besottment by paper relics

magnetic attraction analysis Journal Spread + Prompt

There are a few journaling prompts and/or exercises I like to do every now and then, and compare the results. It helps keep me grounded, and let's me see where my styles, thoughts and beliefs may have changed or grown. 

One of these exercises, from Danille LaPorte, is called Magnetic Attraction Analysis 101. In her post (click here to read it), she says, "One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is: What am I drawn to?"

I first did this exercise in 2009. I asked myself what am I drawn to, and then used images from magazines and catalogs to visually show what I am attracted to, and then followed it up by writing lists of what speaks to me and why. I recently came across the spread I had made (above) and decided it was time to do it again.

I used a smaller (moleskine vs. a hand-stitched journal in 2009) journal for my 2012 version (above) of what am I drawn to, but otherwise went about it the same way. I found images from magazines and catalogs that I was drawn too, and then listed out what I am attracted to, what resonates with me, etc. 

I then took at the spreads side by side. The one from 2009 is one of my favourite spreads, and this new one is as well. They are very similar in some ways, and I love that. Even the lists have a lot of the same things on them.

I need to try and do this yearly (rather then letting 4 years go by) - it is a great reminder of what I love, and can help me make better choices when I need to.

Why don't you give it a try! If you do - post a link to your finished spread in the comments so I can see!

To see another exercise I like to do every year, check out the guest post I did last fall for Carolyn Rubenstein - about Naming Your Petals (that came from Ali Edwards).

New Books With Journal Prompts

People are always asking me what to write about in their journals. If you are like me, I like to question myself and the world, and dig deep. So I am happy to share with you two new books that have recently been released that make for some deeper journaling prompts.

This I Know: Notes on Unraveling the Heart by Susannah Conway - I am only part way through but am enjoying it. Reading through lots of prompts come to mind, and certain sections leave you with questions to explore on your own.

The Fire Starter Sessions by Danielle Laporte is chock full of prompts, and you can even download the Workbook o' Fire directly on Danielle's site (it is a PDF with all the worksheets from the book). This book is easier to pull prompts from, and a great way to explore yourself.

I hope one of these books peaks your interest and helps you dig deep in your journaling!

Free Journaling Prompt Download Inspired by Tiny Buddha

One place I go to for great thought provoking blog posts is Tiny Buddha. One post recently really caught my attention and I thought it would make a great journaling prompt... so I started to work on it my journal, and then thought I should share with all of you. The post (which you can read by clicking HERE) is titled - 6 Powerful Questions That Will Change Your Life Forever and was authored by James McWhinney.

Anyway, I have taken the actual 6 questions and hand lettered them and made them into a PDF you can download and use to journal your answers. Just click on the sneak peek image below.

Before you do though, I strongly suggest reading the full blog post.

Enjoy!

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Just discovering be.prompted? Get caught up by clicking HERE

Well October sure got here fast! And with it another monthly journaling prompt. I do hope you will play along. Please note that my prompts, so far, seem to have quite a bit writing, but that does not mean you cannot create an artful spread in response to it.

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I recently took a creative writing class from Colleen Houck and we did an exercise of first lines. We also discussed cliff hanger chapter endings... both of these got me thinking, I have been playing around with story ideas in my head, but I also started thinking about the story of my life, the story I am living. These thoughts spurred the idea for this month's be.prompted.

Write a first line of your story (your life), something to grab the readers attention and want to know more. Next, write a chapter ending of where you are now, before what comes next - something that makes the reader (or even yourself) want to turn the page right away to see what happens.

My be.prompted.1 Journal Spread

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I just finished reading Dr. Brene Brown's book, The Gifts of Imperfection, (which I highly recommend) and came across an exercise that I wanted to try:

Create an Ingredients for Joy + Meaning List. List out specifics conditions that are in place when everything feels good in your life.

The last couple of weeks I have been working in a moleskine, not using much ephemera or tape, etc. I have been asking myself a lot of contemplative questions and find I have been doing a lot more writing then usual. Really it ebbs and flows, and I am already feeling the tide turning back to more artsy pages. Regardless, this be.prompted was done in the more writing mode.

I started this prompt out by stating what the prompt was, and then created a list of the things that on my ingredients and joy list. I actually started the spread on the left hand side, then moved to the right... come to think of it do this quite often. Once I had my list down, I played on the 'be.prompted" and summarized each list item (or in one case, 2 list items) in to an action - for example, 'be.true' and 'be.creative'. These I listed on the left hand side of the spread and elaborated on how I can work to get these things to be prominent in my life.

Did you have time to do the prompt? I would love to see your spread!

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I thought that it would be fun to start offering a monthly journal prompt - the beginning of each month, I will post a prompt, and then at some point in the month, show you what I did with it. And I would also love to see what you do with it as well. These prompts will be lighter (well, not as involved at least) then the ones you see in my e-courses, but still fun and thought provoking as well. Sometimes I will come up with them, or see them elsewhere and want to share them...

I am going to call it be.prompted and I do hope you will play along! I even created a flickr group (which at this time is empty) that can be filled with both my and your response spreads.

So, no better time to start then at the beginning of the month...

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I just finished reading Dr. Brene Brown's book, The Gifts of Imperfection, (which I highly recommend) and came across an exercise that I wanted to try:

Create an Ingredients for Joy + Meaning List. List out specifics conditions that are in place when everything feels good in your life.

Ready. Set. Go!