7 Journal prompts + why to start a journal practice
Dear Diary, guess what? Today, I got a note from ‘you know who’ (EEEEK!) asking me if I wanna be his GF…it was so cute….Of course I replied YES….
If that, right there ^ is what you think about when it comes to journaling you are not the only one, and whilst this kind of journaling was fun in grade 9, it’s not the kind of journaling we are talking about in this article…
There are benefits to journaling beyond practicing your signature with a ‘Mrs’ in your title for when you finally marry ‘you know who’. But it can also be super challenging and confronting to write about the ‘just too difficult to say out loud’ stuff and things. Plus, where do you even start? You might not be receiving love notes on the reg these days so what do you write about?
CHALLENGES
The number one reason why it can be a challenge to start writing is FEAR. When we write about all the stuff and things that are heartbreaking, embarrassing, or difficult to say, it might feel like we are opening ourselves up to scrutiny or judgment. ‘What if someone else reads what I have written and judges me or thinks that I am awful? What if I find out things about myself that I was pretty happy keeping buried deep, like deep, deep down inside? What if I can’t find anything to write about?’
Fear rears it’s noisy head every time we try something new. Fear is however, just that. Noise. I mean it’s super useful at keeping us safe from actual big scary things like cliff edges and angry beasts but when it comes to something like writing it is just noise, your primal lizard brain piping up to remind us who’s boss! But it’s not guys, it’s really not the boss - YOU ARE! So if fear of any, or all of the above is keeping you stuck in procrastination paralysis, remind your noisy ol’ lizard brain that you are in charge. Thank it for the advice. Feel the fear. Pick up your feather pen and do it anyway! *I know that no-one has feather pens anymore, I just needed another F word I didn’t what to say fucking pen…although that does seem to work…
Don’t know what to write or where to start? Keep reading below for a pre-journaling pep talk and 7 days worth of Journal prompts to get you started.
You might also just be too bloody tired or feel like you don’t have time to write. Thankfully, these days we don’t actually have to spend a copious amount of hours sourcing feather pens and pots of ink. Most of us have access to a mobile device of some description with a notes app installed or just a pen and paper laying around. If you struggle with finding time, flip the script and think about it as ‘making’ time instead. Set a timer for yourself for 10 mins and write until your time is up. If tiredness is your thing, I hear you, again it doesn’t have to be a novel you are writing, just set a timer for 10 mins and go nuts.
WHY EVEN BOTHER WITH JOURNALING?
Ok, I am picturing you, feather pen poised at the ready, eager to begin, but why should you bother?
I have always thought of writing as a therapeutic process, journaling is my first go to when I have big, scary decisions to make, when I am confused about something, or if ‘you know who’ has pissed me off (yeh, I married him).
One of the most powerful things I’ve noticed about journaling is when I need a reset on my attitude towards gratitude. Simply writing down just 3 or more things I am grateful for flicks a switch so damn quick. If this is the one thing yo take away from this article, then I will be so bloody proud of you. it is such a powerful practice. I guarantee that after only a day or two of doing this, you’ll start looking for things to be grateful for everywhere you go and in everything you do. Shifting to a gratitude mindset impacts your mood, alters your perspective to one that is more positive and impacts positively on your own mental health and the loves in your life.
There are other benefits too:
Gets the creative juices flowing
Boosts your memory and improves cognitive processing functions of the brain
Your emotional intelligence improves
Decreases in stress, anxiety and low mood
Helps you prioritise, plan and process
Helps you de-clutter your mind so you can tell you know who how you really feel in a conscious and kind way without hurting their feelings
Helps you make big or little decisions
Helps you to celebrate the wins
You can totally still write about exciting love notes from your you know who :)
WHERE TO START
Feather pen is dipped in ink, you really are ready, but where the feather should you start?
In case you missed it, I put together a 7 day journaling challenge for you over on instagram which you can find here. Head over to the gram (you might need to scroll a little to find day one) and do the challenge yourself and don’t forget to let me know if you do, I love celebrating your wins!
Not on the gram? I have popped the challenges for you here:
You might like to write down the journal prompt at the top of your page, then respond to the prompt by writing as much as you can.
Still procrastinating ?
Don’t overthink it, you can start by writing the words ‘I don’t know what to write’ over and over until something starts to flow.
Set a timer for 10 or 20 mins and write for the whole time. Don’t stop before the timer goes off but if you are in flow and want to keep going after time is up just dip that F’n feather pen again and write until your heart's content.
SEVEN DAYS OF JOURNAL PROMPTS
DAY ONE - ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE
Write down 3 things you are grateful for.
DAY TWO - FOR THE PEOPLE PLEASERS
What is one thing that I am worried other people will think about me? Is this true? And, is this helpful?
DAY THREE - FOR THE OVER THINKERS
What have I been thinking about A LOT lately? Is it serving me or is it hindering me?
DAY FOUR - FEELING FLAT
What is one thing that I have experienced lately where I have felt a sense of bliss?
DAY FIVE - SELF TALK (2 PART PROMPT)
Contemplate this: Would you say the things you say about yourself, to yourself, would you say these same things to the people you love?
Write down the things that you think those people most need to hear, the kind things you would say to them, but write those things as if you were saying them to yourself.
DAY SIX - SELF CARE (2 PART PROMPT)
Finish this sentence: Today I will practice self care by….
Then go do the self care thing my friend!
DAY SEVEN - MAGIC WAND!
Finish this sentence: If I had a magic wand I would use it to create…
When you are done you can throw, burn, shred or delete your writing. This may help you feel a bit safer to get rid of it if you have written tings that are raw or that you want to actually get rid of, and it can help take care of a fear of being seen or your words being read by someone else… also it can feel bloody good and very symbolic to physically let go. Of course, if you really wanna keep it you can absolutely do this too.
Congrats on igniting or re-igniting your journaling practice.
