Table of Contents
Are you looking for easy journal ideas? Do you like the idea of journaling but need help figuring out where to start? Journaling is an excellent tool for self-discovery, stress reduction, and self-awareness. It’s a way to express pent-up creativity and thoughts in your head that haven’t found a place to fit in your reality yet. BUT WHAT DO YOU WRITE ABOUT? We’ve got some easy journal ideas to get you started. But first, let’s get some stuff out of the way.
What Journaling Is And What It Isn’t.
Often, a junior high teacher messed up journaling for us, or someone who told us we couldn’t write. First, disregard any grown-up who told your young self that you weren’t good enough to do…anything. They were wrong, and we don’t care what the topic was.
But regardless, journaling is not the same as writing a novel or a paper. JOURNALING IS JUST GETTING WHAT IS INSIDE OF YOUR HEAD, OUTSIDE OF YOUR HEAD. The purpose is not to entertain anyone or to educate anyone on anything. Journaling aims to get your thoughts and feelings out of the tangled ball of string you call a mind. Then, get it down on the page so you can see what is bouncing around inside you.
There is a difference between a journal and a log. If you were keeping a food log, you would write down all your food. If you owned a workout log, you would write about every part of your gym time. But your journal isn’t like the “Captain Log” on Star Trek. You don’t have to trudge through every mundane thing that happened today. 7 Clear and Easy Steps When You Feel Stuck In Life
Write about things that were interesting, thought-provoking, or a game changer. Other than that, you don’t have to report anything to anyone. Journaling is all about expressing yourself, not logging data.
Think Of It As A Little Conversation With Yourself.
Journaling is like a little coffee date conversation with yourself. Once thoughts are on the page, it isn’t wadded up in your mind anymore. You can also look at what you found objectively and more clearly. This will lead to less anxiousness and more clear thinking. Journaling will create less self-consciousness and more self-awareness.
Journaling doesn’t have to be in paragraph form. It can be in bullet points. It doesn’t even have to be in whole sentences. It can be in doodles with words written around it. There are no rules for what you write, how much you write, or what it looks like. Just express yourself; however, it shows up.
Don’t worry about whether it will make sense to anyone else. Don’t worry about if you got all your dates and details correct. Just write about what it looked and felt like to you. Don’t worry about what anyone else will think. No one else will see this unless you share it with them. 7 Clear and Easy Steps When You Feel Stuck In Life
Little Things To Make Journaling Something You Look Forward To.
Journaling isn’t a school assignment or a writing class. So, do your writing where it feels good to write. If you have a favorite chair by the window that you share with the cat, write there. If you love your back porch with your swing and a cup of coffee, that is now your writing place.
You can be as organized or as organized chaos as you choose to be with journaling. Just create a scenario that you will look forward to. Maybe you won’t do it every day. That’s ok but do it regularly.
If You Want To Make Journaling A Habit, Make It Fun.
There are as many kinds of journals as there are reasons to journal, so pick something fun for you. You can find handmade journals online or at craft fairs. You can buy a sketchbook or something that looks like a bound classic volume of literature at hobby stores.
Any of those stores whose name starts or ends with the word “Dollar” usually have some quirky, colorful, inexpensive options. Then there is the old fashion notebook and paper. If you like typing instead of writing, you can do that too. There are all sorts of apps and programs. Anything you can type in, you can journal in.
If you are going to write (our favorite), get a really good pen that feels like butter on the paper. Get colorful pens to write with and doodle in the margins. Draw a circle, a swirl, or a wave and write along its line.
Get stickers or cut pictures out of magazines. Place them haphazardly on your page and write around that. This is your place to express yourself, so whatever feels right is right.
Make It Meaningful. Make It Express The Real You, But Don’t Make Journaling Hard.
You can play with any of these ideas, but the key word is “Play.” Remember that journaling isn’t a writing assignment. It’s not to please or impress anyone else. The only purpose for journaling is to give yourself a quiet place to have a conversation with you. 7 Clear and Easy Steps When You Feel Stuck In Life
So don’t make journaling hard. Get crazy, get deep, get serious, or get whimsical. Make it pretty (to you), make it neat, make it messy, make it express the real you. But don’t make it complicated.
But What Do I Journal About?
This is usually the big question everyone asks. You write about whatever is on your mind, whatever that is. Whatever has rolled around in your brain all day is what you journal about. The ongoing question behind your eyelids that won’t go away…journal about that.
We could give you 100 journaling topics and questions. But let’s just start with a few. These are good questions, good things to know about yourself, and easy journal ideas to get you started. We will also give you some explanations and examples to help make easy journal ideas even more effortless. Here we go!
Easy Journal Ideas For You #1: 100 Things That Make Me Smile.
You probably make lists daily, so this is a great place to start. It’s just an easy list. But it’s also a handy list. It will help you know what things bring joy to your life. It will also call to your attention things that could be added to your day to make it nicer or what might make you feel better on a down day.
This journal list will definitely connect you to the authentic you. We both do this list every few months just because it is a fun mood enhancer. But also because it’s a pleasant check-in to see if you are surrounding yourself with the things that matter to you and express the real you.
Some things on our list are chocolate, coffee in bed, sprinkles, sparkles, bubbles, pink fingernails, new lipstick, new colored pens, really good paper, kitty snuggles, and dandelion fluffies. You can put big, serious things on your list, but don’t forget the sweet little things that just make you…smile.
Easy Journal Ideas For You #2: How Would I Spend My Day If I Lived A Life That Genuinely Expressed Who I Am And What I Care About?
What would your day consist of if your life was about the real you, and what has meaning to you? We are guessing it would be more than Facebook, errands, and chores. Maybe it would be about creating or working on a project you are really excited about. Perhaps you would spend time in nature and people you don’t have to edit yourself around. How would you spend your day? 7 Clear and Easy Steps When You Feel Stuck In Life
Easy Journal Ideas For You #3: What Is Something In My Past That Seemed Like A Mistake Or A Setback, But Looking Back, I Can See The Good That Came Out Of It?
We all have boo-boos in our past. We’ve all made mistakes and missteps. But look back in your archives. Is there anything that seemed like a significant “Oops!” at the time. However, you can now see the good in it? Maybe that mess-up started you on a different path. Perhaps you wouldn’t have something you really value now had it not been for that first weird choice. Think about it and start writing.
Easy Journal Ideas For You #4: What Is Something I Talk About Wanting To Have Or Do, But If I Were Honest With Myself, I Like Thinking About It More Than Actually Having It?
We’ve all got these things in our heads. We like to think about, talk about, and read books about these things. But when it comes to actually doing it…not so much. The big news is you don’t have to do everything you think about. Some things are just fun to think about because you like to think about them. What is the thing that you really like keeping as a daydream instead of an experience?
Easy Journal Ideas For You #5: What Would You Hope They Would Say If You Overheard Friends, Family, Or Coworkers Talking About You Fondly?
We aren’t talking about compliments here. This question asks, who do you want to be? What do you hope people think about when they think of you? This question also isn’t about other’s opinions. It’s about what you hope to have left behind in other’s life and memory banks.
Easy Journal Ideas For You #6: What Are Three Things You Would Do If You Weren’t Afraid Or Worried About Failure, The Cost, Or What Anyone Would Think About It?
We all have things that we would love to do, but fear, worry, and believed limitations hold us back. So, let’s pretend. What would you do if you weren’t afraid or worried? What would you start if you knew you had the resources and had everyone you cared about’s support? See what part of the real you might show up if you let them come out and play. 7 Clear and Easy Steps When You Feel Stuck In Life
Easy Journal Ideas For #7: Besides Necessities Like Air, Water, Food, And Shelter, What Ten Things Do I Need In My Life To Feel Happy And Whole?
Lists are always easy journal ideas. This is a big, meaningful, real you kind of list. We all need things in our life for it to feel like it’s really our life. If you give it some thought there are more things than you think that make up a happy life for you. What makes you feel like the real you? Some examples might be music, nature, family, love, creativity, learning, travel, animals, sunshine, and the ocean. The examples are endless. What’s your list?
So There’s Everything You Need To Get Started With Easy Journal Ideas.
Journaling will change your world by changing how you see the world. There is an authentic you just waiting to tell you all they know. Go for it! We know you’ve got this, and your real and authentic self has so much to say and has waited a long time to talk to you.
Pixi-Pebbles…For Using Easy Journal Ideas To Find Your Real And Authentic Self…
Pixi Pebbles are songs, quotes, videos, interviews, movie references, and books that we each personally pick for you.
We’ve used these little Pixi-Pebbles to move ourselves from a feeling we’re not enjoying very much…to a feeling that helps us discover our vision of intention, awareness, and direction.
They lead us to hope, possibilities, and a fire under our butt to live life by design instead of default.
In our blog, Use These 7 Easy Journal Ideas To Finally Find The Real And Authentic You, these are the Pixi-Pebbles that came to mind.
Just a little inspiration to get you from here to there.
We are using one of our very own creations this time around… The Real You Video. We hope it inspires you to keep journaling, keep seeking..keep going to discover the real you and then live that reality. Click Here To Check Out The Real You Video.
