by Sarah Hughes
Watching my social media feeds, it seems that we are all hitting some mentally turbulence as we come up on the anniversary of entering Covid-19 quarantine.
Though I certainly have not had the easiest year in taking care of myself, I have found some solace in building a few positive habits. One of these is a mindful effort to journal how I’ve taken care of my mental state each day.
There’s a common psychology saying that GRAPES a day keeps the psychologist away, much like eating an apple a day keeps the doctor away.
“I am talking about the acronym “GRAPES”: Gentleness, Relaxation, Accomplishment, Pleasure, Exercise and Social,” says BurdTherapy.com. “These elements help keep us happy and content and are ways to practice healthy coping skills. Use the acronym as a way to quickly remember activities to practice self care.”
The acronym is meant to be a tool for people to take care of their mental health each day. Each letter is supposed to be a reminder to do something to feed the realms of life in a way that engages them. It is essentially breaking down the elements of happiness to be intentional about fostering happiness and care.
What I did with this is determined to reflect on what I’ve done for each letter each day, often noting how I performed each in a journal. Recording a quick sentence for each keeps me making rounded progress at taking care of myself and improves my mood.
Journaling my progress at GRAPES reminds me that I am not just the A for accomplishment. I’ve realized from the exercise that I struggle with finding time to feed G and P the most. It’s hard to be mindful about treating myself with grace and being happy each day. I believe I struggle with those activities because I feel that my to do list must be completed for me to indulge in pleasurable activities or give myself approval. The exercise made me realize how weird it is that happiness and self-love aren’t daily goals for me.
I hope that journaling how you take care of your happiness elements can also bring you more of it during our present times.