Months into her attempt to have a baby in 2010, Lorraine Miller said, she began feeling unbalanced and uncertain if she would ever be a mom.
“I was having trouble coping with it,” she said, “and I was dealing with a roller coaster ride of uncertainty.”
Miller decided to see a holistic health coach, an alternative way for handling the depression she was struggling with, she said.
The health coach told Miller to keep a journal and use it specifically for writing down things she was grateful for everyday.
“I wasn’t skeptical about the approach,” she said, “but I didn’t think much of it.”
In a few weeks, her entire life started to change, she said.
“I was meeting new people and doing things I enjoyed more,” she said. “I came out of my depression.”
Now, after using gratitude to cope with her own struggles, Miller is a practicing holistic health coach, who will talking about her second book, “A Year of Daily Gratitude: A Guided Journal for Creating Thankfulness Every Day” at the Dolphin Bookshop & Cafe on Jan. 26.
The book, which focuses on finding gratitude in life every single day for a year, was published by National Geographic, and launched with a Facebook live event on Dec. 27.
Covering a new theme every month, including growth, family and happiness, “A Year of Daily Gratitude” aims to “make people more optimistic about life,” said Miller, a Port Washington resident since 2007.
“Right now we’re in a challenging time and people have a lot of stress and uncertainty about life and where our country is going,” Miller said. “This is a book to help people overcome stress.”
Miller, who grew up in Oyster Bay and lived in Forrest Hills before moving to Port Washington, said her first experience with gratitude allowed her to immediately start practicing and inspired her to want to pass it along.
“I found that people don’t really need to spend a lot of time being grateful,” she said. “Sometimes people will hear about what I do and say ‘I’m not really into journaling or writing; that’s not my thing,’ but all you have to do is spend a few snippets of time a day,” Miller said.
Miller completed a six-month program at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, and now works as a gratitude writer, speaking and coach, holding events around Long Island.
“I focus on inspiring people to find happiness,” Miller said.
Miller also launched a website, gratitudetobliss.com, where she blogs about gratitude and offers a step-by-step guide to a daily dose of gratitude, which she calls “vitamin G.”
“I like to think of it as taking a vitamin,” she said. “It’s easy to do and doesn’t take very long, but the results are very powerful and quick-acting.”
Miller said understanding gratitude starts with appreciating what people have and do, which provides a foundation for being successful and allows people to get other things they need.
“It’s such an important life skill to have and is the foundation of a successful life,” she said. “It’s something we all need.”
Having never imagined making a career as a writer, Miller said, she had always enjoyed creative writing growing up.
“It is a good vehicle for me to get my message out and I enjoy it,” she said.
Following her event at the Dolphin, Miller will be doing a workshop at the Community Synagogue in Port Washington, and said she enjoys putting on classes in her community.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to share what I’ve learned about gratitude, because it’s something we all need to know,” she said. “It’s a benefit to our health; it gives us a boost.”
