Journaling Prompts for Self Reflection: Why I Love {THE AND} Self Edition
I didn’t know how to start journaling until I pulled a card from {THE AND} Self Edition. Here’s why these journaling prompts became my morning ritual.
Last year I moved from Brazil to Australia. Other side of the world, whole life in boxes, and a brain that would not stop. Between the planning and the paperwork and the goodbyes, I had a hundred thoughts running at the same time and nowhere to put any of them.
That’s when I started journaling. I wanted to get everything out of my head and my heart and onto paper, and that’s really when I started practicing self reflection for the first time. I bought a journal and sat down all proud of myself. And then I just stared at it.
I know, I know. It’s a notebook, just write what you feel. But nobody tells you how weird it is to sit there with a pen and no idea where to begin. What do I say? Do I start with how my day was? What if I don’t even know what I’m feeling? Turns out going from the head to the page is not as easy as it sounds.
The Journaling Prompts That Got Me Writing
I’d been playing with the {THE AND} Self Edition around that time, and one morning I pulled a card, read it, and answered it in the journal. It worked. I didn’t need to come up with something to write about anymore, because the card was a journaling prompt waiting for me. I wasn’t staring at a blank page, I was just answering a question.
Some of the questions made me laugh, and some made me stop and look out the window for a while. “When was the last time I lied to myself? What was that lie protecting?” I thought about that one all day. I would never have asked myself that on my own, and that’s what I love about these cards. They take me to places I wouldn’t get to by myself.
Now it’s my morning thing. Coffee, journal, a card. I read it, I write my answer, and that’s it. Takes fifteen minutes or so and the day feels different after.
Seeing My Personal Growth Through Journaling
It’s been a year and I never separated the cards I’d already used. So sometimes I pull one I’ve answered before, then I go back, read what I wrote then, write something new now, and the two answers are so different. Same question, but I’m not the same person who answered it the first time. I didn’t even notice how much I had changed until I saw it written down twice.
I started this deck just to get through a chaotic moment, and somehow it became a little record of the year I had.
No Rules, No Streaks
There are no rules. You don’t have to do it every day, there’s no streak to keep. Some days I’m not feeling the one I pulled, so I give it a second go. You can build your own ritual with it.
I really do love this deck, and if you’ve ever bought a journal and got stuck on page one, I think you’ll love it too!
More About {THE AND} Self Edition
- 199 questions and prompts, all focused on getting to know yourself better
- Journaling prompts about your dreams, fears, beliefs, body, and where you want your life to go
- A good fit for morning journaling, a big life change, or the thoughts that show up at 2am
- Use it on your own, or hand a card to a friend who knows you well
- Great as a gift for birthdays, milestones, or someone going through a transition
- Available as a Physical Edition and Digital Edition
Loved by Our Community
Everyone uses the Self Edition a little differently. Here’s how some of our community does it.
Luana Costa
Head of Social Media at The Skin Deep
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