Let’s get out of that headspace, shall we? We know it can be hard to feel like life isn’t a bit dull, especially in the time of a pandemic. One thing that can help you get into a cheerful mood again is journalling! Here are 3 of our favourite journal prompts for when we’re feeling stagnant.
Journal prompt #1:
Write a recipe for happiness.
This could just be where you copy and paste your grandmother’s homemade chocolate cake recipe, or it could be all the things that make you happy. The end result should be a happier you. My recipe would look something like this:
- Step 1: take Sandy (that’s my dog) for a 30-min walk outside (don’t forget to put on sunscreen!)
- Step 2: read a chapter from The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle, then reflect on what you just read.
- Step 3: take at least an hour away from school and work to spend time with family and friends.
- Step 4: write down what assignments are due this week, then start working on them (no more procrastinating!)
- Step 5: go to bed before 10pm and wake up after the first ring of your alarm the next morning (no snoozing!)
Journal prompt #2:
Write about the flowers in your bouquet.
In other words, if you were holding a bouquet of flowers, what would the flowers look like? What kind of flowers are they? Better yet, what new flowers are in your bouquet today that weren’t there a week or maybe a year ago? Thinking positively in this way can help you realize that all you need is here and that there is so much more left for you to experience when the time is right!
My bouquet of flowers would look something like this:
- 1 sunflower that symbolizes my Faith.
- 3 roses that reminds me of the three hardships I’ve overcome.
- 4 daisies that represent four milestones that have positively impacted me.
- 8 roses symbolizing eight of my closest family and friends who are always there for me.
Journal Prompt #3:
Unpack your invisible knapsack.
If you’ve taken a sociology course, odds are you’ve heard about the invisible knapsack. For those who are unsure, an author by the name of Peggy McIntosh wrote this article titled White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. While it mainly talks about white privilege and how our experiences and appearances shape our perceptions in life, I think it also offers a helpful self-discovery approach to not feeling so stagnant, because your invisible knapsack is all the things that make you you and that we oftentimes let weigh us down. Unpacking this heavy knapsack could be the first step to healing from feeling that you’re incapable of getting out of this stagnancy.
This pandemic can be daunting because of how much more unsure it’s made our lives. We don’t know when and if it’ll ever really end. We also don’t know if the pandemic ending would also put an end to us feeling stagnant. Nonetheless, we hope these three journal prompts offer you some guidance, self-discovery, and some change into your life, even if it’s only one brighter day! Take a moment to write about your recipe to happiness, your unique bouquet of flowers, and your heavy invisible knapsack to try and gain some new perspectives on how your life is in the present moment. You know what they say… “one journal prompt a day keeps the doctor away”… or was it an apple a day? We always get those two confused! Journal away and see where it takes you!