The Journal Prompt

Insightful Journal Prompts Delivered Weekly.

Good morning!

Welcome back to The Journal Prompt, your weekly companion for introspection and personal growth. 🌿

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In This Week’s Issue (6-minute read)

💬 Quote of the Week

🖼️ Framing Your Reflection

✍️ Three Insightful Journal Prompts

Framing Your Reflection 🖼️

His name was literally Chainsaw. And what he shared with us kind of broke my heart a bit.

My family and I were on a business/family trip recently to the Hawaiian island of Kuai.

We like to make small talk with servers at restaurants cause you know…it’s the human thing to do.

And when we asked this 19-22 year old for an interesting fact about himself, he told us his middle name was Chainsaw.

Talk about edgy and awesome! His parents had guts! Lol

Which is why his answer to the next question we posed kind of rocked me a little bit.

We asked a pretty open ended question about his future plans.

Chainsaw said….

“Well, you know, my family is Polynesian. And my dad said that our place is here on the island, and that we’re not really cut out for the rest of the world. So I think I’ll just stick around here and see what happens”.

You could feel the disappointment and defeat in his voice reverberate through your body.

I get why he felt he needed to share his father’s beliefs - loyalty.

Most behaviors are a lagging indicator of all the years spent reinforcing them - tight knit family, from a tradition-oriented culture that focuses on their connection to their roots and the land. Understandable.

But “pride in heritage” is not what his voice and body language said. His voice was heavy with regret.

And even with my cursory understanding of the Polynesian people, I knew there was one huge thing missing from his description - the spirit of adventure.

The Polynesian Triangle was created by…you guessed it...Polynesians sailing thousands of miles across the unknown Pacific 🌊 to discover new lands using a celestial navigation system they invented…..in canoes they made with their hands. 😳

It’s BONKERS. Just look at this map and the DATES on the exploration routes👇

Talk about dangerous stuff.

Discovery, danger, and exploration are deeply rooted in that culture just as much as respect for tradition and the land.

Maybe I should have pulled the young man aside and spoke to him about my thoughts - at the time I thought maybe it wasn’t my place to chime in on what’s clearly a family matter.

And perhaps me thinking “it’s not my place” was just me cowardly rationalizing a way to avoid a difficult conversation with a stranger.😪

But the fact that 4 months later I think about Chainsaw almost daily is the reason for this issue.

Too much safety coddles the soul.

It kills the spirit of adventure that fuels our life force.

And integral to adventure is the inherent role that danger and uncertainty MUST play. Otherwise, it’s not an adventure because we know the outcome.

That pit-of-our-stomach feeling that we have something REAL to lose….that invigorates us, propels creativity, and makes us feel alive.

Chainsaw’s voice made clear that he longed for adventure, and felt powerless against what he (wrongly) perceives that “Fate” relegated to his People.

I don’t envy the spot he is in - because loyalty to oneself and loyalty to one’s family are extremely hard things to balance.

And maybe there’s instances where our parent’s version for us has to die so that the version of ourselves that we long for can live - at least that was certainly the case in my own life.

A clarification here - this is not just about pursuing economic success. This is about not suppressing what our Daemon (Socrate’s word for the “inner voice”) says we need to pursue because it sets our soul on fire.🔥

For fear of a quick demise, we bring about a more permanent slow one.

One that takes its “logically justified” nibbles from us throughout the decades…

A slow death that becomes noticeable too often only after we have more years behind us than ahead.

Let’s avoid the slow death at all costs.💀

If this is you, don’t panic - it only makes things worse. As I guy who’s personally acquainted with panic attacks, trust me when I tell you - they suck.

This is also not a call to recklessness, but a calling to wake up and do the thing our Daemon is screaming to do. Or the anxiety will eat us alive.

But let’s not forget….just as anxiety in one thing transfers to other things…..so does Courage. Because, thankfully, that’s how the psyche works.

The soul needs adventure, and therefore, danger is essential to a life well led.

Three Journal Prompts ✍️

🔍 Dangerous Memories

When is the last time you did something dangerous?

Conversely, examine a time when you imagined a danger that never came to pass and you missed out on an opportunity?

Which one proved more useful to your character development.

🧠 Are We the Problem

Just as Chainsaw’s father fed him limiting beliefs, and my mother fed mine (and I’m sure in an unknowing way I am also feeding to my children), let’s look in the mirror and ask….

Are we the source of someone else’s limiting beliefs? If so, how can I turn the tide?

🔭 Deathbed Story Time

Imagine all the adventures you dream about having. Now imagine you never even tried any of them because you thought it was too risky at the time.

In this context, do the logical arguments you’re using for not taking action now still seem valid?

As we dive deeper into understanding ourselves, let’s remember that we are not alone.

Writing is healing and healing can hurt - reach out to friends and family. They are there for you.

Sending Good Vibes,

Ivan from The Journal Prompt Team

Useful issue?

Be the change you want to see in the world. 🌎 🌍 🌏

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