Jacey Brauner, a junior at Stoneman Douglas High school recently published a unique journaling book entitled My Daily Highlights that focuses on appreciating the mini happy moments that bring you joy each day. Jacey has been journaling and writing the highlights of her day since she was in middle school and it has helped her maintain a positive mindset. When she began bullet journaling, she would write down her daily highlights. She noticed the little things that made each day better. Whether it was a good conversation, a friend’s laugh, a great book or a bike ride, she would write it down and count it as a small highlight. Even during the challenging days, she’d still find many things that made her smile.
One night this past October, while Jacey was writing her highlights, she thought it would be a great idea for a book. She shared her thoughts with her mom, who was extremely supportive. Jacey created the book, published it and it is now available on Amazon. My Daily Highlights also contains daily inspirational quotes.
Reactions to the book have been wonderful. People really love the exercise of focusing on positivity and recognizing the small moments that bring you joy each day. “It can be easy to overlook the mini happy moments and take them for granted,” says Jacey. Not only is the book fun and relaxing to use, it’s also beneficial to your health. Dr. Shari Samson, an anesthesiologist from West Palm Beach loved the concept of Jacey’s book and explained the physiological benefits of this daily practice. Dr. Samson says, “To have someone pause and reflect is called recapitulation in the spiritual community. It also sets the stage in our central nervous system to rewire itself properly during sleep. For this is the time at which we set our memories in long term, and connect emotions good or bad to them, while also repairing our body’s systems harm from the day in the immune system, so this can have a positive effect on our health that way. By doing this practice every day, even on a tough day, finding and remembering good things will set in our memories and will be processed more healthfully, associating happier hormones with those experiences and reducing the chances of chronic stress and anxiety.”
Jacey has been very busy this year, in addition to publishing her book, she is also president of her junior class and just served as Parkland’s mayor for the month. When she’s not busy with school, Jacey loves to dance, spend time with family and friends, laugh and read. You can find My Daily Highlights, by Jacey Brauner on Amazon. You can like My Daily Highlights on Facebook and also visit her website at MyDailyHighlights.com. A portion of the profits are being donated to charities and organizations that empower young women.
