There is a whole world in a single word!
I love using single words as journal prompts.
Journaling is a storytelling practice. It’s the act of using words, language, narrative, and stories to both capture, and make sense of, our life experiences.
In our recent Journal Lounge, which is a quiet journaling time in community (one of our many member benefits in the IAJW), I provided single words as writing prompts. The four words were: Rainbow, Purple, Sunrise & Feather.
Each participant in The Journal Lounge wrote using these same single word prompts. We each went in our own unique directions in the pages of our journals.
For example, here is what I wrote from the prompt “Rainbow”. Please note, this is an unedited journal entry written during a 3 minute timed writing.
I invite you to use these 4 words as prompts in your own journal. Enjoy!
From the Pages of My Journal – using the word “Rainbow” as a journal prompt…
🌈 RAINBOW
I love rainbows.
I love the stacks of colour arching through the sky.
I love partial rainbows and full rainbows.
I especially love rainbows over Fulford Harbour, wrapping over and across the ocean waters in front of our home.
I have often called out to my family at the first site of a rainbow, “boys, there’s a beautiful rainbow, come and see it!”
We will gather on our deck and admire the rainbow, often taking pictures of them.
I invite my honey and sons to make wishes on rainbows. I think they do so, quietly.
There was a time when my wish on rainbows was a to live in a home by the ocean and to be a mother…
I know wishes on rainbows come true, they put magic in motion. 💫
______
SUNRISE
Sunrise, you are my constant companion each new day.
Even when you rise behind West Coast clouds,
I still feel you there,
giving your light to the world. ☀️
______
Feather, flying free. 🪶
Invitation to Share Your Journal Excerpt
It is a joy to witness the words of fellow journal writers. We learn from each other’s stories and can be inspired too!
Try this:
- Pick from one of the 4 single word prompts we used in the recent IAJW Journal Lounge – Rainbow, Purple, Sunrise, Feather
- Set a timer for 3-4 minutes and free write whatever comes. Single words can spark ideas, memories, stories, connections and more! See where the word takes you.
- If you are open to it, I invite you to share what you wrote in the comments below or to simply share what it was like to do the writing. I’m excited to read your words!
Remember, journaling is not about the product or perfection, it is about the purposeful pause on the page!
Author: Lynda Monk, MSW, RSW, CPCC is the Director of the International Association for Journal Writing, an inspirational and educational community for journal writers worldwide. She is also a speaker and author specializing in the transformational power of journaling at lyndamonk.com
Here’s what I wrote with all four word:
I feel myself stretching, imagine my arm reaching high, high in the sky and pulling out a thin strand of purple. Like Howard and his Purple Crayon, I start drawing: a purple sunrise, a purple bird, in a purple forest, with a burbling purple stream, fading off into a purple sunset. I think of Emily Dickinson and imagine hope as a thing with purple feathers.
Hi Janice, thanks for sharing. I love the playfulness in your writing. Thank you for being at the journal lounge.
Great imaginative story Janice.
I loved playing around with single words- have not done that in a while – here is what I wrote on Purple
I am purple= royalty and fierceness in one. I warrior princess I am and I stang my ground. I am purple the color of connection with the heavens. I connect with the goddesses, my intuition and allow the feminine principle in me to be honed. I am purple, at times loud, at times soft – I am purple full of life, full of play, full of dance. I am purple – lavender filled scent around me. I am found in the lavender fields. I provide warmth, love, unconditional positive regard, strength to thos that need it. From me emanates the love and healing people need. I am purple – a survivor who has walked through thorns but come out alive with scars to remember but not to hold onto. Purple soothes the scars – heals the scars and allows space to be a voice for the voiceless.
Hi Anjali, I loved reading your purple prose. I once read that purple is the colour of empowerment for women.
Love the energy in your writing, Anjali. This line stood out especially: “I am purple full of life, full of play, full of dance. I am purple – lavender filled scent around me.”
Here’s what I wrote for #4, using all 4 words.
She found a feather on one early morning walk. As she bent over to pick it up, she noticed a purple glint to the black feather. Was it due to the sunrise coloring the sky, she wondered? So she lifted her arms and held the feather in different places to see how the light affected it. She discovered a rainbow of colors shone on the silky smooth feather like a prism of sorts. She wondered what type of bird it belonged to, believing it must be a very beautiful black bird.
So beautiful, Kimberly. Thank you for sharing.
Love the curiosity in this piece, Kimberly. The assonance in this sentence also stands out: “She discovered a rainbow of colors shone on the silky smooth feather like a prism of sorts.”