Sunday, January 27, 2019

Sunday Journal Prompt

“Writing is a joy, something that makes me feel free.” 

– Inmate, State-Run Correctional Institution 


Last week I wrote about how I didn’t know what to expect in my new role of teaching a journaling and memoir class at a state-run correctional institution. I expressed doubts about the students’ interest in my topic and wondered if I’d feel safe. What I didn’t share—what I’m now ashamed to admit—was that I expected them to be high school dropouts with low-level writing skills with minimal engagement.

I didn’t expect their writing to be so powerful and impressive, nor did I expect to hear many praise their childhood English classes. I didn’t expect that many had been to college. I didn’t expect them to be so articulate and quick-witted. I didn’t expect so many life-long voracious readers. I didn’t expect one to carry a dictionary in his pocket at all times, another to say he’s a “word nerd” who loves multisyllabic words. I didn’t expect one to say that writing gives him “a better thinking process” and another to share in a booming minister-like voice, “Writing is a joy, something that makes me feel free.”



When were your low expectations shattered for the better? What did it feel like?



Sunday, January 20, 2019

Sunday Journal Prompt

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” 

– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 


As a planner, I like to know what I’m getting myself into before embarking on a new endeavor. You’d think that I would’ve learned by now that often things don’t go as we expect them to—for the better or for the worse. Still, it’s difficult for me to jump into a situation in which I don’t feel I can predict the outcome. 

This week I’ll begin teaching a new journaling and memoir class at a state-run correctional institution. I don’t know what to expect. Will my all-male students be receptive to what I teach? Will I feel safe? All I know is that, when I was asked to teach there, something in me felt pulled to say yes. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. calls for us to have faith in taking the first step. As I prepare for the unexpected, I look to his words for encouragement.



What uncertainty lies before you? How can you take the first step toward it?


Sunday, January 13, 2019

Sunday Journal Prompt

“When you pen down your dreams, an inner strength and divine power is activated.” 

– Lailah Gifty Akita


Journaling has helped entrepreneur, media mogul and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey throughout her life. Raised in poverty and subjected to abuse, she says journaling helped her build mental stability and strength. By looking for things to express gratitude for in her journal, she found that something always showed up.

Beyond writers like Mark Twain, Virginia Woolf, Vladimir Nabokov, John Cheever and Cheryl Strayed, famous journalers include thinkers and inventors like 
Winston Churchill, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, and athletes such as gold medalist Katie Ledecky and marathon-runner Eliud Kipchoge. Perhaps, as author Lailia Gifty Akita says, penning down our dreams activates an inner strength and power to work toward fulfilling them. 


What can you imagine for yourself? Pen it down to unlock a deeper strength.


Sunday, January 6, 2019

Sunday Journal Prompt

“The beginning is the most important part of the work.

 – Plato


My husband and I have noticed that our gym is more packed than it’s been—the January rush. By February it usually gets back to normal. There’s a myth out there that 21 days is all it takes to build a new habit, but health psychology research by Phillippa Lally at University College London shows it can range from 18 to 254 days, with an average of 66 days.

Getting started, as Plato says, is important. Without a commitment to beginning, we’ll never get there. However, it’s just as important to not give up. If we approach a new habit with the mindset that it will take a while to develop, perhaps we will stick with it longer and not let a few days of backsliding derail us. Habits are a process, and it takes time to see small, incremental changes. 



How can you coach yourself to get started and, even when you don’t see results right away, keep going?