Camila Mendes Uses This Gratitude Journal Whenever She's Stressed & "All Over The Place"
Camila Mendes has a lot to be grateful for. Living her dream as Veronica Lodge on the CW hit Riverdale, the actress earned herself a shiny Teen Choice Award in 2017, plus multiple nominations, and on top of an adoring fanbase (she’s racked up just shy of 16 million followers on Instagram alone), Mendes has also found love off-screen with co-star Charles Melton. But here’s the thing: Given that Mendes is human, it’s not surprising that the 24-year-old actor sometimes struggles to remain grateful for these things 24/7. What’s truly admirable, though, is how Camila Mendes uses a gratitude journal to bring her stress levels down, so that she can trump frustration with appreciation.
The thing about stress is that literally everyone experiences it, no matter what a person's life looks like. And even though it's something that most people grapple with on a regular basis, that doesn't mean it can't take a toll on your mental, as well as physical well-being, on top of your professional, as well as personal relationships, too. Stress is just one of those natural human emotions that comes and goes sometimes. At the very least, it’s a comfort to know that we’re all in this together, right?
Mendes recently opened up about her experience with stress on Instagram, and gave fans a little behind-the-scenes look at how she’s been coping with the chaos by putting pen to paper. Sharing a photo of Intelligent Change's The Five Minute Journal — a hardcover notebook comprised of quick writing prompts that are meant to instill a sense of gratitude in the writer — Mendes gratefully (see what I did there?) attributed her new coping mechanism to her Riverdale co-star Madelaine Petsch.
“@madelame gave me this gem last week when i was feeling stressed and anxious and all over the place, and i had no idea i would love it this much,” Mendes captioned the photo, and TBH, I could not have recommended a finer tool for the actress to release her pent-up stress. For me, a blank page and a ballpoint pen always does the trick.
Mendes went on to explain that, like most people, she, too, can get caught up in the negatives. She noted that it’s just as easy for her to “forget to give value to all the amazing things” in life, because of a full plate of #adulting responsibilities. After all, acting is a job that comes with a lot of tasks (red carpets, interviews, long days of filming), and I can only imagine what her everyday to-do list must entail. She continued,
this career comes with a lot of pressure and stress but i’ve dedicated my entire life thus far to achieving this goal and i will never take my dream-turned-reality for granted. many more goals to be achieved, but i will never let my ambition interfere with my gratitude. and neither should you!
Mendes also wisely pointed out that there's something to be grateful for every single day, and whatever that thing might be, no matter how big or small it is, it deserves to be “acknowledged on daily basis,” she wrote on Instagram. For some people, that means saying “thank you” to the universe the moment they wake up, or before they go to sleep; for others, gratitude is shown through little gestures, like surprising a co-worker with their favorite coffee as a way to say thanks for a job well done. For Mendes, practicing mindfulness and appreciation for all of life’s blessings comes in the form of words on a page.
Regardless of how you express gratitude, the important thing is that you simply find a way to do it that works for you. Back in June of 2018, Clarissa Silva, a behavioral scientist, relationship coach, and creator of the Your Happiness Hypothesis Method, told Elite Daily that happiness is a state of mind, and by expressing gratitude daily, you can become not only more appreciative of the things you might otherwise take for granted, but you’ll also teach yourself to think and respond to things with a more positive outlook.
“One of the best ways to enhance [your happiness] is by practicing gratitude,” Silva told Elite Daily via email. “By expressing gratitude and making it a daily practice to use positive thinking, it rewrites our chemistry and our ability to create happiness as an approach to how we deal with life.”
Sometimes celebrities really are just like us, and their favorite things can be your favorite things, thanks to Amazon. The Five Minute Journal that Mendes swears by is available for purchase, and can be yours for only $22.95, but if you want in on a little secret, I've got one for you: You don't need to buy this exact journal to channel the same grateful vibes as Mendes. You can journal in any notebook your heart desires, open up a Google Doc on your laptop, or even keep a log of things you're grateful for in the Notes app on your phone.
Whatever keeps you grounded will work just fine. Just remember that you are only human, and some days you're bound to feel overwhelmed. The key to getting through the mess of stress is to breathe deep, and be grateful, because life is good, and so are you. You got this.
