I like to think of my journal work lately as a playful approach to serious work.
Playfulness in journaling, for me, means colourful layouts, lots of free association in my prompts and writing, and following my curiosity and intuition wherever they lead.
The serious work is what happens along the way, including:
Knowing ourselves better.
Thinking, dreaming, and discovering what works and what doesn't.
Capturing important moments, figuring out what they mean, and taking purposeful action.
Connecting the good stuff out there to our everyday lives – so we can access it easily and often.
Seeing challenges and their solutions from new perspectives. (Because if we always reflect the same way, we'll always see the same things.)
Developing our voices so we can advocate for ourselves, others, and the issues we care about.
I've made three hand-lettered pages so far. (You might notice that they look a little different from my usual printables!)
Each page is filled with prompts and puzzles inspired by meaningful reflective practice. Some sections are quicker than others, but they all count.
I hope they'll show you that there are as many ways to reflect as there are words to reflect with!
I'm sharing the first page with you today and will follow up with the next two in future posts. Before I do, if you're wondering where they might fit in your day, here are a few thoughts.
When to use these pages:
When you want to journal but need a place to start.
When you're in a journal rut and want to shake up your practice a little.
When you need a quick pick-me-up in the midst of it all.
When you want to play with the words and ideas around you.
When you want to joyfully connect with the things that matter to you.
How to use them:
Just print and write. I keep my pages in my favourite binder. When it fills up, I move the older entries to bound folders.
If printing isn't an option, try typing or writing your reflections onto the page on your tablet or in your PDF reader.
When you have more to say about a prompt or when it leads to new ideas, you can write on the back of the page or start a new page in your notebook or note-taking app. But don't stop there! Share your ideas, follow up on your discoveries, and, where you can, delight in the serious work of embracing a full life with all its gifts and challenges.
If you'd like to play with this page, click here to download it now.*
Next time, I'll share more of my thinking behind this little project – including its title! Until then, I wish you oodles of colourful inspiration in your journaling!
* The pdf file includes two versions of this page (colourful and greyscale) and two page sizes (letter and A4).