Gioia–Affirmations Wall
Last month, Gioia hosted a Health Fair wellness booth at Prince George’s County Community College where she counsels young college students. Being an art therapist, she wanted to do something interactive with art materials but she knew that most of the people stopping by the booth wouldn’t have a lot of time. She came up with an idea to do an Affirmation Wall–asking the students to copy affirmations or make up their own on on bright squares of paper and post them for others to see and be inspired.
Affirmations, you might recall, are positive statements that relate to us meaningfully. They should be aspirational, written in the first person and in the present tense. “I find the silver lining,” and “I balance my commitments to the world and to myself” are two we like. Gioia made a long list of aspirations inspired by Tricia’s Own Your Awesome cards (you can check those out here). Below we include some of the affirmation Gioia crafted. Click here to download the full list.
As Gioia was getting ready to host a Thanksgiving Holiday party which she knew would be filled with family members who’d had some tough times this year, she decided that she wanted to do something in addition to her family’s traditional gratitude tree. She added the exercise she’d done at the Health Fair, but modified it to gratitude-specific affirmations. And thus a “Family Gratitude Affirmation Wall” was born! It was surprisingly helpful, especially for those family members that had been struggling most.
If you are interested in reading more about how gratitude can help people who are facing adversity, and tips to increase gratitude at those times, we refer you to ablog written by gratitude expert and positive psychologist Dr. Robert Emmons.
Here are some of the affirmation that Gioia wrote:
- Joy inspires me.
- I notice the good.
- I affirm the best in life.
- Gifts of all kinds fill my life today.
- I benefit from the efforts of my ancestors.
- Today I receive all of life’s blessings.
Nor surprisingly, even though she created the list to inspire others, writing it connected Gioia with her gratitude for nature, her ancestors, and those she loves. Where will your list take you?<
With gratitude and appreciation–We are thankful for you!
Warmly, Gioia and Rebecca
Art Directive
Made up a list of gratitude affirmations. Remember the 3 P’s rule: Write them in the present tense, keep it personal, and positive! Maybe even funny, if that’s a character strength of yours! Add decorative details to make them visually appealing and make a gratitude affirmations wall where it will inspire you. If you’d like, feel free to post an image of your Affirmations Wall here on FB page. We’d love to see them!