women’s journaling group

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June workshop: It was a time when . . .

 

Sweet friend~

I’m preparing for the upcoming June 14 workshop by looking back at my stepping-stones journal entries. The instructions said:

  • Imagine your life as a stream that you have to cross.

  • Imagine you are standing on one bank, and you need to get to the other side.

  • You see several stones in the stream. You cannot step on each one of them.

  • You will only choose to step on the stones that feel right for you.

Which stones did you select? The flat and large stones that made you feel secure? Or ones that were pointed and jagged and made you feel excitement? Or the cool-looking rocks that had some slippery bits?

These are your stepping stones, the moments in your life when you felt “things will never be the same again.” They are the places you paused. They are the events that influenced who you are today.

Kathleen Adams in Journal to the Self writes “They are simply the markings that are significant to us as we reconstruct the movement of our life” from its beginning to this present moment.

As I reread my stepping-stones list, I recall how I became the person I am today. I can see a path of moments (for me, they were moments of crying with family members) that made me the gentle warrior I am today—a regulated, restored, blooming being. The list helps me imagine a future with my son where crying is normalized and not shunned or despised. I revisit these scenes from my life not out of shame anymore, but as evidence that I was processing, I was living consciously, I was learning how to understand how my body spoke to me.

Next circle at Maggie’s place

DIY Journaling Tools

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Two of my classmates at The Center for Journal Therapy love to share journaling prompts, so I’m delighted to share them with you:

  • “K” at Pen Light (a poetry friend) has created a booklet of prompts to “Write Away Stress”—one prompt a day for a month. Comment on her IG post to get her booklet.

  • Jennifer at Journal Your Path (and my birthmark buddy) has free content on Substack, and lots of journaling goodies, including prompts for spring cleaning, prompts based on inspirational quotes, and “What’s Your Birthmark?”—prompts to embrace your differences and unique identity.

If you feel safe doing so, expand your journaling practice by trying these prompts on your own!

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What Happens at a Women’s Journaling Group?

Maybe you are wondering what to expect when you come together to journal with other women. You think: Will I have to share? Will I get writer’s block? Can I make a new friend? Do I have to bring my own paper and pen? Will it be like writing an essay in high school (the time where I procrastinated until hours before the deadline)?

Trying to describe the magic that happens when women get together to journal together is difficult, but I will do my best:

First, we get cozy with each other. We break the ice. We talk in a circle. We “show and tell” our lives.

You should bring your favorite pen and notebook. 

We move on to journaling warm-ups together (2-5 minutes) to release our nerves and whatever has built-up in our brainbodies for that day already.

Then we write for longer stretches (maybe 7 – 15 minutes) to uncover something a little deeper about ourselves.

Sometimes, we learn a new journaling tool to add to our toolkit (e.g., the time capsule tool; the captured moment tool).

Then we share. If you want to read your writing, you can. If you want to keep it close to your heart, that is perfect too.

Either way, you will feel the power of journaling together. You will feel seen and heard. I don’t know if it’s the sound of the pens scribbling together, or hearing your story in the story of another woman, or just being intentional about doing something good for ourselves, but a powerful alchemy swirls once the writing happens!

After a natural pause of sharing, we close the circle.

We take the feelings of connection and belonging with us.

We end by sharing a drink or meal. We take the newfound self-knowledge with us into our everyday lives. We give thanks for doing it with other women who supported us, even if it were for that brief hour or so together.