7 Questions to Ask Yourself this Week
A week of (midlife) micro-journaling
It’s my birthday week, and it’s a full one—personally, professionally, and everything in between. Last week I offered daily prompts. This week, I’m shifting the rhythm.
No pressure to write every day. No journaling for the sake of productivity.
Just 7 prompts rooted in research, designed to meet you wherever you are.
🎁 Want to Give Me the Best Birthday Gift?
I’m curating a special section in the next issue of The Write Remedy and I’d love to include you in it.
This month’s theme is all about growth in progress, messy magic, and resilience in real life.
I’d love to hear how you answer the prompts below.
It can be one sentence, a short reflection, or even a photo. Just something honest and true.
Send it my way!
Comment by 6/11 and I may feature it in the next issue - with your name, your words, and a whole lot of gratitude.
Seriously, your voice in the newsletter?
That would be the best birthday present.
Here’s your prompt lineup for the week:
June 9 — Weathering the Storms
I’m still crossing my fingers for a different kind of summer (weather-wise). But the truth is, the weather isn’t ours to control—only our response to it.
Same goes for life when it doesn’t go as planned.
Adversity rarely announces itself. It just shows up—unexpected, inconvenient, loud.
But your response? That’s where your resilience lives.
Do you hunker down? Adjust your plans? Let the storm pass through you instead of fighting it?
There’s no wrong answer - only honest ones.Reflecting on challenges strengthens your sense of meaning and coping capacity.
— Park, 2010
Write:
Recall a recent challenge. How did you weather it? What did it teach you about your resilience?
June 10 — The Beauty of Imperfection
As I inch closer to 55, I’m seeing the signs of aging - more gravity and way less gravitas. Trying to be “flawless” is exhausting and really not my style. Choosing to embrace the mistakes and wrinkles is continual work in progress. If I let it go, release the “must” and “chase” - will it fall apart or align? Will the seed that lands between a rock and hard place learn to live thrive in the cracks?
Embracing imperfection reduces shame and builds authentic self-worth.
— Brown, 2010
Write:
Where do you see beauty in your imperfections? How have your “flaws” helped you grow or connect?
June 11 — Visualize Your Bloom
The brain believes what it rehearses. Visualization is a crucial part of my journaling method in the form of “visionscripting” - or writing what you want to see. Research reveals that if you can see your wants and “why” clearly - you move closer to it.
Visualization activates motivation circuits, improving goal pursuit.
— Pham & Taylor, 1999
Write:
Picture your most vibrant, thriving self. What does that look like? What choices got you there?
June 12 — Self-Affirmation
Reminding yourself who you are calms stress and sharpens clarity. Today, I am 55.
Self-affirmation buffers psychological and physiological stress responses.
— Creswell et al., 2005
Write:
Name three values or qualities you admire in yourself. How have they helped you recently?
June 13 — Letting Go
In Sirens, when one of the clone-like Kikis says, “Release what doesn’t serve you,” my husband laughed. “Sounds like you,” he said.
And he’s not wrong.
As corny as the phrase may sound—and as overused as the language around manifesting has become—in my work with women trying to move forward (in life, in a manuscript, or while walking through cancer and grief), I’ve seen this truth again and again: writing to release the past can catapult you forward.
Letting go isn’t passive. On the page, it becomes a deliberate act—a clearing, a reset, a moment of realignment. And sometimes, the thing we need to release isn’t a person or a failure, but the story we keep telling ourselves about who we were.Replaying the past won’t rewrite it. Releasing it will.
Writing about letting go reduces rumination and increases emotional clarity.
— Smyth & Helm, 2003
Write:
What are you ready to release? Write a letter (Don’t send it) to let it go.
June 14 — Future Self Visualization
Hope isn’t fluff. It’s fuel.
Visualizing your “best possible self” boosts optimism and positive affect.
— King, 2001
Write:
Imagine yourself one year from now, living a life that feels good. What’s changed? Make a list of what’s different.
June 15 — Pattern Recognition
Tony Robbins says, “If you can recognize patterns, you have an edge. No matter the situation, if you can see the pattern, you can change the outcome.”
Growth isn’t linear, but it’s rarely random. Look closer at your language, your themes. Look at what consistently occurs in your life and connect the dots. What looks like coincidence may really be a pattern depicting your subconscious patterns. Change your patterns to change your life.
Journaling helps detect emotional and behavioral patterns over time.
— Pennebaker & Seagal, 1999
Write:
What themes keep showing up in your writing or life lately? What might they be asking you to notice?
There you have it! A full week of prompts to propel you into full bloom!
Remember:
🎁 Want to Give Me the Best Birthday Gift?
I’d love to include your words in The Write Remedy!
Send me your comments/responses. Your words may help someone else to bloom.
Love you tons,
Karen
June 11
Daydreaming teaching an art class. Mix media is my favorite form of art. More ideas are developing in my mind, taking my creatively to mystical places on paper that only I can see. A raindrop hanging on a leaf. Discovering tiny stones that dropped into an unique design sparkling in the water.
Anything is possible if I don't over think to control the outcome. My work completed in a totally different direction to my surprise. Colors, designs, a plethora of materials never thought possible to create a piece of art.
When I question my work, the creative door begins to get stuck. Trust is the key. I don't need to develop the plan of how it will develop. That's the Universe's job. Keep my eye on the prize and opportunities will start to develop. No doubts allowed. Dreams do come true on God's time not mine.
Sadness has made it's home with me and I can't shake it. I walk in one direction stop at the corner and death appears. Not just anyone's death, but someone close to me. It's sad no matter who it is. It pierces my heart. I run in the opposite direction looking for fun, instead I trip over a friend who has been diagnosed with cancer. Not just any caner, it's glioblastoma stage 3. I pass out, this is too much for me to handle. Why am I being hit with another challenge so quickly? I run away again. This time I run smack into a friend who has colon cancer. I can't keep running ftom life. Stop the OCD thoughts regarding fear, about what's next. I learn to weather this storm by bending like a tree, and standing taller and stronger when the storm passes. Learning more strength and courage for more challenges to come.