Journaling Topics on Looking Back

Here are a few journaling topics, should you feel so inclined. It has been an unusual Christmas season to wrap up an unusual year.

But for the span of a year that many of us may be eager to leave behind, there still has been life and change and growth and events. Books have been read, TV shows or movies watched, new traditions made, babies grown, new ways of doing things. It has not simply been a year where time paused, a year to blink past. As we move into 2021, it’s a good time for retrospection, contemplating how the year behind us will bring us into the year ahead.

• What new routines did you discover in this past year? New traditions or habits whether it was a way of starting a new working day, a different way to celebrate things, or a new evening ritual, plant watering, daily walks. Will you keep these? Will they change?
• Name 10 people who you interacted with this year. It could be someone you saw a lot, more than usual, less than usual, met for the first time, or with whom you had an interaction that has stuck with you. Spend some time with your list, picking one or two, and writing about what that relationship has meant for you this year.
• What things brought you joy this year? What are the smallest things that made a difference in your day or week or year? Tiny things, virtual connections, accomplishments, treats, surprises, a pet, someone to wave to on your walks. Tidying up your kitchen cupboards, waiting for packages to arrive in the mail, a new hobby.
• What things did you let go of this past year, willingly or unwillingly? Why and how and when? What has that meant for this year?
• What did you write about this year, and how? Favourite fountain pens, or pens, or notebooks? Did you write a lot, often, as much as you expected, in ways that you usually do? Correspondence or Christmas cards, journaling or taking notes by hand? Did you have any rituals around your writing time?
• How has creativity looked for you this year? Morning pages, a new cookbook or cooking routines, an online class, sketchbooks or homeschooling strategies.

Wishing you all much inspiration on the pages, pen friends.