Journaling Ideas For Increased Clarity

I know a woman named Martha who keeps “a journal of soaring.” Included in its pages are snapshots of a beloved family trip, magazine spreads of exotic locales, and a glowing letter about her empty lot garden she created with middle school kids. Another woman named Miriam weaves self-nurturing writing practices into her existing journal. Joy uses the Comfort Queen Inner Organizer feature. After she makes 4 or 5 entries on-line in her Inner Organizer, she prints them out, pastes them in her journal, and then asks herself, “What do I observe about these journal entries? What do I know? What don’t I know?”
How do you use writing to create your life, to take responsibility for noticing and nurturing your wholeness into being? Writing is how I shape meaning. My current obsession is exploring how body practices and movement can unlock and enhance the creative process. Here are a few of my favorite playful journaling prompts – see if they move you to write your way to someplace new.
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Comfort Cluster
Write the word “comfort” in the middle of a journal page. Circle it. Give yourself permission to write down the first association about comfort that pops into your head. Circle this word. Connect it with a line to comfort. What associations spring up around this new word? Write them down, circle them, and connect them back to the word or phrase that gave birth to those associations. When something new strikes you, begin again at comfort and create a new string of associations. Create a mind map of all the ideas that the word comfort brings to mind. Don’t stop until you fill the page up with a web of associations.
Without pausing, turn to a new sheet of paper. Write the word “self-nurturing” in the middle of this page. Circle it. Now fill the page with clusters of associations for self-nurturing. Keep your hand moving – flow with it.
When you are finished, read both pages. What patterns can you see? What are the differences between comfort and self-nurturing for you? Is one more active than the other? Does one involve people and the other being alone? Does one reflect things that aren’t so healthy, like shopping or trainloads of chocolate? Forget judging what you find and simply view what you read as new, useful information.
Try a Comfort Cluster with these pairs of words: Deserving and deserve, asking and receiving, soul and spirit, discipline and compassion, surrender and obey.
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Comforting Resources
Across the top of a journal page, write three to six of your most common moods. You may need to observe yourself for a few days to name your moods. Underneath each mood, record a mood shifter, something you can do, read, listen to, watch, or someone you can reach out to that helps you shift or expand your mood in a positive, healthy way.
For example:
Irritated
Sniff lavender essential oil
Take off my shoes and walk in the grass
Overwhelmed
Make a list of what is making me anxious
Ask someone for one specific act of help
Dance to music by Cesarea Evora
Do 3 yoga sun salutations
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A Spiritual Check-in
Begin by breathing in slowly while counting to five and then breathing out slowly for five counts. Record your responses to these questions:
What am I yearning for in my relationship to the Divine?
What is missing in this relationship?
What is present and good?
What limits do I put on my relationship with the Divine?
What am I not willing to accept or be open to when exploring my spiritual path?
What does being spiritual mean? What does having a spiritual practice mean?
I hope you will find these journaling ideas helpful and that they lead to increased clarity and a fuller, more loving existence.