It’s time to give these Journal Power posts a fresh viewpoint, after about a year of weekly entries. Thinking about how to change things up led me to the following.
Journal writing is most effective when it’s done regularly. Like any lifestyle norm, your daily journaling session becomes an important part of your overall consciousness. When practiced faithfully, journaling becomes more able to effect change in your life.
So I thought it would be useful to shape these journaling exercises to fit the one-a-day model.
We could start by focusing on the concept of Personal Power. Like this –
Wednesday: Explorations in power.
Zero in on what power is and what you believe it can do for you. Consider these prompts in your journal -
- For me, power is ____. Power is my mother’s wrath, a nuclear bomb, the confidence to ask for a raise. Look keenly at the ways your individual mind tends to interpret the concept of power.
- My personal power is _____. Describe its characteristics. Is it weak or strong, social or private, free-ranging or driven. How does it manifest? How do you tap into it?
Thursday: Longing.
The enemy of personal power is longing, the thirst for something that overpowers reason.
- What do I long for? What do I want with the greatest passion?
- Think about what it is to be thirsty. Write a short story in your journal around the theme of thirst.
Friday: Escape.
The attempt to balance power with longing probably leaves you wanting to escape the whole thing and slip into a faraway mindless dreamland. Moving away from the tension makes sense for your body, mind, and soul.
- Write about the way(s) you escape: the routes to escape you take on a daily basis as well as those you take weekly or monthly. You sip coffee every day to ease into the morning; you get a massage every few weeks to re-set your muscles.
- What are the benefits of escaping, and what are the dangers? Journal on these subjects so you are clear about your process.
Saturday: Passion.
Okay, enough of this being defensive and protecting your natural self. Sooner or later, you want to commit. You want with your whole being to dedicate to something, to dispense with caution and fight! Or dance, as the case may be.
- Identify your passion point(s). What do you care about, what can keep your attention for longer stretches than anything else? Describe it lovingly in your journal.
- Read over what you just wrote. What is it exactly that you love so much? What about You and your nature makes this object of your passion so appealing?
Sunday: Love.
Of course. Passion refined becomes love – a steadier, more sustainable emotional state than the wild excesses of passion. To keep things in perspective …
- Make a list of all the things you love. Or many of them, anyway. You love your wife, your easy chair, the view from the bridge, chocolate éclairs, science fiction.
- Write about ways that love on the one hand increases personal power, and on the other hand interferes with personal power.
Monday: Meaning.
What’s the point of focusing on your personal power? Where is all this leading?
- What is your personal mission at this point in life? What goals do you plan to achieve?
- Write an honest assessment of your current status. How close are you to attaining your goals?
Tuesday: Understanding.
Without self-love we are reduced to helplessness. Journaling is a direct way to balance mind and body and achieve a higher level of productive self-confidence.
- Looking back at Wednesday’s entry, compare your own personal power to your personal mission. Is there harmony or discord?
- Thinking positively, what next step might you take to increase or improve personal power? Make a specific plan.
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What do you think of this new structure, with prompts for each day of the coming week? I’d love to hear your comments!