A Journaling Process I Use When I'm Stuck

I've talked about this before, but I feel like a lot of people who want to journal may be getting stuck because they are putting too much pressure on themselves to do it a certain way. Probably partly because they see how other people journal in social media post and all that jazz. I say just put pen to paper and go, but if you are really stuck and overwhelmed, there is a process that I sometimes use when I am feeling super stuck on what to write. 

Head on over to my Instagram to watch the IGTV video and find out what this process is!!

You can also download the free PDF that lists out these simple steps when you sign up for my newsletter!! The link is available in that IGTV video, and in the link in my bio!!

Happy Journaling, friends!! 

Journal July Challenge Wrap Up

Hello again everyone!! I'm trying to get better at regularly blogging and I'm going to be honest with you all, it is taking some getting used to. Today, I'm going to do a brief post about how the Journal July Challenge went.

For Me: 

For me, it went awesome!! lol I journaled every day in July. And for a couple of days into August. With my Journal June (where I journaled every day in June) I made it to I think 70 days straight of journaling. That is absolutely amazing!! And the most days I've ever journaled in a row. I missed the last couple of days but I'm not discouraged about this. It was more to form the habit and to see what benefits I could get from it. I'm going to pick my journal right back up tonight or tomorrow and get back to it. And that's part of the point here. It's okay not to journal every single day. The point of this was to try to get in the habit. But if you miss a day just pick it back up and put pen to paper the next. Just like if you miss one workout, you pick it up the next time. You don't give up. You also don't need to write these prolific journal entries. Don't make it scary. You can write three sentences. It is still journaling. Don't be scared of the process. Or be scared and do it anyway, this is for you. No one else.

The Actual Challenge: 

This did not go as well. I think I've said before that social media and blogging and all of that is not my strong suit. It's natural for me to just want to hole up and write my books. But I do want to connect with people who love books and writing. It's something I'm working on. At least I made the decision to put this together. One person even did some of the prompts. I count this as a small win. You have to add those wins up. I'll do it again next year and try to do it even better. Maybe share prompts on social media. Maybe I'll offer a new journal for those who post most about it. I don't know. I am new to this.

I want to hear your suggestions below. What would you like to see in this Journal July Challenge? I really want to know your thoughts and ideas so I can make next year's better. Please, let me know below!! And if you want 23 journal prompts, here is the original post.

Journal July Challenge!! #JournalJulyChallenge!!

I posted a little something about this to Instagram almost a week ago. (Yes, I'm on Instagram now. Have been for a little over a year. Here's my profile.) I'd been watching the YouTube channel Inky Leaves for a bit and was very into their journaling videos. In one video, Becky mentioned that she had been journaling for....I believe it was 180 consecutive days or something of the like. I thought that was am amazing idea but, even as an avid journaler, I was rather intimidated. So I decided that for June I would challenge myself to write every single day of the month. That was 30 days. Surely, I could do that. Well, turns out I did!! And I actually had journaled every day for the last week of May so I ended up with 36 days by the end of this challenge. And by then, it was really becoming ingrained into me as a habit. So after that, I decided I wanted to carry on this challenge into July. I kept this challenge to myself in June but I wanted to extend it to all of you in July!!

So here is my Journal July Challenge!!

It's quite simple. I challenge you all to journal 3 times a week for the rest of the month of July. That's 12 times for the rest of the month. Now, here's something important: do NOT stress about this challenge. I'm sharing it with you all because I love to journal and thought it would be cool to have a little challenge all together. If you don't journal three times a week, honestly, who cares?? What is the worse that can happen if you don't? The point is to TRY.

You can share posts on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, etc.) with the hashtag #JournalJulyChallenge . If you want to share it in your Instagram stories each day you do journal, that's great, too. You can just share posts or you can share pictures, posts and pictures etc. Your choice!! If you want to do short blog posts about it if you find benefits from it, that would be awesome. However you want to share, just tag the post #JournalJulyChallenge . And you can tag me in your posts if you like. I'll link my social media below. Before those, here are 23 prompts to help get you started if you need a little help getting started. Remember, no one else has to see it. It's your journal. It doesn't have to be "good". The handwriting can suck. You can write in sentences or bullet points or rhyme. Whatever. It can be ten pages or three or one or two lines!! Washi tape? Go for it! Not your thing. Leave it out! It's about trying and about how you want to try to journal. Play around and have fun!!

  23 Journal Prompts:

1. Introduce yourself to your journal.
2. Favorite hobbies and why.
3. Favorite books and why. (Top five if you can't narrow it down.)
4. Favorite song/music and why.
5. Favorite memory.
6. Tell your journal about your family.
7. Tell your journal about your best friends.
8. What did you want to be when you were a child?
9. Favorite film and why.
10. Favorite television show and why.
11. Your goals for the rest of the year.
12. Write a poem. (It doesn't have to be good!!)
13. Intentions for the day.
14. Write your dream day.
15. Ten biggest goals for your life.
16. Where do you most want to travel?
17. Write out one of your dreams.
18. List ten things you're grateful for. 
19. Copy down the lyrics to a favorite song.
20. Copy down a favorite poem.
21. List five favorite quotes.
22. Make a list of things you want to do this summer.
23. Write out some positive affirmations. 

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