This may not be a great time to be alive, but it is always great to see how makers are attempting to gently guide us through these challenging days with our sanity and senses intact. Take the new Calendar of Good from Free Period Press. Guided by the notion that there is no better way to stop dwelling on what’s wrong by remembering what’s right, this wire-o calendar is dramatically different than its traditional timekeeping counterparts.
As the introduction sagely points out, “If you’re a human being living on Planet Earth right now, the world can seem … bad. Not only does bad news attract more eyeballs, it also sticks around longer in our brain because of something called negativity bias. (It was more important for our evolutionary ancestors to remember and learn from near death experiences than to remember the lovely flowers they saw on their walk that day.) But good things (large and small) are happening all around us. It’s up to us to notice and keep them top of mind. We created this calendar to capture those everyday, ordinary nuggets of magic.”
The overall concept couldn’t be simpler: At the end of each day, write down one positive moment. “We wanted to make creating a gratitude habit as easy and lovely as possible, so we kept the calendar to just one line a day,” explained Free Period Press Founder Lora DiFranco. “At the end of the year, folks will be left with a keepsake of 365 nice things that they can flip through for an instant pick-me-up.”
Introduction and end-of-year pages frame the months of the year, each of which features an uplifting quote and a scientific fact about wholehearted living, It’s probably the easiest way to start a gratitude practice that I have come across, and the more time that elapses, the more meaningful these trips down memory lane become.
These are printed in the USA using solar energy, and since they are undated, they are perpetual calendars that can be started whenever you want. Best of all, I can’t think of a better gift to give someone — especially the proverbial person who already has everything. Get yours here, and you too will be on your way to slowing down, noticing the good and — best of all — creating more of it.
