Journaling the Inauguration

No matter what your political views, I think that we can all agree that today is a historical day. So why not take some time to write about the inauguration in your journal? Years from now you will probably be glad you have those memories written down. Here are some questions to get you started:

• Did you go to the inauguration? Watch it on tv? Neither?
• What moments from the inauguration stood out for you?
• What do you think about the crowd of people gathered for the inauguration?
• How do you feel about the new President?
• How do you feel about our new ex-President?
• How did you feel when President Obama stumbled over the Oath?
• Do his speech move you?

These questions are just to get you started. Once you get going you should be able to write and write.

Thanksgiving Journal Prompts

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is just over a week away. To help celebrate I thought I would post some Thanksgiving related prompts.

• What family traditions are you looking forward to this Thanksgiving?
• What family traditions are you hoping to avoid this Thanksgiving?
• Are there any special family recipes that you use for Thanksgiving?
• Where is your family celebrating Thanksgiving?
• Who will be at your Thanksgiving feast this year? Are there any new additions? Anyone missing?
• What activities does your family participate in while they're waiting for dinner?
• Do you use the good china or the paper stuff?
• Who prepares the meal? Did you make any culinary contributions to the meal?
• Write out the menu and who prepared what.
• What was your favorite dish? Least favorite?
• Where does everyone sit for dinner?
• Were there any interesting conversations during dinner?
• Write about dessert.
• Who cleans up the mess?
• What activities did your family participate in after dinner?
• What was your favorite memory of this Thanksgiving?
• Compare the Thanksgivings of your childhood to the Thanksgivings of your adult life.
• What was different about Thanksgiving this year?

If you want to prepare yourself for Thanksgiving, you could always write out 100 Things You Are Thankful For. It's not as easy as you might think to come up with 100 different things.

Photo courtesy of MorgueFile

Family Feud Email Questions

I got this in my email earlier this week and figured I would share my answers here. These could be cute journal prompts. Get some responses from your friends and family and that might even get you writing.

LET'S PLAY FAMILY FEUD!!! YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE MY ANSWERS!!!!!!
Forward to your friends and don't forget to send it back to me.
Remember, you can't use the same answer as the person who sent it to you.

1. Name something you use in the shower? Soap
2. Name something a football player wears under his uniform? Pads
3. Name something people hate to find on their windshield? Parking Ticket
4. Name something a man might buy before a date? Dental Floss
5. What is another word for blemish? Zit
6. Something you cook in the microwave? Veggies
7. Name a piece of furniture people need help moving? Sofa
8. Name a reason a younger man might like an older woman? Lots of $$
9. Name something a dog does that embarrasses its owner? Diarrhea on the neighbors sidewalk while they’re watching (yup, one of my dogs has done this to me)
10. Name a kind of test you cannot study for? DNA Test
11. Name something a boy scout gets a badge for? Camping
12. Name a phrase with the word home in it? Home is where the heart is
13. Name a sport where players lose teeth: Hockey
14. Name something a teacher can do to ruin a student's day? Go crazy with the red pen
15. What is a way you can tell someone has been crying? Snotty nose
16. Name a bird you wouldn't want to eat? Pigeon
17. Name something a person wears even if it has a hole in it. T-shirt
18. Name something that gets smaller the more you use it? Bank account

If you post anwers to these questions, please provide a link to them in the comments. You could even answer them in the comments if you like. Have fun!

Friday Meme Prompts

Today I was looking around for a good Friday Meme to participate in. I came across Friday Feast. I love the site, but unfortunately it hasn't been updated since July. Still, there are some great prompts on there if you're looking for some.

The Friday Feast site did lead me to Food For Thought Friday which looks interesting. I think I will try responding to some of her questions later today.

Freaky Friday - Perfection

Writing Promt From A Creative Journal Freaky Friday #131. Here is a summary of the prompt:

Write as if you are perfection. Try to let perfection speak what is really on its mind about your writing or art. Explore the idea and listen to what perfection would have you do. If you like create a dialogue with perfection. Ask questions. Why aren’t you living up to perfections standards? What does perfection expect of you? Is perfection being reasonable?

I liked this prompt because I do struggle with perfectionism. Not as in I am perfect, but as in I expect everything to be perfect. Since I became a mom I have gotten a little better at letting things not be perfect. It's hard when you're trying to be a great wife and mother and balance that with all of your other responsibilities. Every time I think I'm getting the balance worked out, something happens to throw it all off again. I'm definitely a work in progress.

I plan to explore this topic and follow this prompt in my paper journal. My hope is that it will help me accept that perfectionism is not something that is going to be a part of my life right now. I think that by accepting this I will be able to enjoy my life much more and be a better wife and mother too.

Friday Five

There use to be a meme called Friday Five. When the original author of that meme stopped posting questions, a group of fans started posting their Friday Five on Live Journal. These questions make great journal prompts. To check out the current Friday Five, click here. You can also see the list where memebers have suggested questions for future Friday Fives here.

Check them out. There are pages of questions out there, so you just might find something that inspires you.

That's My Answer

Today I came across the site That's My Answer. They ask questions every day and you can answer along. I think this is a great way to start a journal entry. I was checking out some of the questions and the topics vary so you should be able to find something to get you started writing.

Today I decided to answer this question:

Yesterday I had my furnace repaired — the circuit board needed to be replaced – I also had it tuned up. $512.78 later, I have heat. Needless to say, until this past Sunday the expense was completely unexpected. What was the last expense that took you by surprise?

Here's my answer:
About $1000 for my husband’s car in January. We took it in for brakes and wound up having to have some other stuff taken care of too. It was crazy timing too because I was 5 1/2 weeks in to my unpaid maternity leave. Yikes.

I could go on and on from this point. Tonight I will try to expand on this in my paper journal. Take some time to head over there to check it out and see what questions work for you.

Year End Review

Now that we've reached the end of the year you may want to take some time to do a year end review entry in your journal. In this entry you can recap significant events from the year and even talk about things you're looking forward to in the next year. It's also a great time to provide a "snapshot" of yourself. What things are important to your life right now. It's amazing how much some things can change from year to year.

Here is a site that has a top 10 list of year end review questions. This should help you get started on your own entry.

Journal Prompt #19

What three things in your relationship with your significant other are you most passionate about?

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Journal Prompt #18

When do you tell little white lies?

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Journaling Thanksgiving

There is a good article in the November issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine about Thanksgiving. They talk about scrapbooking Thanksgiving, but there are some great prompts in the article that you can use in your journal. Check it out, I plan on using some of these for my own Thanksgiving entry.

Update: The link to this article is no longer working so I've removed it. You can see my new post of actual Thanksgiving Journal prompts here.

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Journal Prompt #17

List the things you have lost in your life, both material and immaterial.

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Stress

"There is no stress in the world, only people thinking stressful thoughts." -- Wayne Dyer

What stressful thoughts have you been thinking? What could you do to limit these thoughts and reduce the stress in your daily life?

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Imposing Limits

"The only limits in one's life are self imposed." --Dr. Denis Waitley

What limits have you been imposing on yourself?

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Journal Prompt #16

Describe your ideal home.

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Bridges

"The hardest thing in life is to know which bridge to cross and which to burn." --David Russell

Write about some of the bridges in your life. Did you cross some you should have burned or vice versa? Which bridges are you glad you crossed? Are there any you regret burning?

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Journal Prompt #15

How do you show your friends, family and that special someone that you love them?

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Transformations

"The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed." --Carl Jung

Who are some of the people who have transformed your personality? They could have caused good or bad transformations. Take some time to explore the transformations and what it has meant to your life.

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Journal Prompt #14

There is a joke that says, if you are what you eat, then I'm cheap, fast and easy. Take some time to complete this sentence for yourself:

If you are what you eat, then I'm ___________.

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Journal Prompt #13

Since tomorrow is Halloween, write about what you are going to be this year. Why did you select the costume that you did? If you're not dressing up, why aren't you?

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