Journal Writing

Some ideas when you get stuck
(or even when you don't)

Questions

What just happened here?
What is possible to learn from what happened?
What am I feeling right now?
What confuses me?

What do you believe?
What makes you angry?
What gives you hope?
What do you hope for?
What are your struggles?
What do you care about?
What are the things you want to learn?
What can you teach others?


Writing Techniques

Timed writing. (Writing without stopping)
Clustering.
Lists of 100. Possibilities include:

Keep a daily log. Record events and happenings, or maybe feelings, people, ideas, realizations, questions, or any combination of these things.
Write a letter that you'll never send. Write to yourself, write to a friend, write to someone in your family.
Start with a springboard--a statement or question you've heard.
Write stream of consciousness--whatever comes to your mind, wherever your mind goes.
Write with your non-dominant hand.
Write in circles, chunks or angles.
Draw!


New!


More questions to get your journal, diary, or book going. The following questions were either taken from or inspired by several books by SARK, The Woman's Book of Strength, by Karen Andes, Tom Barrett's Interlude: An Internet Retreat, and Philip St. Romain's Daily Spiritual Seed. Most of the questions below are a great deal deeper than the questions above. The line breaks are just to make the sheer number of questions easier on the eyes. I've carefully re-phrased most of the questions so they can stand on their own, so you're free to "pick" a question, answer several questions at once, or if you really want sore fingers, answer them all in one sitting!

Is it true?
Is it kind?
Is it necessary?
Am I lovable?
Am I capable?
Am I worthy of this love?
Aren't we funny to wait to show love until we "know" another person--as if we ever can?
What am I glad about?
How am I today?
Who am I today?

Is there an emotion charging through my heart that I need to take into consideration--and use in this next challenge?

Do I hurt anywhere, physically? Mentally? Spiritually?
Is there a move I should avoid or an area--mind, body, spirit--to grant special care today?
What am I working on today?
What did I do last time?
What haven't I done for a while that makes my life more succulent?
How much time do I have?
How can I use my time most efficiently? Effectively?
Is there a theme today?
Is there a game I can play to pepper up my routine?
Do I feel a need to "zip myself up into my idealized self"?
Am I on my own today?
Am I ready to begin?

What one small thing am I willing to do now that will help my life become more succulent?
What are my succulent moves?
Where have I been leaping lately?
Where do I do my least leaping?
Where do I do my most leaping?
What does faith mean to me?
What examples of leaps of faith are in my personal history?
Are there places I would like to leap, but don't know how?
What is inside of me right now that I can begin to make real?
Am I aware of procrastination in my life?
How does procrastination affect me?
In what ways do I stop myself from experiencing joy or success?
When do I first remember feeling procrastination?
Were/Are my parents procrastinators?
Is someone close to me a procrastinator?
What gifts do I recieve from procrastination?
What suffering to I recieve from procrastination?
What is my routine?
How have I simplified my life this week?
How have I lessened the desires of my heart this week?
Why am I measuring how I feel by what I think I'm not getting?
In what ways have I practiced hospitality this week?
How can I continue along with rejection?
How well do I persist in the face of adversity?

Do I rebuild after bieng pillaged, or do I tend to give up?
Am I easily discouraged from creating something new or preserving something worth saving?
What in my sphere of influence is worth saving?
What is it in my power to create?
How can I more fully realize my creative potential?
What will be my lasting legacy?
Will my legacy be noticeable to those who come after me?
Will my legacy be of a material nature? Intellectual? Emotional? Spritual?
How can I enjoy the spirit of creativity while appreciating the impermanence of my work?
How were feelings held or handled in my family?
Is it safe for me to feel?
What have I recently learned about feelings?
Am I currently choosing to lie?
About what?
What are my rewards?
What falsehoods do I cling to that prevent me from bieng free?
What illusions do I maintain that prevent me from experiencing joy?
What emotional treasures do I grasp that capture me?
What part[s] does truth play in my life?
What lies seem essiential? Are they really?
Where can I increase truth telling?
Do I fear the truth?
How do I explore the truth in my life?

Whom do I trust?
Do I trust those closest to me? Why or why not?
Do I trust myself? Why or why not?
How can I develop more trust and confidence in myself?
What do I lose if I increase my trust level?
What do I gain if I increase my trust level?
How do I increase my capacity to trust?
Can I become more trustworthy?
Do I admit my jealousy when I feel it?
Am I aware when others are jealous of me, and can I talk about it with them?
How was jealousy handled or spoken of when I was growing up?
Is there someone I can admit jealousy to right now? Can I hear hers/his?
Whom do I serve?
How do I serve?
How do I express kindness?
What is the meaning of my work?
What prevents me from bieng more helpful?
How do I feel in groups?
How do I feel when I'm alone?
What barriers do I place between myself and the rest of the world?
What part does conflict play in my life?
How do I handle conflict?
How do I not handle conflict?
How can I learn from conflict?
When have I processed conflict into resolution?

How would others describe my relationship with conflict?
Where does my conflict pattern need work?
What part does anger play in my life?
Who were my early anger models and care-givers?
Who got angry and why?

Have I ever been angry, told the person, and as I talked about it, forgot she/he has love for me and me for her/him?

Have I ever been angry and thought the whole relationship was over?
Have I ever abandoned myself rather than feel the anger?
Have I ever convinced myself I'm not angry, rather than face the other person?
Have I ever placated so that anger didn't even show up?
Have I ever lied when someone asked me if I was angry?
What is my anger style?
How am I when others are angry?
Who got angry as I grew up?
What did I do? In what ways has anger healed me or taught me?
How can we live succulently with dying?
Who dies?
Who has died in my life?
How has death touched or healed me?
What are my worst fears about death?
Are there ways I avoid death?
Do I talk about death?
What would my tombstone say today?
What would my obituary say today?

How many beach sunsets will I see?
What is currently "up for healing" in my life?
What is my body saying?
How is my spirit speaking?
What are my relationships with others showing me?
What is my relationship with myself showing me?
What is my relationship with God showing me?
What am I saying to me?
What is within my mind that is up for healing?
Can I learn to project love upon the world so I'll get it back? How will I?
What kind of love story am I living?
How many ways can another person annoy me and what is it really saying?
Do I ever feel the fear of love? How?
What am I most afraid of about love?
In what ways do I hide from feeling even more love?
I'm not afraid of love because...
Who supports me in love?
Who do I share the scary, marvelous, tumultuous feelings of love with? This includes self-love.
Do I have support when love is and isn't working?
How is my love affair with myself?
How is my love affair with God?
Who\m do I share stories of love with?
Is it nourishing?
Am I now, or could I be, in a group that supports love?

What could it be like?
Do I feel my love relationship\s [self\others] work\s well?
How could they work better?
Can I surround myself with people of kindess and wisdom?
What do I watch on television?
What about my personal life?
Do I have time for it?
Just what will grow in there if left alone long enough?
What really holds it together?
Who has loved here before me?


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Spiritual Journals