P is for Paradox - New alphabet-inspired journal page

I couldn't resist. You know I couldn't.

Exploring pairs of things about ourselves that can't possibly both be true, but somehow are? That's just too exciting to pass up in today's letter p alphabet-inspired journal page.

Paradoxes are made for journaling.

Here are just a few of mine:

• I both love and loathe change.

• I'm a natural pessimist. But I'm totally optimistic about all the things I'm convinced are going sideways.

• I adore routine, except for the tiny fact that I can't stand doing the same things the same way on a regular basis.

We're complicated creatures in a complicated world. Our paths aren't always (or possibly, ever) straightforward.

For me, one of the true joys of journaling is having a place and a reason to sort through the inconsistencies and contradictions life throws at us, to make sense of what we can and to become more comfortable grappling with ideas and events that defy easy explanations, but are nevertheless part of our experience.

It's fascinating stuff! It's the kind of stuff that drives a rewarding journal practice and turns everyday experiences into adventures that I can't wait to share with you in every newsletter and every journal prompt.

If you'd like to journal the letter p, you’ll find it — and the rest of the alphabet! — in my e-book Journaling From A-Z. It’s filled with oodles of alphabet-inspired prompts to inspire your journaling and two bonus punctuation-inspired pages. I had so much fun creating this series. I hope you’ll love journaling it!

O is for Oodles - New alphabet-inspired journal page

As a bit of a word nerd, one of the joys of creating alphabet-inspired journal pages is comparing dictionary definitions of the everyday words featured in each page.

Exciting, I know!

It's a rather specific habit, but it consistently reminds me that it only takes a tiny shift in perspective to make a big (and often delightful) difference in outlook and direction.

Take the word oodles, for example. According to Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com, oodles are exactly what you'd expect them to be: "a great quantity" and "a large quantity" respectively. Pretty standard. Perfectly acceptable.

Then there's the Cambridge Dictionary. Over at Cambridge, oodles are "a very large amount of something pleasant."

That definition kind of made my day. I couldn't agree more. After all, there are already plenty of serviceable synonyms for large, unpleasant quantities. Numerous. Umpteen. Countless.

Let's keep oodles for the good stuff, like love, ideas, wildflowers, carefully collected keepsakes, art supplies and craft stashes, encouragement, hope, motivation, photos, stories, creative inspiration, opportunities to learn and grow, ways to give, moments together, and good memories -- just to name a few.

What's on your list?

If you'd like to journal the letter o, you’ll find it — and the rest of the alphabet! — in my e-book Journaling From A-Z. It’s filled with oodles of alphabet-inspired prompts to inspire your journaling and two bonus punctuation-inspired pages. I had so much fun creating this series. I hope you’ll love journaling it!

N is for Noteworthy - New alphabet-inspired journal page

As soon as I encountered the word noteworthy while exploring Chapter N in my trusty dictionary, I knew it would appear in today's alphabet-inspired, letter n journal page.

I've always been convinced there is at least one noteworthy thing about every single one of our days, even if it doesn't always feel that way. In fact, my favourite time to reflect on what's noteworthy is when it feels like I haven't done anything at all worth noting. (If you're familiar with my obsession with opposites and contradictions in my journaling, this comes as no surprise!)

During those times, the ones that feel oh-so-ordinary and uneventful, I get to look a little further for noteworthiness. I get to poke around behind the scenes and rediscover the purposeful intentions and hard work that underpin even the most seemingly unremarkable days.

It's the perfect opportunity to notice:

• perseverance in the face of setbacks,

• courage and creativity in preparation for big ideas ahead,

• ongoing efforts to smooth out daily bumps and complications, and

• small, purposeful steps taken in the pursuit of long term goals.

Not only do these things count as noteworthy, but the other, more obviously noteworthy stuff -- the wins and achievements -- wouldn't be possible without them!

If you ever find yourself momentarily drawing a blank on a noteworthy part of your day, challenge yourself to consider:

• one thing you're up to today that's part of a bigger plan,

• one wonderful little act of perseverance in the face of a difficult challenge,

• one moment of bravery that moved you past a scary part of your adventure and toward the part that's totally worth the temporary discomfort,

• one part of your day that seems easy and routine now, but required huge efforts over time to get that way.

I hope your reflections will give you a spring in your step and an opportunity to celebrate one of the many noteworthy things you do every day!

If you'd like to journal the letter n, you’ll find it — and the rest of the alphabet! — in my e-book Journaling From A-Z. It’s filled with oodles of alphabet-inspired prompts to inspire your journaling and two bonus punctuation-inspired pages. I had so much fun creating this series. I hope you’ll love journaling it!

Finding the words

In my newsletter last week, I suggested we make a new journal page together as a way to focus on something good and constructive. As a place to start, I asked if you'd write back and tell me one thing that's on your mind these days.

I received such heartfelt replies and as I read through each one with gratitude and great interest, three themes emerged:

1. the uncertainty of emotions: identifying them, exploring them and figuring out what to do with them,

2. the complicated nature of personal experiences and world events, a sense that they're too big or overwhelming to reflect on in meaningful ways, and

3. the heavy weight of these thoughts right now.

In the end, one journal page didn't feel like enough room to think it all through. The final result is a two-page set dedicated to finding the words for events and experiences -- in our own lives and out in the world -- that feel too big, too difficult, or too complicated to make sense of.

I'm posting this set a few days later than I wanted to, but it felt important to me to answer all of the replies I received to last week's email first. I sent an early draft of these pages to everyone who emailed me.

This is an aspect of my work I'm exploring more deeply these days -- seeking out opportunities to engage in conversation; sharing thoughts and experiences with the goal of creating more (and better!) ways to encourage you as you develop a rewarding and truly useful journal practice.

As someone who is not always comfortable reaching out, I feel very much as if I'm figuring this out as I go and I'm so grateful you're here with me for the journey. I hope we can create journal pages together again soon!

If you'd like to give this set a try, you can click here or on the image above to download them. You'll find four different page sizes (letter, half letter, A4, A5) and, as a new feature, I've included grayscale versions of all four sets, just in case you're not printing in colour.

As always, if you have thoughts or questions, I'd love to hear from you. You can reach me anytime by commenting below or via my contact page. Occasionally, I need to a little extra time to think about and reply to comments and messages, but I'll do my very best to get back to you as quickly as I can!

Daring adventures and exhilarating escapades

Over the years, I've experimented a lot with finding ways to explore our days from new and noteworthy perspectives. My aim, as always, is to start right here, where we are right now -- our to-do lists, our everyday issues and routine activities. But no matter where I start, I always seem to arrive at the idea of adventure. I can't help it. When I look at daily living, even the most mundane parts, I almost always see adventure.

Now, I'm not talking about fun-and-games adventures. No, I mean the kind of adventures that require courage and perseverance, where success is not guaranteed, where you -- the intrepid* adventurer -- will almost certainly stumble along the way, but you'll also grow in strength and skill in ways you might not have previously thought possible.

Lately, more than ever before, I've taken to telling myself, when yet another daunting challenge presents itself, like planning for the weeks and months ahead, reaching out to new people with new ideas, or returning to activities after long absences, "Well, I'm sure it will be an adventure!" It always gives me a little boost of courage and helps me focus on each step forward and not feel quite so invested in the outcome.

I see a lot of potential for some exciting, perspective-changing journaling in this approach, so I set out to create a set of journal pages that explores our days from a variety of big picture perspectives. Another adventure!

First came the titles for the pages, as exuberant as I could imagine them.

Next, I dove into the nuts and bolts of our daily adventures with the goal of capturing the memorable, momentous, perspective-bending aspects.

The final result is a set that I hope will encourage you to see yourself and your days from surprising perspectives -- as an adventurer, explorer, thrill seeker, storyteller, risk taker; you know, the stuff that reminds you to go out there into your days with courage and confidence and make them count.

I hope these pages inspire you to turn your experiences into memories you can look back on for years to come, including:

• the adventures that inspire you to grow in new and unexpected ways,

• the exploits that bring out the very best in you,

• the shenanigans that make your days interesting and unique,

• the bloopers that move you forward,

• the escapades that bring you joy, and

• the encounters that connect you to the people and places in your world.

You'll find this set right here in my shop.

In the meantime, if you're up for a chat, tell me about one of your adventures that requires courage and perseverance in the comments below. I'd love to hear from you and can't wait to cheer you on!

*I've always had a vague idea of what the word intrepid means. Brave, strong, determined, laughs in the face of adversity -- that sort of thing. I decided to look it up, just to be sure. I find I'm doing that a lot lately, making sure I know the precise meaning of the words that have snuck** into my vocabulary. According to the folks at Merriam-Webster, intrepid is "characterized by resolute fearlessness, fortitude, and endurance." I like that fearlessness is preceded by resolve in the definition. In my own adventures, I would say that I'm almost never fearless, but in order to move forward, I have to resolve to act as if I am. How about you?

**The spell checker is trying to tell me that snuck isn't a word, but I looked it up too and it's fine

A new journal page collaboration with Derek Tellier

Two journalers, one journal page. How exciting is that?

I'm thrilled to share a new set of journal pages created in collaboration with Derek Tellier, a dedicated 5th and 6th grade teacher, journaler, thinker about the world today and young people's experience of it, and a huge supporter of his students' learning and growth.

We began our journal project with the understanding that recognizing good things about ourselves and our efforts doesn't always come easily or naturally. It takes time, effort, patience, and courage to reflect on our abilities and accomplishments and to share them with the people around us.

So why not make it a team effort? Why not create a journal experience that encourages positive exchanges of observations between journalers on the things they do and make?

The result is a set of pages made for swapping.

It begins very much like previous journal adventures, with a set of prompts inviting you to write about one thing you do well or know how to make.

Here's the twist:

After you describe your process for doing or making your thing, you hand your page to a second journaler who is invited to add their reflections before passing the page back to you for some final thoughts.

Derek's students have been enthusiastic participants every step of the way. They worked through early versions of these pages, providing feedback on their experiences and suggestions for improvement.

Here's what they've said along the way:

Filling this out made me realize how many things I don't realize.

I found it a bit challenging, cause when we look at ourselves, it's hard to tell what you're good at. This made us really look at what we have done, and how we do it. I like this because it makes us more aware of who we are.

I thought it was kind of cool because at first I didn't know what I was good at, so I wrote the first thing that came to mind and how other people thought on how I did that made it easier to understand that I'm better at doing that thing than I thought I was.

They're already asking when we'll have more journal pages ready for them!

Derek’s classroom

Derek Tellier

We won't be running out of ideas for new pages anytime soon! This project has opened the door to other exciting avenues of exploration around meaningful feedback, the impact of words, and asking constructive questions.

For now though, these pages still feel very much like works in progress. We'd love for you to try them with your class, discussion group, or meeting participants. They work with groups of any size, but all it really takes is two or more journalers to get the ball rolling.

If you don't have a group in mind, invite your best friend, colleague, parent, or child to write with you. I've journaled both pages with my 14-year-old daughter and we ended up having fascinating discussions about the things we love to do and make.

And please let us know how it goes!

We'd love to hear your thoughts, feedback and suggestions on making these pages the best they can be. Send us a note or leave a quick comment below anytime.

You'll find both pages all ready for download right here.*

We hope they’ll spark delightful insights and fantastic conversations!

*This page is offered in two sizes: letter and A4.

A new journal page collaboration with Carolyn Flower

Carolyn Flower

One of my favourite things about collaborating on a journal project with a wonderful new friend like Carolyn is that the process often starts in one place, with one idea, and ends up in a new place we didn't entirely expect.

This page began with a lovely first draft of Carolyn's artwork and an initial set of prompts. As the seasons changed from summer to fall, our ideas grew in strength and clarity. The prompts we began with were replaced by a whole new set and we added an excerpt from one of Carolyn's emails -- right on the page! -- that exemplified our ongoing conversation.

To me, this page feels like a dialogue with Carolyn, who shares her artwork and thought process as both an introduction to the journal prompts and an invitation to reflect on your own experience of the world.

Here are a few words from Carolyn about her approach to journaling and drawing:

It can be challenging and vulnerable to articulate our true inner thoughts and feelings. Journaling and drawing have been an empowering method for me to express my internal world and connect with others.

I hope you find this journal page fun and also thought and feeling provoking. It can be fun to think in different ways. We can learn a lot about ourselves from stretching our emotional and thinking comfort zones.

I hope you'll be inspired by Carolyn's imagery and perspective, and perhaps discover something new and unexpected about yourself along the way.

If you'd like to download this page for your journal, you'll find it right here!

You'll find more information about Carolyn -- and her artwork! -- over at her website and Instagram page.

M is for Merry - New alphabet-inspired journal page

Isn't it perfect that we've arrived at the letter m and m is for merry? Even in the midst of the most difficult challenges, and this year has been full of them, a few moments of journaling here and there offer a delightful opportunity to focus in on the good stuff.

With that thought in mind, I've used this lovely, holiday season-y, merry coincidence to create a journal page that celebrates the little joys you find around you and the ones you create for yourself and those you love.

If you'd like to journal the letter m, you’ll find it — and the rest of the alphabet! — in my e-book Journaling From A-Z. It’s filled with oodles of alphabet-inspired prompts to inspire your journaling and two bonus punctuation-inspired pages. I had so much fun creating this series. I hope you’ll love journaling it!

A new journal page collaboration with Paul Day

Paul and his grandson, Frederick

One thing Paul Day and I share in our approach to journaling is a deep appreciation for the surprises that seem to accompany every aspect of self-reflection. For both of us, each unexpected discovery is its own reward and keeps us coming back to our journals day after day.

Together, we set out to create a set of journal pages that looked for lovely little surprises in the juxtaposition between past and present. Paul was also eager to explore his progress through the years and capture cherished memories, old and new.

The result is a set of pages that seeks out the good things and meaningful moments that shaped us long ago and the ones that are continuing to guide us now.

Here are a few words from Paul about his experience with journaling and our work on these pages:

Hi I'm Paul. About 4 years ago I became aware of journaling and the many positive aspects, especially prompt lead journaling.

About a year ago I stumbled across Christie, and her friendly approach, encouragement, and prompts have allowed me to expand my journaling further, and I've found it very cathartic at times. This opportunity to work with Christie and create these prompts has been a real joy.

We hope you’ll find joy in these pages too! If you’d like to download them for your journal, you’ll find them right here.

A new journal page collaboration with Krizi Venter

Krizi and Charlie

I'm so excited to share a special pair of journal pages with you today. They were created in collaboration with Krizi Venter, a writer, reader, journaler, crafter, and pet parent to her pups Charlie and Chico.

These pages started with the spectacular South African sunrises and sunsets that bookend Krizi's days. She wanted to write about the joy of pulling back the curtains every morning to reveal each unique sunrise. She was also keen to explore the parts of her days she hadn't yet found an appreciation for, to see if she could uncover something meaningful there too.

Through a series of email conversations and early drafts, we discovered that creating a page for sorting through the events of her day needed to include capturing what they felt like and what they could mean, in the moment and moving forward.

The end result is a pair of pages for writing about experiences of joy, thinking through the bumps in the road, and appreciating the people you meet along the way. We hope you'll love using them to sort through your day.

If you'd like to give them a try, you'll find them right here!