Janice Kaplan is the author of the current best seller, “The Gratitude Diaries: How a Year Looking on the Bright Side Can Transform Your Life," a research-backed memoir of her year of living gratefully. Four years ago, she and her husband bought a country home in Kent, Conn., where she wrote much of her book. The former television producer, editor-in-chief of Parade magazine and author and co-author of 12 books will be at The Hickory Stick Bookshop in Washington, Conn. this Sunday, Oct. 18 at 2 p.m., where she will be signing books and talking about the benefits of bringing gratitude into one’s life. When we were moving from the suburbs into the city, we started looking for a weekend house in the country as well. Our friends had a beautiful spot in Litchfield. We came up to visit them, and once we saw that, we said, “This is where we’re going to have to be." And now it’s my favorite spot in the whole world.
I love to walk by the Housatonic on the Appalachian Trail, and go over to Millerton on the New York side, to bike the Harlem Valley Rail Trail. The natural beauty in the area was inspirational for me as I wrote about how appreciating nature is good for our health. In Kent, there is a place that makes the greatest cookies — J. P. Gifford Market & Catering Company. I even mention it in the Amazing Gratitude Diet chapter of my book. Basically, the Amazing Gratitude Diet is about appreciating the food you eat. If you stop and look, pay attention to the foods you eat, you are more likely to eat what’s good for you — but I make an exception for that chocolate chip cookie in Kent. It makes me so happy, it has to be part of my diet. It’s been six to eight months since I’ve finished the book. I admit that I slip back. But it’s amazing that something so simple as thinking about gratitude can change your attitude. Gratitude gives you a sense of control. We wait for great events to come along to make us happy — but you can wait a very long time. You can always find the positive in something. There’s great comfort to that, because no matter what happens, you can stop and look at it from the other side. I can’t think of anything that’s not positive about the life up here. This area is bliss.
