Happy Sunday!
I hope you all have had a great weekend. As I sat down to reflect on this week, I noticed I’ve felt pulled in two directions. I feel stretched between nostalgia for my past and hope for my future.
Sometimes we stand between those two pulls, memory drawing us back and possibility pulling us ahead. In some areas of life, I long for what once was. In others, I find myself imagining who I could still become. The beautiful thing about journaling is that it gives us space to notice both. We can see what we carry with us as well as what we are reaching for.
This week, explore the tension you might feel between past and future. Below are 6 journal prompts for you to explore, one for each dimension of your perspective.
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Personal History
What part of your past do you often revisit? What future story do you hope replaces it?
Environment
Which spaces make you feel rooted in the past? Which spaces invite you forward into new possibilities?
Beliefs
Which beliefs do you hang on to out of tradition? Which ones are pointing you towards a new future?
Emotions
What evokes your deepest nostalgia? What sparks your brightest hope?
Relationships
Who do you miss from your past? Who do you imagine will walk forward with you into your future?
Identity
How would your younger self describe you today? How do you hope your future self would describe you?
Amidst the tension between past and future, it is important to find ways to root ourselves in the present. If you have felt this tension like I do, here are a few simple practices that help bring you back to now:
- Take a slow breath in for five counts, hold for five, and exhale for five.
- Put your hand on your heart and feel your breath move beneath it.
- Name one thing, right here and now, that you are grateful for.
Until next week,
Sadie Sanchez
Author of DIMENSIONS