Pia Shares Her Dark Half - (post) Thanksgiving Edition

Black Friday is here. What are you doing?

I actually watched some cable news the other day and noticed, in between reports of yet another shooting (and then another), that media is hyping up how much people are ready to go out and shop again this Black Friday - big time! Really? Apparently, shoppers won’t be deterred by inflation or crowds. I wonder how much of that is true and how much of it is simply media manipulation to encourage you to get out there. Same hype/push for travel, by the way.

Who knows….maybe it’s just me and my typical grumpy take on the jolly holidays. I’m sticking to my own advice this year and refuse to take part in all the craziness out there. Call me Grinch, ha!

Let’s talk about Gratitude

Now that the big Turkey day is over and you’re probably starting to get tired of the leftovers, I want to do a quick shoutout to my subscribers! Thank you for your support and even humoring my dark moods or attempts to lure you to the ‘dark side’…(creatively, that is.) If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be held accountable to my writing schedule, which also helps me keep those creative writing muscles warm.

So, gracias, merci und danke to you, dear readers!

As a creative, I’d also like to encourage you to think of your local artists or small business friends who could use your support and hard earned dollars when going out there to buy gifts! Chances are, their prices are not inflated and they’re not having supply issues. It would make their day and help them buy stuff for their loved ones or even for you! I call that a win win, yay!

Of course, I can’t have a newsletter without some kind of suggestion to get creative…

Count your Blessings

Have you ever heard of a gratitude jar, or jar of blessings? It’s nothing really new, but I didn’t come across it until a few years ago and it has a nice psychological payoff.

It’s something so simple, yet so effective!

Take a jar and its lid, paint on it or decorate it anyway you want! Make it yours. Mine is pretty simple, but you can see more examples of other people’s versions here.

Then, whenever something really cool happens in your life, write it down on a small piece of paper, date it, fold it a few times, and drop it in the jar.

On New Years Eve, open each little blessing and read them together with your loved ones. Hopefully, you’ll have a bunch of awesome memories in that little jar. There are no limits - write down the day you got that promotion, had a great evening out with friends, won a prize, finished a huge goal, went to a country you’ve never been to, accomplished a difficult task…you get the idea! Things to be grateful for! Even the little things count - like that compliment somebody paid you; or that ten dollar bill you found. Write them down, because you might have already forgotten about them at the end of the year. I promise, you’ll be grateful to be reminded!

But the year is almost over, you say…

This is a great opportunity for a fun test run - start now and see how you feel about it when you do re-visit these moments at the end of 2022!

You might just love it and decide to collect new ‘blessings’ all of next year! Maybe, this will even inspire you to anticipate the happy moments - and not be so focused on all the shitty things in life. Which is kind of the point. Find those shiny moments and fill up that jar, make them happen!

That’s all for today - enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend! Excuse me while I wobble back to the kitchen for some dessert.. Gobble gobble!

Again, thank you from the bottom of my black little heart!

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Thank you from the bottom of my black little heart!

Dark Greetings,

Pia

If I haven’t heard from you in a while and you’d like to say hi, please drop me a quick message by replying to this newsletter or writing to [email protected]

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