To Journal

To journal can be to reflect on the day, the joys, the pain, the confusions and everything in between. It can be a daily, weekly, or monthly or less than monthly ritual. Several clients have found it helpful for venting, teasing out emotions, processing the hows and whys. I like that it can be succinct or messy and all over the place. I’ve had journals dedicated for gratitude, for retreats, for goals, and grief.

As I’ve gotten older I’ve used bullet journaling, which can look like this.

Today I am grateful for:

*laughter

*Sully the office cat

*my client’s flexibility

I want to intentionally make more time for:

+quality time with friends & family

+time off from work

+catching up with long distance friends

Several of my clients have talked about having difficulty keeping up with journaling or being fearful of someone reading it. One of my clients likes to process her feelings about hard stuff and once completed she will read over it once or twice but then she will rip it up and throw it away because she doesn’t want to judge herself later. I like that it can add perspective while allowing me to feel whatever I am feeling and not having to be careful not to hurt feelings or worry about another’s perceptions.

Today I met with a young woman who likes to journal but said sometimes she has a hard time coming up with prompts, and she would like it to be for more than venting. The remainder of this post will journal prompts I have come up with, and hopefully will keep adding to over the months to come. What are your favorite journal prompts?

Journal Prompts

1. Who was your favorite teacher?
2. What is something has made you laugh so hard you were crying?
3. If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be?
4. Who is one of your favorite book characters?
5. If you could live someone else’s life for a day whose would it be and why?
6. If you could have one super power what would it be?
7. What is one piece of advice you would give your younger self if you could?
8. Who has been a role model for you?
9. Who was your favorite pet?
10. What are you most proud of and why?
11. If you could try a different career, what would it be?
12. What is something you’ve always wanted to try but haven’t?
13. What family member do you think you have the most in common with? How come?
14. If your life was a book, what would be the title?
15. What is the most challenging thing you have lived through? What did you learn?
16. If you could be any animal, what would you be and why?
17. If you had to move to a remote land, what five people would you take and what five things would you take with you?
18. What is one thing you would want to do differently if you had the opportunity?
19. If you had one month to live, how would you spend your time?
20. What is something you want others to remember about you?