5 Journal Prompts To Help You Let Go Of What’s Holding You Back
letting go
The following journal prompts are from my upcoming book, Write Your Life. Use them any time you need to be alone with the page and work through something specific, or as prompts for your Morning Pages.
1. WHAT ARE YOU HOLDING ON TO THAT YOU DON’T EVEN WANT ANYMORE?
In my opinion, keeping clutter and unnecessary stuff in our space inhibits and distorts our creative expression. Who would you be without all this stuff? What if your creativity had more space to breathe? Think about the clothes you constantly push back and forth in your closet but never want to wear. The mugs or dishes in your cupboards you never want to use. Old make-up, college textbooks, expired condiments in your fridge, those bins in your storage closet that you haven’t looked at in years, yet every time you see them, your body contracts because you know they’re just taking up space. Make a list of literally everything that comes to mind. Then, commit to removing those items from your house one by one. If you need a little added motivation, think of the charities that will financially benefit from you dropping them off at your local thrift store.
2. WHAT WOULD YOUR LIFE LOOK LIKE IF IT WAS EASIER?
Imagine your life as a perfectly efficient machine. Really take a moment to visualize this. Now, imagine your current life. What’s going on that’s completely unnecessary and actually getting in the way of your purpose, your art, and the way you’re actually meant to live? What moving parts can you remove so that your life runs smoother?
3. WHAT SMALL DECISIONS CAN YOU REMOVE FROM YOUR DAY-TO-DAY TO AVOID DECISION FATIGUE?
Decisions take energy. Creative energy, which I personally prefer to use more purposefully for things that actually count long term, like writing books. Make a list of micro decisions you can remove from your day-to-day life to use that creative energy elsewhere. For me, this looks like having an ultra-simple wardrobe and wearing more or less the same thing every day. Setting my bills to auto-pay. And stocking up on easy-to-make meals I know I can eat day after day.
4. IS THERE ANYTHING THAT’S ABRUPTLY ENDING?
Describe the ending that’s taking place. How do you feel about it? Are you scared? Does it feel like it’s coming out of left field? Is this ending actually the obscure answer to a prayer you’ve been asking for? Trust the endings in your life. There is a season for everything under the sun, as the bible says. When we resist endings, we resist the natural order of things.
5. Write about the new beginning that’s in front of you
How would it feel in your soul if you told this story differently? Look at your situation through new eyes. What’s starting? Get more inspired by the beginning rather than confused about the end, and let that pull you forward.
ABOUT the author
Taiha Lee is the indie author of Waking Up and has been writing Morning Pages for 15 years. She is passionate about teaching women how to develop a personal relationship with God through daily writing and prayer and has written with women worldwide. She lives by the sea with her husband in the Pacific Northwest on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
You can find her book Waking Up here.