratitude.

This thankfulness thing has a way of abiding by the law of increasing returns. The more you put it out there, the more you get back.

I have so much to be thankful for, but among those things is the ability to recognize – even in my post-Halloween haze – where there’s something worthwhile hidden in the frantic newsfeed. My friend Nicole Ridella is a dedicated mom and fabulous family photographer, and I’m grateful that her worthwhile posts pop up on my newsfeed. I’m so excited to help her build her first Mixbook to chronicle all that she’s thankful for and showcase all her amazing pictures – and I can’t wait to get to work on mine.

Whether you start your annual Thankfulness project on social media or simply keep a list of all you’re grateful for every day in the month of November, you’ll have plenty of content for a Thankfulness photo book by November 30th. For Nicole’s book I chose the White Portfolio theme that features oversized quotations as a simple design element, which happens to be ideal for setting off each thankfulness entry.

Keep in mind that if you finish your thankfulness book on November 30th, you’ll have plenty of time to order a few copies to give out as Christmas gifts. Your final entry may very well be: Nov. 30 – I’m grateful that my Christmas shopping for all my favorite people is now complete.

Happy Mixbooking! Be thankful.