Everyday Journaling - How to Make Ripples

I think we’re making ripples all the time. They’re in every word of encouragement, every effort to build something lasting, and every smile directed at someone in the middle of an ordinary day.

Here are 8 quick journal prompts for thinking about ways you can make ripples.

1. One person you can check in on:

2. One thing you can leave better than you found it:

3. One local organization or business you can support:

4. One next step you can take on a project that matters to you:

5. One meaningful issue you can learn more about:

6. One way you can encourage one person you adore:

7. One way you can share your knowledge or skillset:

8. One good thing you can put out into the world:

How will you make ripples today?

P.S. This page is part of my Everyday Journaling series, in which I create on-the-spot journal pages inspired by everyday experiences. If you’d like to create your own blueprint for making ripples, this printable journal page is available in my shop.

Everyday Journaling - How to Listen

I feel like good listening can be hard to come by. Even so, I think we know it when it happens. To be truly heard — to be gifted with someone’s full attention and encouraged to say what you think without interruption or dismissal, even if it doesn’t quite make sense yet — is deeply validating.

I know I can be a better listener. It’s something I think about all the time, mostly after I’ve sucked all the air out of yet another conversation. I can be impatient, distracted, and sometimes more in need of validation of my own perspective than interested in working to understand someone else’s. Often, I don’t recognize that I’ve missed an opportunity for a deeper, more meaningful discussion until the discussion is long over. All of which prompted this journal page — to give myself a dedicated spot to think about good listening and hopefully generate some helpful insights about how to put that thinking into practice.

I found it really helpful to consider elements of good listening in lots of different circumstances. I started to see different layers of listening, one on top of the other, that could lead to better understanding. Going forward, I’m working on giving conversations my full attention and a chance to unfold without jumping straight to conclusions about where they’re headed or what they mean. I’m working on asking better questions about another person’s perspective and experience rather than assuming I already know. I hope it will lead to more understanding and engagement and also more fascinating discussions!

P.S. This page is part of my Everyday Journaling series, in which I create on-the-spot journal pages inspired by everyday experiences. If you’d like to jot down your own thoughts and observations about how to listen, you’ll find this printable journal page right here in my shop.

Everyday Journaling - Even the Stuff that Feels Silly

I can’t decide if this is something I should share. I’ve gone back and forth a hundred times in my mind. I’ve written it up and deleted it twice. I may delete it again. (Regardless, I’m already imagining a whole new page just to sort through the misgivings I’ve had about this one.)

Is it okay to admit that all I want to do is watch TV? That lately I have this distracting urge all day long to stop what I’m doing, find a screen, and disappear into someone else’s story? Do I write about that sort of thing here?

The thing is, creating and journaling this silly, ridiculous journal page dedicated to the things I could be doing instead was really helpful. It generated lots of new ideas and resulted in a huge, handy list of better things to do for those moments when I can’t think of better things to do.

It also cheered me up. It reminded me that I can journal about anything. And that even the ideas that don’t at first feel worthy of serious consideration can lead to something good.

P.S. This page is part of my new Everyday Journaling series, in which I create on-the-spot journal pages inspired by everyday experiences. If you’d like to jot down your own handy ideas for things to do other than watching TV, you’ll find this printable journal page right here in my shop.