Refresh with Dawn Herring: #JournalChat Live Facebook Group Event with special guests, Naomi Arnold, Vicki Taylor and Rafranz Davis; Your Journaling: Life Intentions (Align Your Day) Part I

Dawn Herring

Welcome to DAY TWO of our three day ‪#‎JournalChat‬ Live Facebook Group Event featuring our journaling panel, Naomi Arnold, Vicki M. Taylorand Rafranz Davis. Today we will focus on Naomi's article, 7 Journal Writing Prompts for Beginners, which, to me, are really 7 Intentions to write about in our journals. And they are good ones at that!
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7 Journal Writing Prompts for Beginners

I encourage you to go out and buy yourself a beautiful notebook or journal and get started using the above prompts as a guide. You'll find that over time you will organically discover a journal practice that suits you and will no longer need to...

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Naomi Arnold Thank you so much again for having me Dawn. The last couple of chats have been so much fun - and I look forward to seeing what inspiration hits today.

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Dawn Herring Great to have you back as special guest, featured especially today, Naomi. I simply loved what you shared in your article. Intentional indeed!

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Vicki M. Taylor Welcome Naomi. You have do much to offer

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Dawn Herring Welcome back, Vicki, as our special guest!! Loved your visuals from yesterday.

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Naomi Arnold Naww thanks so much Dawn and Vicki

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Carter Matthews hi.

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Naomi Arnold Hi Carter! So awesome to see your name pop up again!

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Dawn Herring

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As we take a closer look at Naomi 's article, we will see how each Intention (or prompt) is a way to Align Our Day.

So, our Discussion Questions are toward that goal:

How can we stay more regular with our journaling practice?
How can having intentions for our day make a difference?
When we record in our journals how we intend to do our day, does it help us fulfill what we intend more readily?

Dawn Herring

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Often keeping a journal practice going is a challenge to many. They find themselves without a purpose or they just don't feel inspired to write.

I stay regular with my journaling practice since I always have so much to record; all of my life dimensions are presented in ink, so I never run out of fodder.

Of course I do journal what I intend to do that day and why, often.

I believe when we journal our daily intentions, we can certainly be more productive as a result of setting them.

What do you think?

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Naomi Arnold I'm similar, Dawn. I find that using prompts can be a great way for those who struggle to be regular to be more consistent - these prompts can inspire you when you have journaling block. As for finding/making time... I think it depends on your personality really. For some people, making it a habit and part of their morning and/or evening ritual is key. Keeping it next to their bed and grabbing it (Instead of their phones! Keep your phone out of reach!) first thing in the morning works for many. Others carry their journal around with them at all times for when inspiration strikes. Some have 5-10 minute breaks in their work day to divulge. We are all different - it’s a matter of experimenting and seeing what works best for us.

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Naomi Arnold Oh and as you mentioned at the end, I definitely notice that I'm more productive when I journal. It brings a stillness and calm to you, more clarity and focus, and opens up the space for those gems of ideas to pop up

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Dawn Herring I so agree, Naomi. I feel after I've written my morning entry, that I'm set for a while, knowing what I intend and what my goals are. And it clears the way for the good stuff.

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Sarah Forrest I felt that way for an entire year. Now I have a purpose to take mine out everyday and use it.

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Dawn Herring Once you get rolling or find your specific approach, it's simply grand! Good for you, Sarah. Something to look forward to now.

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Naomi Arnold I love that Dawn - using intentions in your journal "clears the way for the good stuff"...

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Naomi Arnold Hello again, Sarah! I'd love to hear a bit more about what your purpose is... PS. I tried adding you to see your public poetry yesterday, but think I made a rookie error - will try again later!

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Carter Matthews Naomi Arnold I want to develop a habit of just taking no more than at least 15 min. in the morning and then having and keeping my journal on me like I am continuing to do now. I find that the use of Prompts really do help me to at least write something down whatever it is that is going on inside of me though too..

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Dawn Herring Prompts are great starters to get the fodder flowing, Carter. I use them from friend's courses I've mentioned here on our Group. It's nice to have something fresh to work with that I might not otherwise think of.

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Naomi Arnold This is wonderful Carter! You will find that the more you journal, the more that you use the prompts, and the more that you explore yourself - you will open up this side of you that you didn't know was there, you will start to 'find' questions or prompts yourself, and you will naturally start to dig deeper, explore more, play more. This all comes naturally as you head down that road on the journaling journey

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Dawn Herring Great word, Naomi! It truly does open us up, surprisingly so, at times. I love it when that happens.

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Naomi Arnold Here are a couple of other resources with prompts that are worth exploring:

From In Spaces Between:http://inspacesbetween.com/.../2013/10/60JournalPrompts.pdf

From The Little Sage: http://www.thelittlesage.com/journaling-prompts-for.../

You can obviously find a lot more on google

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Naomi Arnold Another prompt that I've been playing with lately is the use of oracle cards or an affirmation deck. For example, I've just pulled them out and I've drawn 'Creativity' - I would then journal about what this might mean for me in my life at the moment, what lessons I can take from it, what I can do to have more of it, etc. The other day I pulled "rest and relax" - and learnt that I should have listened to it the hard way when I stacked it in the shops haha

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Dawn Herring Affirmation cards are a very cool way to get journaling! It helps us show appreciation and validation in whatever area of life addressed.

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Carter Matthews lol I like the "rest and relax" card you pulled! I think sometimes I need to remind myself to relax, well sometimes we all need to remind ourselves to do that too haha! Thank you for those writing prompt you had sent to me. I will try them out one of these days! PS: Naomi Arnold I have a set of my own Oracle cards, but what kind is shown here in this picture?

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Naomi Arnold Yes, rest it is SO important Carter and is one of the things that I have learnt the hard way haha, and have therefore made it my mission to support others in making it a priority! As for the cards, they are from The Little Sage. I've never owned oracle cards - but when I saw these, I felt drawn to them: http://shop.thelittlesage.com/.../the-little-sage-oracle....

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Sarah Forrest My purpose to learn about myself through every poem I write,Naomi! And I got a notification that you followed me. I also have a personal page on my profile Princess Poetry you can like. The link won't show up here, oddly.

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Carter Matthews Cool and thanks for another link Naomi Arnold ! You did a very wise thing though! You said something had "drawn" you to them.. so you hit the donkey on the tail there!

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Dawn Herring https://www.facebook.com/poeticpromise?ref=br_tf This is the link to Sarah's Poetry page, Naomi.

Princess Poetry

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Jen Mor I've been feeling a bit flat with my journaling lately. I'm trying to do 3 pages each morning as a sort of morning pages attempt, but I'm not inspired like I usually am. I'm not sure why that is. Still, I feel like showing up at the page each day allows for inspiration to appear, so I will just keep at it! Might try some prompts too, haven't done any for a while!

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Naomi Arnold Thanks Dawn, and Sarah - yippee, I can now access your page

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Dawn Herring Welcome back to #JournalChat Live, Jen! Great to see you. You have to go with what works for you. I never liked the three pages per day. I just go with the flow. I encourage non dominant writing. Go deeper without having to go so long. Unless you want to.

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Naomi Arnold Hi Jen! I know that I've gone through stages where I have felt flat with my journaling. This was usually a sign that I had outgrown my current 'method' and it was time to start playing and exploring new ways. As you said, using prompts can be a fab way to start this exploratory process, and I loveDawn's suggestion here too. Just remember to be kind and patient with yourself

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Carter Matthews Dawn Herring may I ask what you mean by "non dominant writing"?

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Dawn Herring Instead of writing with your dominant hand, LIke my right hand since I'm right handed naturally, I also write with my left hand. It helps you activate both sides of the brain when you journal that way. And of course, your questions are welcome.

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Naomi Arnold I haven't tried non dominant writing yet - something else to explore (exciting). I imagine it'd initially be an exercise of patience too

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Sarah Forrest Naomi,

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Carter Matthews Naomi I am like you. I am a bit hesitant to try non dominant writing too because I would be too worried that I would not be able to write down everything I was trying to get out, and worried what other people might think if they saw my writing and stuff.

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Dawn Herring It does take time to get used to, Naomi. I had to do it daily for a couple of weeks before it was legible and I didn't write in print. Now, after a couple of years of it, I write in cursive just like I do with my regular writing.

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Dawn Herring Carter, this kind of writing is just for you; you can just take your time with it and see what comes out. I first heard about it when I read a book about Championing Your Inner Child, which was brilliant. Now I use it to access my Inner Self; I ask questions and get some very interesting and insightful answers!

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Carter Matthews However though, Dawn it is something that I would probably try later on since it seems to take quite awhile for it to become customary and stuff.

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Dawn Herring I've been keeping a journal for a long time, Carter, and I've only recently added it to my daily journaling habit. I found it to be so insightful that I don't want to go without it now that I know it's so beneficial. Only use what you feel comfortable with. Just have fun.

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Jen Mor I like the idea of using it as part of dialogue process - like asking a question with your dominant hand then using your non-dominant hand to provide answers, might be interesting to try!

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Dawn Herring I've done that too, Jen! It's like a Q and A going on. I find that the answers come so fast that I keep flipping my journal back and forth to record what comes!

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Naomi Arnold I'm going to give it a go Dawn - I am intrigued. I've learnt that sometimes what we feel the most resistance to, is what we need to try the most. And for me, it has been the visual journaling and non dominant writing

Oh and Carter, we are all different, if you have a play and it's not working for you, that's obviously totally fine. There are so many different things to try with journaling isn't there!? So do what feels right in your heart at the moment

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Dawn Herring I don't think you'll be disappointed with the non dominant writing. It might take a bit to get used to.

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Naomi Arnold Great look at this, I come here as a special guest, and leave with new tricks to try on every single day of the event. Thanks everyone, you're all so inspiring

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Dawn Herring That's the beauty of sharing, Naomi; we give and we receive!

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Carter Matthews Jen Mor that is a very cool idea! I did not even think of that idea of your other hand talking to your dominant hand. It is like then things you were trying to say but couldn't can come out in its own way then. That is pretty cool dude.

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Dawn Herring I love your use of language, Carter; you make me smile and your enthusiasm is contagious! Glad you like the dialogue idea.

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Naomi Arnold So true Dawn, I've smiled in response to every commentCarter has written today. What a way with words.

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Sarah Forrest Dawn, I write a poem usually every day about my day or my feelings about something that happened in my day. A lot of times it only makes sense to me. I use a lot of analogies and metaphors because it has much deeper meaning to me that way.

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Dawn Herring I love how you use poetry, Sarah, on a daily basis to express yourself. Others might see that as difficult, but it sounds like it comes naturally to you.

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