I’ve been a huge fan of the Nerdist for ages. He’s a great interviewer and while I have no idea who 6 out of 10 people are that he interviews, they’re always great interviews and fascinating. He does a great job of picking guests. Last week he interviewed Stephen Tobolowsky who I knew by face but not by name. That guy was FANTASTIC. He had all of these great philophical ideas to share and he was just interesting and the interview got a little mind-bendy at times. One thing he mentioned though, was what he does on the first day of the classes he teaches. He gives everyone a blank journal and tells them to write down everything remarkable they see happen in their lives or around them.
And then my mind was blown.
WHAT A GREAT THING TO DOCUMENT. The best thing to me is that the definition of “remarkable” is so very personal. My sister-in-law made these beautiful ring bearer boxes for her wedding that I just guffawed over. Someone delivered flowers to my boss and I was totally moved by the gesture. Things like that, things that caused me to just be amazed in some fashion. Why not document those things? What a great way to give those moments more power in your life than the negative moments.
One night last week we did a late run to Target. The kids wanted to use some of their money to get slushies, something they are never allowed to do. I told them it was fine (we had a long day) and they walked over to the concession area to see if it was open. I didn’t go with them, I just know that Nikki was crying and didn’t want to talk about it until we got outside. Turns out? The person working behind the counter acted snotty to her when she asked if they were still open. And she’s like her mother and carries those moments very deep inside of her. She said she felt really stupid. (Sidenote: She did say, “Now I know what you mean when you say sometimes my tone makes you feel stupid.”) She was devastated and I told her how I understood and those moments bug the crap out of me too, but I begged her, “Please. PLEASE. Please, let it go. You are giving her power she doesn’t deserve to have over you. We don’t want that girl’s attitude ruining your day.”
But haven’t you been there? Haven’t you held on to an ugly moment like that but let the remarkable one fade away?
I think that’s why I like the idea of documenting remarkable moments. It gives them more permanence in our memories and our hearts and maybe we push out the ugly that we don’t want to hold onto, yet we do anyhow.
So! Another page/project for the bullet journal. And another day to celebrate having the bullet journal as a method in my life. Any day we can celebrate the bullet journal is a DAMN GOOD DAY.
OH, I am SO adding a Remarkable page to my journal when I get home! (Hate when I leave it at home.)
I love this idea! Thank you for sharing it.
What a wonderful idea , I am going to do that too
We don’t realize how must we forget
I’ve kept a journal of good things, on and off, because I ALSO hold on to one annoying thing the someone said that one time, ugh. Sometimes when I’m under a lot of stress, it’s hard to think of things to add to it, but even then it’s nice to look at some of the other things I’ve added.
I am so doing this. I keep thinking about how the other day my 9 year old decided to spend $10 of his Toys r Us gift cards on his brother! It really was remarkable.