All You Need Is 5 Words- Simple Journal Writing Ideas

August 11th, 2010

One of my favorite journal writing ideas to help with the journaling process is an activity I learned when I taught elementary school. It was a tip for the reluctant writer in your classroom…we’ve all been there before right? It’s truly simple and can be done in a variety of ways.

Here’s what you do:

find your writing journals
take a magazine (you can look through your favorite book, a newspaper, etc..) and randomly select five words
don’t worry if they go together, just find words that are calling to you
tear them out and put them in the order that most speaks to you
that is the title for your journal entry
spend 15-20 minutes journaling about that title and see what insight comes to you as you get out of your own way

This is what I was inspired to write after I selected my five words today:

Tough Stuff, Ultimate Rewards, Pure

The first thing that comes to my mind when I think about these five words is sometimes we’re handed some Tough Stuff in life. Stuff that we’d rather not have to deal with. Right now, I think my Tough Stuff relates to holding space for the aging process of my mother. She is living with a form of Parkinson’s called Lewy Body Disease. Tough? I’d say! She has gone from a spunky, energizer bunny to a weary although still spunky, forgetful, and often confused woman. I would definitely rather not deal with this in my life or in hers.

The next two words, Ultimate Rewards, seems so contradictory next to Tough Stuff. How do the words, Ultimate Rewards, have anything to do with the things in life I’d rather not deal with right now. Well, here’s my take on it. Through my mom’s prognosis, although it’s been challenging, there are some Ultimate Rewards as well. The first one that comes to mind is the reward of appreciation. On the days my mother is spunky and says what’s on her mind, energized by a shopping trip to her favorite store, or even performing at an impromptu karoke night in my living room, I am overwhelmed by appreciation for that moment in time when my mother returns to her “normal self”. That is an ultimate reward. Another reward is the closeness that my family and I have experienced during this time. We’ve said more loving and tender things the past few years than I can remember in the past forty. No one waits to say what needs to be said. “I love you,” which was a rarity before is a frequent expression in my family.

The last word, Pure, makes me think that as we experience our Tough Stuff and receive the Ultimate Rewards a sense of purity of spirit and heart emerge. It’s when I’m in the midst of Tough Stuff that my greatest Ultimate Rewards occur and my Pureness shines.

How’s that for a five word quick journal activity? It’s amazing what a simple gesture can produce. Happy writing!

Written by Amy Spradlin
Co-Founder

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