Journaling Prompts

Set aside a significant portion of time to journal. Play some peaceful instrumental music in the background if you would like. Read this list of questions and choose one or two that seem “alive” for you. We have grouped these questions into categories but feel free to choose questions from different categories. Receive the questions and live with them, knowing that an answer may not come easily or quickly. Be willing to live with some ambiguity and uncertainty and see what happens over time. 

Purpose and Meaning
What is my calling in life? Am I living it? Have I run from it? Do I truly wish to find it?
How can I bring the gift of myself to the world?
What is a metaphor of my life?

Relationships with God, self, and others
How have I experienced God moving within me or within my life?
What images of God mean the most to me? What are the many meanings of these images?
What and who do I call beloved? Why?
Who and what have I forsaken? Do I know why?
What is home? Where am I at home? With whom am I home? How do I create home for myself and others?

Core Values
How can I live with gratitude? What five things am I grateful for today? How do they enrich my life and the lives of others?
How do I practice compassion?
What brings me peace? How can I find peace within me and in my relationships?

Daily Life
When am I too busy to breathe?
How can I be content with whatever I have, wherever I am, whatever I am doing?
How have I quieted or deadened the song of my life? How can I bring it to life?

Grief and Loss
What loss have I endured that still lives in me? What emotions rise up within me as I think about this loss? What needs do I have today in relation to this loss? How can I mourn this loss? Where do I see God in the midst of this loss? 

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Journaling the Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.

Pray the prayer multiple times, savoring the words and letting them find their place inside of you. Reflect on these thoughts in your journaling:

What are the things that I cannot change in my life that
I need to simply accept and give to God?
What are those things that I can change if given the courage?
Where can I find the wisdom to know the difference?