14 gratitude journal prompts for noticing the seasons

The 14 questions

This season will come back, but never the same one — notice it now.

1. What did this season bring today?
2. What could you hear outside the window today?
3. What did the air smell like today?
4. What was the light like today?
5. What can you see now that will be gone in three months?
6. What could you feel on your skin today — wind, sun, cold, rain?
7. What can you thank today's weather for, even if it was uncomfortable?
8. Which small thing of this season pleased you most today?
9. If this season never came back, what would you miss most?
10. Which sight from this season is worth holding on to?
11. Who is good to be with at this time of year?
12. What does this season let you do that others do not?
13. What from this season do you want to remember next year?
14. What from the past days do you want to thank this season for?

A season comes back, but never the same one

Every year has a spring, a summer, an autumn and a winter. That makes them easy to skip. There will be another one, after all. But this one, with this light and these days, will not come back.

These questions slow you down through the senses. Question 2 asks what you could hear outside the window. Question 3 asks what the air smelled like. Question 4 asks what the light was like. Question 6 asks what you could feel on your skin: wind, sun, cold, rain.

Then they add time. Question 5 asks: “What can you see now that will be gone in three months?” Question 13 asks what from this season you want to remember next year.

Question 7 is the hardest one on a grey day. It asks what you can thank today’s weather for, even if it was uncomfortable. Rain also waters the garden and keeps you home with a book.

How to answer them

Go outside or to a window before you write. One minute is enough. Then write what you noticed, plainly, as if for a stranger who has never seen your street.

Pick one detail. Not “autumn is beautiful”, but “the chestnut tree by the bus stop turned yellow on one side only”.

The questions work in any season and any climate. Answer them in January and again in July, and you will get two different journals.

Question 11 brings people in: who is good to be with at this time of year? Question 12 asks what this season lets you do that others do not. Both make the season personal.

Staying with one detail

Questions 2, 3, 6 and 10 come from the “savoring the moment” exercise. In it, while something good is happening, you focus on it so the good feeling is stronger or lasts longer (Hurley and Kwon, 2012 · Journal of Happiness Studies).

Here you come back to the moment later, when you write. The detail you chose is the way back in.

Where to go next

If you enjoy noticing small sights and sounds, try the prompts for appreciating the everyday. If the season makes you slow down, try the prompts for more calm. For the basics, read how to start a gratitude journal.

On a path in the app

These are the questions of the first path in the theme “Seasons”. In GratefulMe you answer them one at a time, at your own pace: the next question comes once you answer the one before. After step 7 and step 14 the path pauses for a reflection on your own answers, and the theme goes on with further paths. Steps 1–7 are free; Premium adds the reflections and steps 8–14.