The question is, are you ready to journal through your year? But maybe the better question is, will you journal your way through the year or not? Will you find freedom or bondage in your personal journaling practice? Because unless your journaling adds to your life, why would you bother? And none of us needs another task on our To Do list, am I right? So maybe the best question to start with is, why even bother keeping a journal at all?
There are many reasons I could list here about the benefits of writing things down, and the supporting research, which is accumulating, mind you, every year, and thank God for that. But still, I don’t need that affirmation, since for too many decades to mention, I have been journaling and accumulating journals (into the archived hundreds). The proof is in the pudding. Or better put, stored on the shelves of the journaler. Who’s to say whether I’m less crazy or crazier than I would have been had I not journaled all these years? In all seriousness, I have gained much more than shelves of filled notebooks. The practice of writing that I continue enriches my life, helps me make sense of the world, and allows me a space to be where nothing is required but my attention- a commodity which is both limited and in demand. The journal is the place I “hold space” for myself, meet with God, pray for others, find my voice, and clarify my thoughts. It is the place I write, rewrite, remember, and reimagine my days. My journal is a creative space and a discovery zone. It is both a confession booth and a gratitude garden. I plant my dreams, ideas, and thoughts in the soil of the pages, and up from the page bloom poems, stories, memories – some practical, and shared, and others that remain dormant.
But as for you, have you discovered the gift that journaling can be?
I hope you have, but I am here to offer up a plethora of possibilities for your journaling life right now, and also to invite you to experience all the love in February with my next offering to the journaling community! The prompts will be posted weekly on Sundays starting February 1. Each week will have three prompts for you to ponder and respond to throughout the week. The prompts will be focused on the theme of LOVE. I hope you will join in. It’s all here, at Enthusiastically, Dawn.
Until then, maybe you would like to revisit, or visit for the first time, last year’s series of prompts from January 2025. I have them posted below. You can peruse them at your leisure. Jump to the post that interests you at your leisure. I hope you find something helpful in these journaling prompts and posts.
Week 1- Journaling Onward to Discovery and Delight
Week 2- Journaling into the New Year – A Way to Plan
Week 3- Steppingstones – Looking Back to Move Ahead
Week 4- Focused Prayer through Journaling
Week 5- Journaling through Grief
Looking for more writing inspiration? My book Journaling for Discovery and Delight is a straightforward journaling book with 21 prompts that pack a punch- repeatedly!
Here’s what people have said about the book:
“Very inspiring! Easy to use and so helpful.”
“Writer’s block may be a thing of your past after reading Mrs. Paoletta’s book.”
“I have always been a journal-keeper. Filling journals with my deep thoughts and twice as many shallow thoughts has come easy to me, it is as natural as breathing. But this idea-jammed little book is an inspiration to even a long-time journal keeper like me!”
“ I think journaling would have been much easier for me when I was younger if this had been available. She gives some prompts to start you off but not just a few words…the prompt goes deeper. Well done!“
“Each of the 21 prompts also offers several alternative interpretations for months (if not years) of journaling possibilities.“
(Source: Amazon and Goodreads)
Now, let me ask you again, are you ready to journal through your year? I hope to see you in February for All the Love– a journaling journey!
Thank you for reading! And for supporting my writing! Looking for something delightful to write with in 2026? Head over to my Ellington Pens fountain pen review HERE!
Enthusiastically, Dawn
Enthusiastically, Dawn 
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