With the resurgence of sunny and warm weather in Seattle and the end of dreary school days, June is a great time for relaxation and reflection. What better way to approach this time than some creative journaling? I’ve always kept a journal by my bedside table, and the great thing about it is that you can let it sit there for months, or pick it up any random day and let your mind go places it has never been. You can write when you wake up, before you got to bed, in the car on a road trip, or bring it to your favorite café or park. Whether you want write for fun or use it as a cathartic mode of self-discovery, I’ve created a list of 30 questions for the 30 days of June. So pick up your pencil, open your mind, and start journaling!
1. What is the most beautiful thing you saw today? Was it an action you observed between two people, something someone said, a person?
2. Is bliss ignorance or is ignorance bliss?
3. Where is your happy place? The place you feel calm, comfortable, and perfectly yourself? Describe it.
4. Write about a relationship of yours.
5. Have you ever said something negative about yourself? How can you flip it around to be something positive, a learning experience, or a moment of growth?
6. Send yourself abroad. Write about a place you dream of going to, but as if you already lived there. Talk about what you would do, what you would see, and who you would meet.
7. Write about someone or something you miss.
8. Write about a time you felt totally badass.
9. What color describes you the best? It doesn’t have to be your favorite color, but a color that resonates with your personality.
10. What is art? Write about a “piece of art” you have seen today. The possibilities are endless!
11. What were your biggest dreams when you were five years old, ten, fifteen?
12. Make the perfect road trip playlist.
13. Compliment someone today. How did they react? How did you feel when you complimented them? How do you usually receive compliments?
14. Write a poem.
15. Write a thank you letter to someone—a parent, a teacher, a friend, etc.
16. Have you ever changed something about yourself for the approval of someone else? Write about why and how it made you feel.
17. Create a list of five things you want to accomplish this summer—solely for you, no one else!
18. Craft a summer bucket list of adventures to want to have.
19. Do you think you are in control of your future, or that your future is out of your control? What does the future hold for you?
20. Write about your favorite character from a movie or book.
21. Describe your best friends.
22. What is one object that you resonate with? That relates to your childhood or something deeper within yourself? Could you live without this object?
23. Do you collect anything? What and why?
24. What kind of clothing do you wear and why? Does it express something deeper about you?
25. Write about a secret you have.
26. Describe yourself from a stranger’s point of view.
27. Write about your favorite song. What does it make you feel? Do you listen to it alone or with other people? Where?
28. Take a trip down memory lane and write about one of your fondest childhood memories.
29. Talk about a lesson you have learned this year and how it’s shaped you.
30. Is there someone who can always make you smile? Who and why?