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Journaling Prompt – Record Your Fall Traditions

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

Fall TraditionsRight now in some places the first signs of fall are budding. Some places are already in the midst of fall. In other places it isn’t fall at all. Some places have no fall…

Here at the Bay Area in California the mornings are chillier. The foliage has just started to lose its bright green sheen. When you stroll along the sidewalk you may even spot a fallen leaf or two. You may barely notice but the season is changing.

S l o w l y.

To seize the season this week’s journaling prompt is calling you to record your special fall traditions (or which ever season you experience now).

Is it “bathing” in colorful leaves?
Is it going to the pumpkin patch?
Is it sipping a venti pumpkin spice latte?
Is it cooking your first batch of soup?

What is it that you do when you wake up in the morning and notice the fall has arrived?

Share

Share your special fall traditions. (Share your recipes as well, if you mark the fall by cooking a special dish)
Is it fall where (and when…) you read this post?

Share by leaving a comment on this post. I am excited to hear about your traditions.

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Journaling Prompt – With A Snap Of A Finger…

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

With A Snap Of A Finger...Making the bed at 6:30 am. Heaps of laundry to wash, dry and fold. A dinner than won’t make itself after a hard day at work. Children toys scattered all over the place. A carpet that needs vacuuming. Floor that needs moping. Bathroom that need cleaning. Annual report that will certainly not compile itself and the list is loooong.

Where is perky Mary Poppins when we need her. With a snap of a finger, the sheets will make themselves. The dinner will be ready. The house will get clean and tidy and all our work will be done and ready on our desks.

Isn’t that a wish worth wishing? (Without a doubt – a rhetorical question)

For this week’s journaling prompt entertain yourself with the idea that you can get things done with a snap of your fingers.

What will you wish your fingers to take care of? List 10 chores you would gladly hand over, with a snap of a finger.

This can make a great layout or a mini album, entitled: “With a Snap of a Finger…” It will be a great idea to entertain yourself by, but also a document of your daily grind.

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What would you hand over to your fingers? What are your most tedious chores? share by leaving a comment on this post.

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Journaling Prompt – New Technique: Volcano Eruption

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

Volcano at Landmannalaugar, IcelandI took this picture in Landmannalaugar, Iceland about a year ago. I climbed this volcano, which for me represented the battle of will over mind. (Most people just ran up and down…)

While taking this personal challenge I was thinking about the intensity of the eruption and the meaning of the eruption – both physical and metaphorical.

Journaling. Real openhearted journaling is a lot like a volcano eruption.

Your inside is burning and feels like it is going to explode and once you let it out – burning magma is pouring out. Once you really let loose and allow your best and worst feelings to come out, you can no longer control the flow.

However, as the emotional build-up is completely dissolved and all there is left is rubble you can then start afresh.

For this week’s journaling prompt try the volcano eruption journaling technique.

Step 1: Erupt. Go to whatever “quiet place” that works for you. Take a pen and a paper pad (or your journal) and start writing about a subject that has been smoldering in your mind lately. Write non-stop for an hour or so. Let your feelings and thoughts loose. Allow yourself to rant, to judge, to over analyze, to have pity, to envy, to covet, to wet your journal pages with salty tears (if it comes to that). WRITE – without editing, without thinking, without boundaries. Just write EVERYTHING.

Step 2: Start afresh. Take a break. Breathe deeply. Sip a tall glass of green tea or a fat mug filled to the rim with hot chocolate or a frothy cappuccino. Take a walk. Go to sleep. Steer clear of your journal for a while and relax. Then come back, read what you have written and come up with a positive and constructive thing to write for every negative scribble that erupted before.

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Have you tried the volcano eruption technique? How did it work for you? Leave a comment on this post and share your thoughts and experience.

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Journaling Prompt – Record Your Personal Change Of Seasons

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
Change Of Seasons
[Photo by: Aunt Owwee @Flickr]

Sometimes I look at the four seasons – summer, fall, winter and spring – as Mother Earth’s clothing. The change of season sets a change in both the color palette and the texture (fabric) of its couture.

Fall is extremely colorful with a warm palette and a thick coat of loose foliage, nonchalantly covering all surfaces. Just like a woman with long curly hair whose hair falls down naturally on her shoulders.

Winter brings in a cooler palette. In some places the gray hues tones are ruling in a classic tailored suit and in others earth wears a festive and glistening white dress – like a bride flaunting her pristine beauty at her groom.

Comes spring and the artistic spirit of Mother Earth is revealed along with the appearance of flower buds. Vibrant and colorful and beautiful, filled with anticipation, a song is sung in her broad heart – like a carefree muse.

During the summer, Mother Earth strips off of all the color and heaviness of the year and gets ready to absorb warm sunshine rays – like a beautiful diva, wearing her swimsuit and tanning at the beach.

While observing the change of seasons I have noticed that I change along with them.

The spring wakes me up, brings color to my cheeks and prepares me for the summer – my favorite of all seasons. As the air gets cooler and the leaves are changing their color and fall I begin to dread the winter with its rainfalls and darkness, which makes me feel lethargic and wish I could stay under the covers all day long.

I know for a fact that many people are the exact opposite of me.

Some enjoy the purity of winter and cringe to the thought of the frying rays of sun.

What about you?

Record your personal change of seasons.

How do you change in a course of a year? When are you the happiest and when do you wish the season should end before it started? When do you feel most prolific and efficient? Have you noticed any change?

You can take this opportunity to look at your personal seasons on a larger scale. Have you noticed a certain cycle in your life? Can you compartmentalize your life to clear-cut periods that shows significant change in your life, your personality, your growth?

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How do you change in a course of a year? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment on this post.

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Journaling Prompt – Answer The Most Profound Questions

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009
Home
[Photo by: Jody McNary]

I have recently stumbled upon a fascinating quote by Richard Bach:

“The simplest questions are the most profound.

Where were you born?
Where is your home?
Where are you going?
What are you doing?

Think about these once in a while and watch your answers change.”

This quote appeals to me for two reasons:

  1. Its attribution to the most important things in life: your origin (roots), your plan and your actions towards it.
  2. Its attribution to the changes that appear as time goes by. Even the most profound aspects of life are affected by the passage of time.

Make use of Richard Bach’s brilliant observation and answer these questions in your journaling. Don’t forget to put a date on your journaling.

After a while go back to your answers and see if there’s any change. Record the change. Has anything remained the same?

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What is your answer to these questions right now? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment on this post.
What other important aspects of life do you cherish? Do they change over time as well?

Can questions referring to the past, such as “where were you born”, really change over time? I’d love to hear your thoughts about it!

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Journaling Prompt – Paint a Self Portrait With Your Words

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

Paint a Self PortraitMany strong and capable women squinch to the thought of having their photo taken. There are many reasons for that reluctance. The two most common reasons are fear of being perceived as vein and self absorbed and inability to think about ‘self’ and always concentrating on others.

Due to the same misconceptions you may find layouts about your significant other, children, grand-children, close family, heritage but either very few or more often none about yourself.

Same goes for journaling. You write about your family, friends, your day but you seldom write about yourself in a documentary manner. You seldom (or never) describe yourself and document the “dry” facts about yourself and your own history.

Why not changing this RIGHT NOW?

To embark on your autobiographic mission start by painting a self portrait with your words.
Describe yourself as you are right now:

You can concentrate on physical traits, characteristics, actions or all the above. You may write in the first person or the third person. Past tense or present tense. With or without adding any background. Just start, then go on.

She sat against her blinking white screen. Her mahogany hair was clasped back with a couple of black bobby-pins. A number of unruly curls had broken through the thin metal prongs.

Her somewhat long and slim fingers ran frantically across the keyboard racing with her blazing mind. She was desperately trying to catch up with the downpour of thoughts and beating waves of self awareness.

Her green eyes opened widely amazed at what the broken dam yielded. Every freckle and each mole suddenly assumed a role in making her the unique being she is, differing her from any other person in the universe.

She took comfort in concealing herself under thick masks of anonymity but that day, a glimpse of realization had made her take a peek inside and the view was overwhelming.

The winds of change had taken her by surprise and she grieved everything that was lost forever, not even caught by ink. She promised herself she would linger no more.

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How would you paint yourself with words? When was the last time you took a self portrait – either by journaling, photographing or scrapbooking? Please share by leaving a comment on this post.

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Journaling Prompt – Summertime: Compare and Contrast

Wednesday, July 8th, 2009
Summer time, Compare and Contrast
[Photo by: Per Ola Wiberg]

Some things never change in the summertime. The sun is shining (well, in some places more than in others). The weather is warmer. Sweet summer fruits are ripening. Swimsuits are hung on stores’ displays and there’s a special smell – a summer smell – in the air.

Some things, however, do change over the years.

Nowadays summer means slathering on sun protection lotions with SPF 70, whereas years ago it meant frying up your skin at the beach all day long trying to absorb vitamin D.

When you were young the summer meant a long 2-months vacation whereas later on in life you start budgeting your vacation days throughout the year.

While summer means “fun time” to a kid – it also means hearing “i’m bored” 10,000 times per day, i.e: not so fun, to a parent.

While summer once meant becoming a couch-potato, it now means adventurous hikes and long bike rides (or vice-versa…).

Some things change and some things remain the same.

For this week’s journaling prompt write what the summer means from at least two different points of view.

Some points of view to consider: [all relate to age and time]

  • What it means to you vs. what it meant to your parents when they were your age.
  • What it means to you vs. what it means to your kids.
  • What it means to your kids now vs. What it meant to you as a kid.
  • What it means to you now vs. what it meant to you as a kid.

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In which two different perspectives do you see the summertime? Leave a comment and share 🙂

Reminder

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inspiration, journaling and creativity.
Learn valuable tips and techniques while making your dream come true!

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Journaling Prompt – Consider Your City As A Prime Vacation Destination

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
Consider Your City As A Prime Vacation Destination
[Photo by: Jeremy Villasis]

Summer is officially here and we are daydreaming about the perfect destination for the perfect summer vacation.

Guess what? Any destination you pick up, any exotic place you are dreaming to visit, has locals that reside there all year round and call it home. Pretty desirable, don’t you think?

Now that you’ve been pondering about all those lucky people living in a magical country/state, think for a minute about your own city and state. You also reside in a place where occasionally people come to on their vacation.

For this week’s journaling prompt try to think about your own city (or village…) and your own state (or country) as a prime vacation destination.

  • How would you describe your city to a tourist?
  • What are the greatest attractions in your town?
  • Which are the most beautiful places to visit?
  • Which are the best restaurants?
  • Where is the best place to do some recreational shopping?
  • Where is the ultimate hiking trail?

Take your journal and a pen and answer those question. Become excited with everything your own city and state has to offer and create important documentation for your posterity…

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What do you love most about your city – (and which city are you coming from)? Leave a comment and share your local-loves.

Reminder

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Inspiring Journaling Prompt – Write With an Up-Side-Down Point of View

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

I would like to share an inspiring video I’ve stumbled upon on You Tube. The video conveys the story of a kid who insisted on adopting an uplifting point of view despite what “the experts” and his “social environment” said. An excellent and inspiring story:

Are you as inspired as I was after watching it? I am sure you are!

Now, inspired by this wonderful video, grab your journal and portray an up-side-down point of view. The kind of view that sees a smiling face instead of a sad one. The kind of view that sees the little things and tries to ponder about how things miraculously work. The kind of view the boy had that made him so special – and so controversial.

Try to communicate the same point of view from behind the camera – Try new angles, new lighting, new settings, zooming in a bit more – try to view the world differently.

Share your thoughts, journaling and photos by leaving a comment on this post.

Reminder

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Journaling Prompt – Concentrate On Relationships When Documenting Your Wedding Day

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

Relationships On My Wedding Day June is a very popular “wedding month”, so I am sure I am not the only one celebrating my anniversary this month.

Documenting the wedding is traditionally all about love. Sometimes it’s about the venue, the guests, the unity, the traditions… It is rarely about the relationships.

When I say RELATIONSHIP I mean INTERACTION or RECIPROCITY between the newlyweds to each other and their connection with the rest of the guests.

These relationships are extremely unique. It seems like the couple is elevated off earth on a cloud of togetherness, glancing upon the guests, but not communicating with them on the same level of awareness.

The bride and groom are dancing, small-talking, laughing at jokes and paying respect to their guests – but they are still not quite connected.

My best guess is that the connection between the newlyweds, the new bond between them, is so strong and overpowering that it casts a shadow on all other interactions.

This connection, this peak of togetherness is so wonderful, I think we all ought to take the time and document it.

On the picture above the journaling reads:

That night was our night. We were moving around the dance floor, like we were the only ones there. We felt it was just us two, whispering promises of eternity in each other’s ear. Granted, there were guest, friends and family happy for our union, but they were left unnoticed in our moment of togetherness. The kind of togetherness in which there is only room for two.
You and me forever and ever.
Two years after that magical night and I still love you, and I love you more and more each moment…

[Supply- font Karabine; digital kit by Two Peas In A Bucket; Old Victorian Wallpaper brush by Kisso-Myrusso.]

Share

Share the special relationship and interaction you had on your wedding day.

Not married? How about describing how will your wedding day be like (I had been planning my wedding day since I was 6 years old – that’s the kind of “girlie-girl” I was).

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