Periodically on this blog, I’ll share a journaling prompt designed to help you dig through the mental matter bouncing around your head. Not all of these exercises may seem applicable, but chances are good they will.

I’ll repeat the following introduction before each exercise, because there may be people joining the process at different points of the process.

INTRO: Journaling is a way to engage the subconscious mind and to allow your inner wisdom to float to the surface of your awareness. By spending just FIFTEEN minutes per day in quiet reflection with yourself, you will be able to uncover your gifts, motivations and opportunities to develop.

Give yourself a week to really get the hang of it. Spend some time learning about your best time for this “inner conference.” Some of us are morning people. Some of us like to write things out right before going to sleep for the evening. Others may look forward to a midday appointment with our own soul. Your journey is YOURS.

You’ll need the following supplies: pen/pencil, paper or notebook, relaxing instrumental background music (e.g. classical or ambient — NO lyrics), tea/water/wine and a timer. OPTIONAL: essential oil (Roman chamomile, lavender or Mandarin Orange are good for focus).

Set your timer for 15 minutes and let’s begin.

“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they really didn’t do it. They just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after awhile. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things.” — Steve Jobs

Although she died in April 1982, the influence my grandmother has had on my life extends far beyond the time I spent with her on earth. After my mom and dad divorced, my mom moved back in with her mother and so most of my formative childhood memories were forged with my grandmother serving a major part. From colloquialisms to habits, her example affects my day-to-day actions even now, whether it relates to her wisdom or life lessons in general.

She graduated from high school in 1932 and married shortly thereafter. As a child, my bedroom was her former sewing room, and the walls were adorned with family portraits, among them, a sepia-toned one of her at her wedding. My grandfather was tall and rangy: all angles and ears; my grandmother a soft, slender ivory column next to him. Her stylish bob and Clara Bow pout stand out in my memory, especially. She was so young and hopeful.

Of course, in the 1930s, most of the world was experiencing economic fallout from The Great Depression. Global financial markets had tanked; the Great Dust Bowl had ravaged the topsoil of the midwest …and yet among this hardship she and my grandfather set out to begin their life together.

It wasn’t until after she died that I found them. Sinewy and chalk-like, they were my grandmother’s wedding shoes. Curled with age and cracked at the stress points where her foot would have flexed when she walked, I found them nestled in a box among her schoolbooks.

Through a combination of her poverty and thrift, she had repurposed a pair of brown shoes by painting them white to match her wedding dress.

One of the things of which I am most proud about my grandmother is that she did not weather the financial storm of the Great Depression with a sense of privation. Instead, she drew from the experience the reverse: how to celebrate what she had and to expand its possibilities through resourcefulness and creativity.

Hers was an abundance mentality and one of gratitude for her blessings.

Her shoes now sit on a bookshelf in my dining room, a constant reminder of sacrifice, resilience and hope that anything can be borne, as long as you keep your heart from despair. Through the crucible of The Great Depression, she learned how to flex her creativity—a trait she passed on to her six children and 24 grandchildren.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that we don’t have enough resources, forgetting that we are our best source of renewal.

Trust your vision. Nurture it. Flex your creativity and watch your dream grow.

JOURNALING PROMPTS
• When have I experienced lack?
• How did I handle it?
• What assets or skills do I have NOW that can help me?
• What were the silver linings?
• How did I shift from lack to abundance?

P.S. Every Sunday, I publish a free weekly newsletter called the 3 Minute Reset, which includes life lessons, life hacks and treats. To subscribe, click here.