Journal Prompt: Pandemic Reflections and Goal Setting

I read an article (several years ago now) that really resonated with me at the time and became one of those things that I’d ponder every so often and was frequently reminded of the ideas it made me consider. I thought one way I could continue to process the idea of setting goals or intentions or whatever you call them, would be to add a really good metaphor about how to give things up that no longer serve you.  So I recently reread this article and again it made me think about the changes everyone has navigated since the first time I read it. Not only did we have to make changes to our lives several years ago, we’ve continued to be forced to make changes every day since then.  At first I hesitated to share this piece because 1) it has bad language in it and I respect that not everyone is as chill about language as therapists may be and 2) because it’s wordy and flowery and exactly the kind of thing I enjoy reading but imposing my own likes on people I’m working with feels some kind of way, and 3) it’s about the pandemic and some people find that really hard to read about and would rather just move on.

Anyway, I am going counselor-rogue and opting to share it with you and I hope you will read it.  It is about the pandemic and one woman’s experience and although she has some parts to her story that may not feel completely familiar to you, as well as the fact that it was written a few years ago now, I think we can all identify with her bread issue.  As you read it, I hope you’ll get a sense that her bread can be a metaphor and may represent something completely different to you.  You know why she’s talking about bread because you were there for the pandemic’s start as well and saw (or participated in) the bread making, but in your own life, what was your bread?  What was the thing that stood out to you at first and became a symbol to you (and possibly only you) in regards to whether you were a “successful” pandemic person?  How do you feel about your bread looking back now several years later?  Have your opinions regarding your bread changed or do you view it differently now or are you still chasing your bread? Can you link this concept of your bread to the goals you set last week for yourself?  Read it and let me know, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Read it here.

Journal Prompt: Finding Personal Acceptance

The artwork that therapists keep in their offices is highly personal and often very thoughtfully placed. When I’m sitting in my office, right in front of me is a piece of art that I put up that has a quote on it that resonates with me in terms of how I view my clients and what I hope for them.  Maybe it resonates with you as well.  It’s a quote by Dodinsky that says:

“May you fall into your own arms. May you speak the words you need to hear. May you have gratitude with each breath. May you build your dreams with faith. May you embrace your soul with kindness. May you bring wisdom from your past. May you choose peace instead of anger. May you see the light in your darkest night. May you stumble upon yourself when lost. May you uncover courage beneath these fears. May you accept mistakes with humility. May you practice forgiveness to heal wounds. May you see the beauty of your imperfections. May you find love within your own heart.”   - Dodinsky

Reading through that, is there one part that really speaks to you?  Or do you think you can find a way to incorporate one part into each of your days?  Maybe it could be a goal of yours to journal or reflect on at least one sentence from that weekly or even daily (if you’re feeling ambitious).  As you go through the time between now and our next session, I want you to try and take at least one sentence from there and reflect on it and then write how it impacted your week or day.  Think about whether that sentence is something you chose because it is something that is so prevalent in your life or maybe because it is something that is missing and you need to incorporate it into your experience in a more deliberate way.  And then write a little bit about your thoughts.

Journal Prompt: How Can Journaling Help Your Anxiety?

I have been working with people who have experienced trauma in my private practice for many years now and one thing I’ve said more times than I can count (and you may have even experienced me saying this yourself if you’ve seen me for therapy) is that you don’t have to tell me what happened to you.  I have no interest in re-traumatizing people by making them share their worst experiences with me, who in almost every way, is an anonymous stranger to you.  What I do often ask people to share is how their traumas make them feel in the here and now.  How are you experiencing the event today?  What is happening in your body and in your mind today based on what happened to you then? What did those experiences do to you and how do they frame your thoughts now and during previous moments in your life, whether those were positive or negative moments.

That being said, I love what Ernest Hemingway said when he said “Write hard and clear about what hurts”.  Journaling is an amazing way to get some of those thoughts out of your head so that you can physically and emotionally “put them down” for a bit now and then.  Carrying everything around all day everyday is heavy.  Therapy is a way to put down the weight for a bit, journaling helps you put down the weight indefinitely.

Regardless of whether you feel you experienced a traumatic experience in your life, we all have moments in our past during which we struggled.  Things happen to all of us, none of us come out of this life completely unscathed. Choose a moment in the past, keeping that moment in mind, and taking your current mood into account, complete the following statement.  “I find myself repeating this thought over and over in my head today…”  

Write about the thoughts that circle through your mind over and over and how they may in some part be in reaction to a trauma or to something we struggled with. Can you find a connection between what you focus on now and what happened to you then? And then write about how these thoughts may not even be true or based in reality, in the sense that they don’t align with who we may be today, they simply align with the concept of pain we previously experienced.  Be thoughtful and mindful with yourself and if this journaling prompt is too much, then maybe leave it for another day.  

Also, journaling can be done by writing in a journal.  But it can also be typed in your notes app, texted to yourself, drawn, bullet points and phrases rather than full sentences.  It doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s version of a journal, do whatever works for you.