50 Reasons

     This post was inspired by a project that my local UMaine chapter of Active Minds put together.  During the fall semester, members of Active Minds asked students to write down positive things that tomorrow could bring on squares of paper.  They collected 1,100 squares, one for each student in the U.S. who dies by suicide each year, and assembled the squares into a quilt.  According to Sarah, President of the UMaine chapter of Active Minds, the goal of creating the quilt was to, "inspire hope, positivity, and optimism for the endless possibilities of tomorrow.  It's finished project symbolizes at least 1,100 reasons to stick around for another day."  The quilt, which was displayed at Fogler Library, provided a powerful visual reminder of what good the future could bring.  Some of my personal favorite suggestions were Halloween, cats, and playing Pokemon GO, but there were all sorts of ideas from foods to activities to goals that people could look forward to.

The quilt on display at Fogler Library

     Filling out some squares was cathartic for me and I thought it might be nice to adapt a smaller scale version of this project for my craft blog.  All of us have our rough days and it can be nice to have a visual reminder of the things we have to look forward to.  I came up with a list of 50 things I like and goals I have, but you could come up with any number of reasons that works for you.  I originally wanted to arrange the squares in a quilt, but I didn't have enough space on my wall, so I arranged them around existing artwork.  You could arrange them in any pattern you'd like.

Materials:
*Sticky notes
*Marker or pen

Directions:

*Write things that you like or goals that you have on sticky notes.  You can do this yourself or with a group of friends.

*Arrange the sticky notes in whatever pattern you would like to.