Articles
Every article we publish, newest first — about keeping a journal, and the people who kept one. Each claim names its source. The templates →
12 articles
What Is Gratitude?
Gratitude is noticing that something good came from outside you. Where the feeling came from in evolutionary terms, why Trivers and Nowak describe it as bookkeeping, why it feels like a debt, and why some people find it far easier than others.
Gratitude vs Thankfulness: What the Difference Actually Is
Most answers to this question are invented on the spot and contradict each other. What McCullough's four facets, the moral-emotion account, and the older words todah and eucharisteo actually say about how gratitude, thankfulness and appreciation differ.
Comparison Is the Thief of Joy
Theodore Roosevelt never said it. Marcus Aurelius wrote the oldest version of the cure, Quote Investigator traced where the line actually came from, and the research on gratitude and envy points somewhere better than "stop comparing yourself to other people".
Gratitude in World Religions
How five traditions train gratitude
How to Keep a Prayer Journal
What a prayer journal is and how to keep one
Gratitude in the Bible
What the Bible teaches about gratitude
Bible Verses About Gratitude
Twenty-five Bible verses on gratitude and thanksgiving
Gratitude Affirmations
Why gratitude affirmations work when "I am" statements ring hollow
Does Journaling Actually Work? What the Evidence Shows
Frattaroli's meta-analysis of 146 randomised studies puts the effect at r = .075
How to Start a Gratitude Journal
Three things, one reason why, attached to something you already do. What Lally's habit research says about anchors and the 18-to-254-day range, why Cheng's eight-entry trial still worked, and how often to write given Lyubomirsky's frequency finding.
Gratitude Journal Prompts That Hold Up to the Research
Forty gratitude prompts grouped by situation, plus what the research actually supports: Seligman's placebo-controlled trial, the Komase dose finding that four entries or fewer change nothing, and Choi's 2025 meta-analysis putting the effect at g = 0.19.
Journaling vs a Diary: What Is Actually Different
A diary records what happened; a journal works on it. What 146 randomised studies say about the difference, why Takano and Tanno's rumination finding matters before you start, and where Cameron's morning pages and Carroll's bullet journal sit.
Nothing matches — it's a young directory still. or tell Tiago what's missing.
