A Month of Journal Prompts for a More Creative Life
With the arrival of Spring what might be awakening, creatively, in you?
Hi there,
Now that March, and with that Spring (well almost), is here this month’s Journal Prompts are designed to explore what’s awakening in you, particularly with your Creativity in mind.
By just choosing to be on Substack, I’m guessing that you are in some way in dialogue with your Creativity, and I’m also guessing that for some of you that can bring up some interesting beliefs, maybe even some emotional baggage.
Beliefs you might hold
You may be thinking: “I don’t have the time” / “I’m not talented enough” / “Being creative is an indulgence (if it’s not serving x).”
You might be finding that how you value your Creativity is connected to how you value yourself: it can be inextricably linked to how we do or don’t allow ourselves to take up space, whether that's in physical or in more intangible ways. Some people can struggle with the idea that their Creative needs matter. We tend to put them aside, or make them smaller.
We can often bring our beliefs about perfection / imperfection to any creative space. Our expectations of Creativity are held to such high-standards that we can struggle to meet them and this can go hand in hand with an idea of failing.
Through these prompts you’ll get to see how you can shift these thoughts and beliefs to something that allows for more spaciousness, maybe even more play.
Emotions you might experience
There can also be a whole range of emotions that can come with our Creativity:
Often that’s in the form of fear and self-doubt. The fear to create, that we’re not really the ‘creative person’ we believe ourselves to be. Fear in the form of that teacher’s voice who told us we weren’t talented enough and that we should give it all up before we found that out for ourselves (for this Archetype see the brilliant Dan Levy in Sex Education).
We’re afraid to put words on the page in case they are derivative. We’re afraid our words aren’t those of Elizabeth Gilbert. Comparison often shows up in our creative lives, and sometimes we need to work on turning dampening-jealousy to reviving- admiration.
And then when we do make something that we’re proud of, that holds meaning in our own eyes, we’re afraid to share it (that might be particularly the case here as your beloved words stay in draft form). When we do we feel exposed, and vulnerable to judgment, then doubt can replace pride, and a fear of rejection replaces our own need for validation.
But Creativity can also bring excitement as you’re immersed in the process of writing, there’s a sense of energy in the moments when it’s sparking. You’re in a state of flow, time runs away from you. You don't even notice that it's been two hours but it feels like it's been five minutes. Life makes sense again. This is when Creativity gets to be your happy place, there’s joy and happiness to be had here.
There can also be feelings of connection, as you send your words out and someone comes back with the thrill of “me too” or “that helped me today.”
Creativity can also bring the need for courage: I truly believe that it can be an act of bravery to take out pens and paper, or most likely open a new document on your laptop and start typing, particularly if you’ve left writing behind long ago.
There’s another C that Creativity often needs and that’s compassion: to hold ourselves with kindness as we explore what our writing is to us.
Some of these Journal Prompts may help you better understand these tender emotional parts, while supporting you in accessing more positive feelings that can come with Creativity.
Use these Journal Prompts to explore how you experience Creativity, to build confidence around your practices, and to bring more curiosity to how it shows up in your life. You’ll also see how and if your Creativity is connected to your mental and emotional wellbeing.
So now winter is loosening its hold on us, explore what spring can bring for you and what you are ready to awaken in your life, whether that’s your Creative practice or something else equally as enlivening.
Here are Your month of Journal Prompts for Everyday Life.
Just a note on how to use these:
These Journal prompts are designed to build your awareness, connect into yourself and increase your confidence around what you value. There is so much that goes into our days, we can find it impossible to take any time for ourselves.
I encourage you to sit with these and to abandon all self-judgment as you answer them.
I often hear from people that they're worried about writing down the wrong answers. But there are no wrong answers. This is about you and the page. You don't need to be a great writer. You don't need to find the best words. You don't need to find the most appropriate words.
It's just about getting down how you think or feel about something.
Sometimes it's even about noticing any resistance that comes with a question. You might hate a question; it brings something up in you or you just don't want to go there.
See where these take you, and have some fun with them. Maybe you don’t want to write in response to them, so draw, paint or play with some other medium too. Get creative in what you do with them.
And come write with me… details below for how you can make time for your Creativity by joining this month’s Co-Journaling session. See you there.
Co-Journaling
This month’s Co-Journaling meet-up for members of The Wellery will be Thursday 14th March at noon London time:
If you’re not a member of The Wellery you can join by upgrading. You’ll also get access to pop-up office hours where you can bring anything that came up for you from these questions. A coffee a month basically gets you a year of support through your everyday, and creative, life.
Also (new this month - tell me if there are helpful) members will get these prompts in thematically arranged list form.
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