Maddie Madden
Is a junior at the University of Michigan
studying Communication and Media with a minor in Writing
Welcome to my e-portfolio for Writing 220: the gateway to the Sweetland Writing Minor at the University of Michigan. This site provides an insight to my writing as well as the experiments and final project I have created for this class. The projects this class concentrates on stem from a chosen origin material: for me, a gratitude journal I have been keeping since the winter of 2018. Through three experiments, one of which becomes a fully realized final project, I can transform this origin material into different mediums and modes of expression.
To explore more of my writing, please check out my posts
on the Minor in Writing blog.
Why Gratitude
It started with a homework assignment
I took a class in the winter of my freshman year of college called the Science of Health and Happiness. One of the assignments we had was to keep a gratitude journal, which required listing three things we were grateful for at the end of each day. After listing the obvious (family, friends etc.), I had to be a little more observant during the day. The small things that made me smile became the things I paid tribute to at the end of the day. The first day I did this, this was my list:
1) hugs from my sister
2) my "chill" playlist on Spotify
3) lemonade when it's really hot out
Pointing out these little things to myself forced me to focus on the good things rather than the bad things. There will always be something negative to dwell on, but if you distract yourself from those things with the happy moments, you will find yourself infinitely more content.