Recently, I was challenged to identify my core values. So far, in no particular order, I have come up with these:
- Equality
- Happiness
- Knowledge
- Love
- Communication
Core values are defined as a person's fundamental beliefs, and I find that I carry these five basic goals almost everywhere I go. I have also found that my core values can be summed up in a single sentence, that being that it costs nothing to be kind. The idea that it costs nothing to be kind motivated me to create this blog. I just want to be kind. Will anybody, let alone the people I mention in future posts, ever see this blog? Probably not. But that doesn't matter; love doesn't need recognition to be valid.
I think it is most appropriate to kick off Project Gratitude by acknowledging the people who inspired me to do this. Firstly, I would like to thank Stoyan, for constantly challenging me to improve myself, to be more articulate, more self-aware, and for always being there for me. Without him, I would not be able to tell you my core beliefs or why I feel them. On top of that, he is the only reason I see any value in myself, and without his constant support, I would not have the confidence to start a project like this one. Secondly, I would like to thank Josh for always putting kindness out into the world around him, and being a source of comfort that I know I am always safe to be vulnerable around. His constant kind words and expression of gratitude inspire me to be more like him. Lastly, I would like to thank Kristen Manieri, a writer for the Gottman Institute, who wrote the article that gave me the idea to create this blog*. She encouraged readers to stop writing gratitude lists and instead write thank you notes to individual people.
I hope that any reader might continue on this journey with me, and I hope I continue this journey myself. We'll see where this takes us.
Be kind,
soniccat
*Kristen's article: https://www.gottman.com/blog/stop-creating-gratitude-lists-and-do-this-instead/