Personification is a word that means to give human traits, such as feelings, thoughts and behaviors, to a non-human thing. Oftentimes we do this when we see objects that we can identify as possibly having feelings or as resembling humans, such as stuffed animals or dolls, and to a degree we do this with animals and pets, where we give them human traits. For example, if you get into your car on a cold day and it won’t start you may begin to talk to your car as if it will react to you things like “Come on, you can do it, just start and we’ll be on our way.”

Look at an emotion that you struggle with, such as anxiety, depression , self doubt, overwhelm, or any other. Give your emotion a name and a personality, beyond that of which it is, and create a story around your emotion. Maybe a day in the life of Joe, aka My Anxiety. Talk about how Joe goes through his day and the types of things Joe does or thinks about and how his behavior effects you, his host. The good, the bad, and the ugly, tell a good tale about your version of Joe and what types of shenanigans he creates.

Next, take Joe and talk about putting Joe out of commission for a bit. I want you to stand up to Joe and tell him what you really think about him. Talk about the direct impact Joe has on your life and all the things you’ve had to navigate as a direct result of nasty old Joe. Tell Joe that despite the fact that sometimes he may have a place in your life, you will be working hard to create a boundary for Joe so that his place is not front and center. Put Joe in the naughty corner, banish him outright, or maybe just agree to disagree with him as long as he isn’t the main focus of your experience this upcoming year. However you want to stand up to Joe, I want to hear all about it. We can’t always control our emotions and we don’t always have a say in the things we struggle with, but we can create an intentional view towards some of them to help us stay present when those feelings creep in and try to ruin our day.

After you try this, write a bit about the process and how you approached it. Were you able to see the silly side of this or were you able to focus and be very serious about it?

This journal prompt is also a mindfulness practice that I’ve done many times over the years with people and in general it’s a good one to practice, especially this time of year when we might be feeling a bit chaotic and saturated with all of our responsibilities. It’s called Kind Thoughts. The goal is to try and do this practice maybe 2-3 times during the week and then journal about your experience. If you want to journal before trying it and then again afterwards, that’s a great idea too. Do whatever works for you.

Sit on the floor or a chair in a comfortable position and close your eyes. Pretend in your mind that someone you care about very much walks into the room and sits right next to you. Notice what it feels like to sit with this person and how they make you feel. Let's send this person some good wishes and kind thoughts. Let's send them happiness, health, safety, and kindness. How does it feel to send these wishes to this person? Was it easy to do or hard to do?

Now let's imagine in our mind that someone who we find a little bit annoying or frustrating walks into the room and sits next to you. Notice what it feels like to sit with this person and how they make you feel. Let's send this person some good wishes and kind thoughts. Let's send them happiness, health, safety, and kindness. How does it feel to send these wishes to this person? Was it easy to do or hard to do? Was it different when it was someone we didn’t feel as positively about?

Now let's imagine in our mind that we are sitting in front of a mirror. Imagine opening your eyes and looking at yourself in the mirror. Notice what it feels like to sit with yourself and how you feel about yourself. Let's send ourselves some good wishes and kind thoughts. Let’s send happiness, health, safety, and kindness. How does it feel to send these wishes to ourselves? Was it easy or hard to do? Was it different than when it was to someone else?

Notice how you feel after sending all these wishes out and take a few deep breaths and then gently open your eyes.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be peaceful.

May you be safe.