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Journaling When Your Life Feels Too Boring

(This is something of a departure from my usual posts here, but I figured I'd suggest some journal prompts for anyone who needs them ☺️)

So I read a lot about people who want to take up journaling, but are too intimidated by it. One of the most common reasons is they have nothing to write about - your life is dreadfully boring and nothing fun or exciting ever happens to you anymore. (Cue the "I'm being attacked" from millennials and generation z)

If you hate the tired old advice of writing about your day or complaining about your relationship troubles, maybe I can help. And I should know, I have an embarrassingly large plastic storage box in my room full of roughly 20 years' worth of journals.

The most important thing is that you're journaling for YOU, not for Tumblr or Instagram or YouTube. It's okay if you don't journal every day or if your notebook looks like it got run over by a car, as long as you're actually using it. Nice but empty, unused notebooks make people sad :(

1. Pretend you're a space alien - I can't take full credit for this one, I got the idea from an art journaling guide I found at a secondhand bookstore. If you try to describe your everyday life to a Martian (or some other nonhuman being like a robot or an ogre or a ghost from 17th-century France), it's going to look a LOT less boring.

2. Useless trivia and history - A side effect of #1 is that your imaginary audience might start asking questions about where things come from or why certain human practices are the way they are. If you're anything like me, you'll probably start Googling out of curiosity and wind up down a one-hour Wikipedia hole about liberation theology or bleeding heart doves or ruby chocolate. You can't go wrong with writing about the weird or neat things you've learned.

3. Describe your hobby - No, I'm not just talking about the usual like book or movie reviews. Go into really fun stuff you can't find on Wikipedia, like hobby in-jokes or shipping (or how silly you think shipping is) or petty internet drama. This has the added bonus of you secretly laughing (or losing faith in humanity) from all the dumb things going on while you're too busy swooning over Chris Evans or Taylor Swift.

Note: If you're REALLY clueless about what to write, the nuclear option is to take a random TV show or movie you're into right now... and look it up on tvtropes.org. I apologize for everything that comes after.

5. Moderate your greed (with apologies to early 2000s Philippine politics) - Agonizing over those fancy shoes you'd been eyeing in the mall? Arguing with yourself over getting the latest iPhone? You can try getting to the bottom of those desires by journaling about that thing you want or why you want it. This can help you come up with reasons to quell those desires - or backfire completely and accidentally convince yourself to buy it after all. Exercise with great caution.

4. Why aren't you doing _____ - Lets face it: we all procrastinate. So be honest and write about the secret, shameful reasons why. The __ can be as simple as why you haven't washed the dishes yet, or something big like why you still haven't gone backpacking through Asia like you always dreamed of.

6. My toes, my knees, my shoulders, my head - This is a common mindfulness exercise to help you calm down when you're stressed: sit quietly for a moment and do a mental inventory of how you're physically feeling right now. Has that small cut on your leg healed yet? Do you need a haircut? Do you feel like crap because you haven't been getting enough sleep? Go ahead and complain about all those things on paper.

Trigger warning: For those of you struggling with body image issues, this prompt might have the side effect of dredging up all those old insecurities. Be very cautious when approaching those thought processes, and remember to take care of yourself.

7. Don't write at all - You probably have a spot in your house full of things you can't quite bring yourself to throw away: movie tickets, family photos, bus tickets, shopping lists, post-its from the office, a wrapper or label from the sweets your aunt brought home as pasalubong. Or you probably make stick figure doodles all the time about all the gruesome things you want to do to your boss. All of those can find a place in your journal. Journaling doesn't have to be just writing; it's meant to be good for you, not to make you even more stressed or pressured.

Note: "Pasalubong" is a Filipino word for gifts your friends and relatives take home from their travels, like t-shirts or fancy chocolate or bottles of lotion and perfume. Yeah, this is really common in Philippine culture, you can look up the (sometimes tragic) history of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) for context.

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“As a result, the vast majority of my journal entries from the past year are anything but juicy.”

“Before long, I realized I was slowly getting to know myself again. I don’t think of myself as a very positive person, but my journal told a different story. I found I was frequently, consciously grateful for simple, little things in my life like how delicious a particular apple I’d eaten had tasted or how much I’d enjoyed some random movie I’d watched the night before. I noticed I often felt the urge to celebrate small accomplishments I’d made or to appreciate everyday moments I’d shared with my husband, as well.”

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it’s been raining all day 🌧

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“i don’t like writing about my day, but i want to keep a journal”:

quotes and copywork. when reading, if you find something you enjoy, just copy it into the notebook. you can copy a whole chapter if you wish, highlighting what caught your attention the most.

definitions. look up on a dictionary and copy it. you could write your own dictionary as well, making up definitions for words.

lists. a classic, write movies to watch, books to read, the playlist of the month or just the groceries you have to buy.

maps. when going somewhere, you could draw the route you took or just a map of the place itself. just look up the place on google maps and copy it. you can draw a little map of all the places you have lived or the schools you have attended as well.

photos

take “notes” as you watch movies / documentaries. write down phrases that caught your attention or doodle.

illustrations and clippings. if you see an image or piece of art that you liked, put it in your journal. if it’s from a book or from a magazine I would recommend scanning it, tho’. it will serve as a record of what kind of art you enjoy through the years.

newspaper clippings from the day.

tickets and pamphlets. from movies, museums, transportation.

postcards

records. you could record for a month what the temperature was when you woke up and when you went to sleep. if you do that for a year, it gives you a better notion of the passing of seasons. you could record rainfall and other seasonal changes as well. you could choose something (an animal, a plant, an item or object) and write down every time you see it.

rubbings of leaves, coins, landmarks.

count. there’s a scene in the movie Caroline (2009) where Caroline’s dad tells her to go count the windows. you could do the same type of counting game if you are bored and write down.

mindmaps/sketchnotes + timelines of books, movies, music albums.

collages

pressed leafs and flowers

your collections. if you collect anything you could write down an inventory or maybe try to draw the items.

recipes. write down recipes and give it a score every time you try it. you could do the same for drinks you try out.

stickers

comic strips. you can find a bunch of it online, glue your favorites in your notebook.

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Hi, it's been a while. For my new years resolution I wanted to crochet a full blanket. This stitch is called an Alpine stitch, and was so fun to make!

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Want more content and videos? I also post to tiktok! Hope to see ya there 😊

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“The labours I endured were no longer to be alleviated by the bright sun or gentle breezes of spring; all joy was but a mockery which insulted my desolate state and made me feel more painfully that I was not made for the enjoyment of pleasure.” ― Mary Shelley, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus

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I will always click pictures of books piled on each other

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