Weekly prompts to help you think a little harder, write a little longer, and have a bit of fun in your journal. I provide the prompt and then a bit of discussion afterward to help you think beyond the prompt.
How To Use Weekly Prompts
Using weekly prompts can be as simple or as difficult as you would like. I do not use one every day, and sometimes I use several from the weekly prompts list at one time. Over time, I have learned that too simple doesn’t work for me. I like to push the question around in my mind, look at it from a couple of different perspectives, and see what comes out.
Imagine, if you will, the prompt as a unique piece of artwork. Put that piece of artwork on a pedestal and then move around it. Look from side to side, high to low, and anything between. I want it to speak to me, give me thoughts, and guide my thoughts into a deeper understanding.
In all seriousness, I do study the question. I don’t spend hours on it and sometimes not even minutes. A few seconds and a few pointed questions after. Generally, those questions begin with why. Why did the prompt spark that response? Does that matter to me, and why? Why did I choose that answer/point? My meanings and questions can be vastly different from yours. That’s okay! The prompts are supposed to spark YOUR thoughts and feelings.
Focus Quote
Writing is my way of expressing – and thereby eliminatings – all the various ways we can be wrong-headed.
Zadie Smith
Being wrong-headed is something that can happen to any of us. Our fears, inadequacies, expectations, hopes, dreams, and realities can sometimes collide into a tidal wave of misfiring signals in the brain. We may make decisions that just make no sense. And if you let your desires get involved, good grief, the tsunami is real.
I may be the only one that this happens to. It’s entirely too possible that my understanding of this quote is driving my head space today.
This overwhelming flood of thoughts is where journaling helps me at times. Writing these things down and following the disorder in my brain is my attempt at sanity. I can’t count how many times I’ve asked myself, ‘But what was your reasoning?’. The answers aren’t always clear. Things happen in our lives and we may question why it is happening. I know my dad firmly believed everything happens as it’s meant to. It’s as simple as that. I am where I am now because I was meant to be here. I am experiencing things because I was meant to.
Weekly Inspiration
Art Journaling
A simple use of paint, paper, and words.
‘I knew what I wrote was real when it scared me to write it.’ Powerful words any writer will understand.
Art Journaling
‘There’s a storm raging in my mind – and rain pouring from my eyes.’
Art Journaling
I love the doodled artwork over paper.
‘What a privilege it was to matter to you – Beau Taplin
The images that I choose for inspiration are not about the links. They are solely about the images and what they represent. I love seeing other people’s journals. I love the inspiration that hits me to go write in my own. Sometimes, that inspiration leads me to try something I have seen on their pages. Mostly, it just inspires me to write!
Weekly Prompts
55.01 Do you have a part of yourself that you keep hidden away from the world?
Have you ever opened up and let someone see that part of you? What happened? There is a massive part of me that stays beneath the surface. I am a mom and wife first; the rest of me must take a second seat. As I’ve gotten older, it goes farther and farther to the back of the bus.
55.02 What was the best part of your day?
My days have so many parts. It is usually easy to choose the best, but lately, I’ve had a lot of parts that fall into that best category, like finding out Mark does not have cancer or spending time with a friend. I’ve also had lots fall into the opposite, like watching my kid fight the flu or facing my inadequacies repeatedly. Regardless, there is always the best part, no matter the highs and lows of any given day. Find yours and write about it.
55.03 Who made you laugh the hardest this week?
Laughing is something that happens in our family often. My kid was mid-vomit and declared she had the plague. Quips and comedy are just part of our lives. I have had so many ‘laugh until you cry’ moments this week that I had to write about several.
55.04 Do you like big romantic gestures?
The marry me sign in the sky or a simple proposal at home? A dozen roses or a handful of wildflowers? The best flowers I ever received was an impromptu stop on the side of the road; he jumped out (without putting the car in park!) and picked me Indian paintbrushes from the ditch. It’s truly the small things that get me the most.
55.05 What is the best thing someone has ever said to you?
My husband is a man of few words. Unfortunately, those few words most often come out wrong. It’s so bad it’s a known joke in our family. But this week, he said something so precious that I made him stop speaking so I could keep it lol. Describe your moment and what it meant to you. Tell about the person who said it and what part they play or played in your life.
55.06 What has been the soundtrack to your life this week?
Are you a music fan? Do your moods have playlists? You may have playlists for certain people. How many ways can we think of to organize our music? I’ve been listening to Teddy Swims this week; that low, bluesy voice makes me want to add him to all of my playlists, whether it fits or not!
55.07 Word of the week: Abecedarian.
Look it up, write it down, and use it in a sentence. I have a love for the abecedarian sequence.
I hope these weekly prompts inspire you to think harder, dig deeper, and write a little longer this week. Looking for more prompts? Check out the Divergent Dialogues category to see more weekly prompts, 31+ Fun Journaling Prompts, or head on over to my Pinterest board!
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Happy Journaling!
Sarah G.
