Journaling prompts and ideas

Many people find it difficult to journal. Here are some questions I've asked of myself before I started.

• Why do I journal? 
• How long should my post be? 
• Should I write in, a book, scraps of paper, a laptop or ? 
• Should I write every DAY, every OTHER day, once a week?  
• Is this a memoir? Or just a place to preserve thoughts and feelings and events? 

My journal contains a lot of everything. 

• quotes that I want to remember 
• words written on angles all over the page
• song lyrics 
• prayers
• things that are bothering me as well as things that have made me happy

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Also I don't edit my journal - I found that if I do, I lose the intent and heart.

I usually feel a bit anxious before I start and my mind has a hard time settling. I have to remind myself that this is MY story, MY journal and these are MY rules and no one has to read it. I'm not writing for the masses. Sometimes I don't know where to begin or feel that I have nothing to say. I write that and it gives me a start –I'll write the next thing that comes to my mind and the next and the next after that.

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Here are some prompts I've gathered over the years. There are no rules or regulations to follow. It's your book.

prompts and ideas

a bucket list (use this as a springboard later on to describe each item in your bucket list - the 5W's and H)

choose 5 people and write a sentence or paragraph to describe each

what did I learn today or yesterday?

write about an old argument but from another person's perspective

grab a quote - write it down - you can add a note about what it means to you or highlight the key themes in it

what colors do you like? why? which do you dislike? why?

plans, purposes, pursuits - where do you want to be next year? 5 years from now?

write about your first love, how it felt, describe the person

today, I want to accomplish ....... (not a "to do" list)

who has made an impression on you and what was it?

if you can draw - sketch hands, feet, eyes, etc - what are they seeing, feeling, knowing?

look around you - describe with words, not feelings, what you are seeing, noticing

I believe .........

I remember the time .......

I am grateful for ........

gratitude means .......

a real friend is .......

forgiveness is.......

Here is a quote to get you started if you like.   

We could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world. ~Helen Keller

One last thing.....KEEP IT SIMPLE!!! Your style will develop.

~Deborah

@countrygirl