Journal Writing Prompt #10

 

My apologies for being so late today. I have been dealing with preparations for, and the actual invasive medical procedure that came up over the past week. My mind, and body were definitely on other things. But, I am here now. This is the final week of an old year, and the beginning of a new one. I don’t go in much for New Year resolutions. Feel they are often, or can quickly become, a set up for failure, or a means of sabotaging ones own person. Instead of resolutions, I prefer a review of the past year.

So the prompt for this week is about  making two lists. One for the good stuff you experienced in the past year, the other for not so good stuff. This is another form of sorting this from that. And some of your experiences may land somewhere between those two labels, while still remaining significant for some reason. And significance is the key ingredient here. Find the most significant things that took place over the past twelve months. And list them in those two separate lists, adding the third in-between, if the incident or experience holds some personal significance for you. These do not have to be detailed accounts. Those, you may do at your leisure when looking for something to write about. Anything on the lists I’ve asked you to do can be, and are meant, to be used in just that fashion.

That might actually entail, going back and scanning through whatever personal writing you may have done in the past year. Or you may choose to do this mainly from memory alone. Either way, after writing the two, or three, lists, check them over and see if you can find a balance within the lists themselves. Do some of the items on both lists connect in some fashion, or do they seem to make opposing points of view? Do you find connections within the topics, subjects, or issues? Do you find yourself playing yo-yo, moving back and forth between different poles as they concern one or similar issues? Again, these questions are simply suggestions for ways of looking at the information you’ve made note of.

The prompt, after doing these lists, is to come up with a phrase that best embodies the year itself. I had a summer of feathered graces this year. That might play a significant role in what I finally title the entire year, or not. I will also be looking through my posts for I Saw Sunday because those are a briefer form of this exercise, being my notes on each week I have reviewed there. Whatever you come up with, please consider coming back here and posting it in the comments section. I would be interested in what you find.

As always, if you have questions about the prompt or the process, please leave them here in the comments section for further discussion. Have a good week and enjoy the Holidays. Have fun and write.

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