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A few years ago, I was biding my time at my sister's college library waiting for her to finish up some graduating plans and happened to pick this up. I was super bummed I couldn't read it at the time, forgot to write down the title, and had been looking for it ever since. About a week ago, I found out my library was carrying this and was so grateful to finally give it a-go....and then as I steadily tried to read it, I couldn't help but feel like it was quite self-aggrandizing.
As the new year started, the author wanted to appreciate her life more and not feel like she was going through the motions of being miserable and taking things for granted. This was easily something I could related to, especially since the new year is actually right around the corner for me. The 'diaries' start simply by Janice making her family and friends know that she appreciates them, and is trying to adjust her frame of mind from wallowing over something that went wrong, and understanding what went right or well-enough. Gradually, though, the book's theme seemed to be: people who (are typically successful, good-looking, wealthy, etc) look like they have it all from the outside but might not realize what they should be grateful for. This approach might not have been the author's intentions, but in writing about meeting with friends (who were successful but miserable) or scholars studying the science of gratitude, it often felt like she was putting herself on a pedestal - "she was learning these secrets to gratitude while others around her had it so good but couldn't be as thankful as she had learned to be; maybe some of her friends were 'smart enough to learn the lesson' (her words not mine) to pick up on her cues about how happy she was and start seeing things differently. Having been the Editor-in-Chief of Parade magazine, getting advice from gratitude gurus is as easy as hopping a plane and seeing them in person.
I can see where other reviewers are coming from who compare The Happiness Project and this.
Even though I don't think gratitude is that far from general happiness or at least joy/contentment, Gretchen's approach with The Happiness Project was far more accessible. Her studies of happiness came from a place of trying new things and seeing if there was 'a secret to feeling happy'. What she learned is that happiness is often what we make of it and what we like to do versus trying to follow a trend or be someone that you are not. Some activities you think might make you happy, might not, and you should do what you love to do as much as you can.
In The Gratitude Diaries, Janice covers different areas life - marriage, parenting, work, money - etc. but there's not a lot of dynamic layers to her growth with gratitude. The scientific studies/references about how gratitude affects our thoughts and feelings were more interesting, but the author's interviews and personal experiences felt limited - always coming from a place about people who couldn't feel grateful despite having it all. In particular, the money chapter, focuses solely on people who are wealthy or extraordinarily so, and are either content with being SO successful or miserable that they aren't higher on Forbes list of #400 richest people in the world. Excluding a study where the poorest people in Uganda were given $5 to spend on someone else or themselves (and they gave the money to help others where as rich people felt entitled to ignore pedestrian signs and okay with stealing candy from a jar for kids), there was no in-between examples on people who are less off, whose lives might be a constant struggle, and what makes them grateful or struggle to grateful - 'looking on the bright side' might not be the most applicable to those who aren't living on the bright side of privilege.
I'm grateful for having read this book because I started my own gratitude journal, and I'd like to look into other books about the science of it and how it affects our feelings and thoughts. Gratitude should or could be universal, no matter where you come from in life. But the accessibility of it here felt few-and-far-between.
As the new year started, the author wanted to appreciate her life more and not feel like she was going through the motions of being miserable and taking things for granted. This was easily something I could related to, especially since the new year is actually right around the corner for me. The 'diaries' start simply by Janice making her family and friends know that she appreciates them, and is trying to adjust her frame of mind from wallowing over something that went wrong, and understanding what went right or well-enough. Gradually, though, the book's theme seemed to be: people who (are typically successful, good-looking, wealthy, etc) look like they have it all from the outside but might not realize what they should be grateful for. This approach might not have been the author's intentions, but in writing about meeting with friends (who were successful but miserable) or scholars studying the science of gratitude, it often felt like she was putting herself on a pedestal - "she was learning these secrets to gratitude while others around her had it so good but couldn't be as thankful as she had learned to be; maybe some of her friends were 'smart enough to learn the lesson' (her words not mine) to pick up on her cues about how happy she was and start seeing things differently. Having been the Editor-in-Chief of Parade magazine, getting advice from gratitude gurus is as easy as hopping a plane and seeing them in person.
I can see where other reviewers are coming from who compare The Happiness Project and this.
Even though I don't think gratitude is that far from general happiness or at least joy/contentment, Gretchen's approach with The Happiness Project was far more accessible. Her studies of happiness came from a place of trying new things and seeing if there was 'a secret to feeling happy'. What she learned is that happiness is often what we make of it and what we like to do versus trying to follow a trend or be someone that you are not. Some activities you think might make you happy, might not, and you should do what you love to do as much as you can.
In The Gratitude Diaries, Janice covers different areas life - marriage, parenting, work, money - etc. but there's not a lot of dynamic layers to her growth with gratitude. The scientific studies/references about how gratitude affects our thoughts and feelings were more interesting, but the author's interviews and personal experiences felt limited - always coming from a place about people who couldn't feel grateful despite having it all. In particular, the money chapter, focuses solely on people who are wealthy or extraordinarily so, and are either content with being SO successful or miserable that they aren't higher on Forbes list of #400 richest people in the world. Excluding a study where the poorest people in Uganda were given $5 to spend on someone else or themselves (and they gave the money to help others where as rich people felt entitled to ignore pedestrian signs and okay with stealing candy from a jar for kids), there was no in-between examples on people who are less off, whose lives might be a constant struggle, and what makes them grateful or struggle to grateful - 'looking on the bright side' might not be the most applicable to those who aren't living on the bright side of privilege.
I'm grateful for having read this book because I started my own gratitude journal, and I'd like to look into other books about the science of it and how it affects our feelings and thoughts. Gratitude should or could be universal, no matter where you come from in life. But the accessibility of it here felt few-and-far-between.