When The Door Opens.
Dec 1 2023 3 min read
Last night I led a 90 minute Journal workshop for 15 women around the theme of The Light Within and The Light Around Us.
It was an incredibly powerful experience.
Many women showed up with resistance, which I kind of expected and I’ll explain why later.
“I have so many books with maybe a couple of pages of writing but then I just stop.”
“I write on loose paper sometimes and then I go back and edit it all and then I put it in a ‘good journal’…maybe. If I think it’s good enough.”
“I’ve tried journal prompts from online sources but I don’t like them so I don’t do them.”
“I’m afraid my writing will be bad.”
“I don’t journal because I don’t know that I have anything of value to offer.”
“I want to journal but I don’t know how.”
In my work I am trained to hear beyond resistance. Objections, guarding, resistant thoughts and feelings is normal when it comes to creative self-expression and journaling is indeed about self-expression.
When I listened last night, what I heard and saw in all of these women was a deep desire to journal but why?
Because they cannot help themselves. Heck, I can’t help myself.
We long for deep, meaningful connection with ourselves (without the guilt) but we don’t know where to begin or how to get past our own resistance so often, we just try to ignore that longing or bypass self connection altogether.
Can you relate?
At the core, what I really hear is a request from these women to help them come back to themselves. To help them move past their self-judgement, their perfectionism, their shaky trust in themselves as anything worth connecting with.
They were there because something greater, stronger, more authentic than their resistant thoughts and feelings brought them there. Their souls, if you will, led them, even if they themselves didn’t know it.
I was there to open the door with my leadership, my guidance, my creative offering through prompts'.
It would be up to them whether they would walk through the door or not, and how far.
For 90 minutes I led them through a small journey about the Light within them and around them. I offered space for questions, sharing and yes, writing.
What unfolded was magic.
One woman shifted from “I hate journaling” to tearing up after a prompt and sharing, “I can’t believe that I just kept writing and writing. That’s never happened. I feel like something is opening in me.”
Another woman said, “What is happening here??” as she looked at her own handwriting and then looked at us and said, “This is fantastic. I just wrote something I didn’t even realize was in me and now I see! Now I see!”
The stories go on.
The little and big ‘breakthroughs.’
The very unexpected surprises in themselves.
Many said they had tried journaling and had taken workshops but this experience was nothing like they’d ever done before.
It’s true.
My journal journey’s are nothing like many have experienced before and this is in large part because I know how to help others grasp the power of journaling as a supportive practice to do the very thing we all desire - to know, like and trust ourselves. And we get there through intentional self-connection.
Whatever tools you use to do so is always up to you - and there are lots.
What I want to say is that last night was a powerful experience yes in part by the journaling prompts but largely because the desire in these women to connect with their own hearts, to find a sliver of an opening into hearing their own voices, beyond the editor-perfectionist voice, if only for 90 minutes was so strong that when the doorway was opened, they allowed themselves to walk through.
What are the ways you are allowing yourself to connect with you? What doorways are you inviting yourself to walk through?
Every single one of us longs for this.
If you find you’re denying yourself deep, meaningful connection with You, maybe take a bit of time and ponder these questions:
What is it I really want for myself, with myself?
What do I want to experience more of?
What walls am I living behind, with myself?
What am I denying myself, with myself?
And again, what do I really want for myself?
You deserve this, Friend. To know, like and trust yourself.
With love,
Jenn
If you want further help with how to use Journaling as a tool in support of you living your life well, reach out to me and I’ll send you a link that will lead you there.
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