A lot of these exercises come from my various books on Journaling - if I know the source, I'll let you know:
From: "How You Do Anything is How You Do Everything" (Cheri Huber)
What book, song, or movie best describes your life?
What would it take for you to be truly happy?
What makes you feel insecure, and what makes you feel secure?
What is the most important thing in your life, and why?
Laura's Ideas (Things that may show up in my e-book):
-"If you could write a story with yourself as the hero, what would the story be about?" Write that story.
-What mythological stories seem to speak to you? Write a myth incorporating the pieces that speak for you, and make yourself the hero/main character. What happens?
-"If there was one thing in the world that symbolized "you" - who you are, what you want to be, where you've come from, etc - what would that symbol be? Draw it.
-Create a mandala using your personal symbol
-Create pictures of the positive and negative sides of yourself. If these were masks, what would they look like? Make the mask, if you feel like it.
-Write a poem about something in nature, or about something in the world that you love
-Write a poem about your pain - loneliness, sadness, trauma - use the poem to transform the pain and yourself.
-Create a collage of things you enjoy doing
-Write yourself (or someone else) a note using only cut out letters from magazines and/or papers.
-Doodle with words, for example, outline your hand with your journal entry
-use stickers, ephemera - all that great stuff scrapbookers use. Try to use it in a different way
-Get a template or draw a blank jigsaw puzzle - make a puzzle of you - what are the pieces that make up who you are?
-Use the puzzle template to create poetry - photocopy several of them and print words in each piece. Put the puzzle together different ways for a found poem.
From "One to One" (Christina Baldwin)
-What don't you give yourself permission to write about? Why? What would it take for you to be able to write about it? Write about it!
-What kind of privacy do you need to write? Is your journal a public work of art? (Some are, some aren't). How can you/do you keep your private stuff private?
-Write some of the stories of your family and childhood in the third person - as stories. Do you feel any different about them after writing them this way?
-What are you supposed to be like?
-What would your family or friends think if they knew you _______?
-If your life were a fairy tale, what would happen?
-Describe a recent dream and its meaning for you
From "Life's Companion: Journal Writing as a Spiritual Quest" (Christina Baldwin)
-Write out a prayer to whatever Creator/Supreme Being you believe in
-What were the questions you had about faith when you were a child? What are your questions now? Write them out
-If you didn't already know who you are, who would you ask? What would you ask them, and what would they say? Write out the conversation
-What is sacred to you?
-How do you let go of control and let in faith/grace/your Higher Power?
-List everything love provides in your life
From "Keeping a Journal You Love" (Sheila Bender)
-Write a letter to someone you love and tell them why you love them. (Laura's note: Write that letter to yourself and say why you're worthwhile and deserving of love)
-Tell a story about something that happened during your day- describe the buildings, the environment, the people as well as the event. Use detail, adjectives - bring it to life
From "The Creative Journal" (Lucia Cappachione - this is one of my favorites)
-Draw how you feel
-What do your inner and outer selves look like at this time? How are they different?
-Draw a timeline of your life history
-Draw how you see yourself.
-What do you believe about yourself, about the world, about the people around me?
-What are your beliefs about life in general?
-If some of these are negative, what would it take to change them to a positive view?
-Create a mandala for yourself
-How do you nurture, care for, and/or soother yourself? What keeps you from being able to do that? What would help change it, so that you could take better care of yourself?
-Draw one of your dreams - what symbols seem to come out at you? Draw those and journal about what they mean to you.
These are great ideas - if you have others to share or other resources to share, I'd love to see what you've got as well. There are also some great websites out there with journaling prompts - you can google "journaling prompts" to get some of them.
As Always:
Please Note: The content on this blog is intended for informational purposes only. This is not therapy, and if you wish to work in therapy, please contact your local mental health agency or your physician for a referral.
If you are in crisis or danger, please call 911 for immediate help. Please, again, realize that seeking out help really IS a sign of strength and not a sign of weakness. You don’t have to be alone in facing these things – there are people who care and who will help. Email me at: [email protected]
From: "How You Do Anything is How You Do Everything" (Cheri Huber)
What book, song, or movie best describes your life?
What would it take for you to be truly happy?
What makes you feel insecure, and what makes you feel secure?
What is the most important thing in your life, and why?
Laura's Ideas (Things that may show up in my e-book):
-"If you could write a story with yourself as the hero, what would the story be about?" Write that story.
-What mythological stories seem to speak to you? Write a myth incorporating the pieces that speak for you, and make yourself the hero/main character. What happens?
-"If there was one thing in the world that symbolized "you" - who you are, what you want to be, where you've come from, etc - what would that symbol be? Draw it.
-Create a mandala using your personal symbol
-Create pictures of the positive and negative sides of yourself. If these were masks, what would they look like? Make the mask, if you feel like it.
-Write a poem about something in nature, or about something in the world that you love
-Write a poem about your pain - loneliness, sadness, trauma - use the poem to transform the pain and yourself.
-Create a collage of things you enjoy doing
-Write yourself (or someone else) a note using only cut out letters from magazines and/or papers.
-Doodle with words, for example, outline your hand with your journal entry
-use stickers, ephemera - all that great stuff scrapbookers use. Try to use it in a different way
-Get a template or draw a blank jigsaw puzzle - make a puzzle of you - what are the pieces that make up who you are?
-Use the puzzle template to create poetry - photocopy several of them and print words in each piece. Put the puzzle together different ways for a found poem.
From "One to One" (Christina Baldwin)
-What don't you give yourself permission to write about? Why? What would it take for you to be able to write about it? Write about it!
-What kind of privacy do you need to write? Is your journal a public work of art? (Some are, some aren't). How can you/do you keep your private stuff private?
-Write some of the stories of your family and childhood in the third person - as stories. Do you feel any different about them after writing them this way?
-What are you supposed to be like?
-What would your family or friends think if they knew you _______?
-If your life were a fairy tale, what would happen?
-Describe a recent dream and its meaning for you
From "Life's Companion: Journal Writing as a Spiritual Quest" (Christina Baldwin)
-Write out a prayer to whatever Creator/Supreme Being you believe in
-What were the questions you had about faith when you were a child? What are your questions now? Write them out
-If you didn't already know who you are, who would you ask? What would you ask them, and what would they say? Write out the conversation
-What is sacred to you?
-How do you let go of control and let in faith/grace/your Higher Power?
-List everything love provides in your life
From "Keeping a Journal You Love" (Sheila Bender)
-Write a letter to someone you love and tell them why you love them. (Laura's note: Write that letter to yourself and say why you're worthwhile and deserving of love)
-Tell a story about something that happened during your day- describe the buildings, the environment, the people as well as the event. Use detail, adjectives - bring it to life
From "The Creative Journal" (Lucia Cappachione - this is one of my favorites)
-Draw how you feel
-What do your inner and outer selves look like at this time? How are they different?
-Draw a timeline of your life history
-Draw how you see yourself.
-What do you believe about yourself, about the world, about the people around me?
-What are your beliefs about life in general?
-If some of these are negative, what would it take to change them to a positive view?
-Create a mandala for yourself
-How do you nurture, care for, and/or soother yourself? What keeps you from being able to do that? What would help change it, so that you could take better care of yourself?
-Draw one of your dreams - what symbols seem to come out at you? Draw those and journal about what they mean to you.
These are great ideas - if you have others to share or other resources to share, I'd love to see what you've got as well. There are also some great websites out there with journaling prompts - you can google "journaling prompts" to get some of them.
As Always:
Please Note: The content on this blog is intended for informational purposes only. This is not therapy, and if you wish to work in therapy, please contact your local mental health agency or your physician for a referral.
If you are in crisis or danger, please call 911 for immediate help. Please, again, realize that seeking out help really IS a sign of strength and not a sign of weakness. You don’t have to be alone in facing these things – there are people who care and who will help. Email me at: [email protected]
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