More Collection Jars

I like the idea of a blessings list or gratitude notebook. I often reflect on my blessings, but it seems like listing them day after day would be very repetitive. After reading Gretchen Rubin’s blog The Happiness Project, it occurred to me that I could modify the concept into a “happiness notebook”. I would try to be present in the now of my life by making notations of what made me feel happy that day. It has not been daily as some days I did not succeed in living in the moment and got dragged down by hassles or was too tired after a busy day to reflect.
I have a little rose-colored silk-covered book a friend who had lived in Japan gave me long ago. It is about the size of a small diary or address book. It has been perfect for my listing. Sometimes, there are only 2-3 notations per entry; other times over half the page is filled. This small bound book is handy to leave sitting next to my chair where I can jot down items while resting a few minutes throughout the day.
What has astonished me is how much happiness I have re-reading the entries. It brings back good memories of outings, an especially beautiful sunset, even news events like the Chilean miners being rescued. These things would have faded from memory without being written down. It makes me realize how rich life is.
It wasn’t until I thought about the idea of  “collection jars”, that I saw another way we capture good times: our miniature box (printer’s drawer) full of mementos from trips. The “storyteller” figurine in Santa Fe was exactly what I wanted, but the fishing fly from a sporting goods store only popped into my mind as a representative choice of Montana when I spied it. The slots in the drawer limit what can fit, but there are many options. I have seashells, tourist spoons, blown glass figures, carved wooden trinkets, a leather hiking boot from atop a box of Swiss chocolates.

Let’s see that makes 5 collection jars: this blog, my journal, my gratitude book, the printer’s drawer, my folders of decorating and fashion style photos. That doesn’t include my scrapbooks and photo albums, the more conventional ways to capture memories.

What kind of collection jars do you have?