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notebookmuseum · 4 years

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Journaling When Your Life Feels Too Boring

(This is something of a departure from my usual posts here, but I figured I'd suggest some journal prompts for anyone who needs them ☺️)

So I read a lot about people who want to take up journaling, but are too intimidated by it. One of the most common reasons is they have nothing to write about - your life is dreadfully boring and nothing fun or exciting ever happens to you anymore. (Cue the "I'm being attacked" from millennials and generation z)

If you hate the tired old advice of writing about your day or complaining about your relationship troubles, maybe I can help. And I should know, I have an embarrassingly large plastic storage box in my room full of roughly 20 years' worth of journals.

The most important thing is that you're journaling for YOU, not for Tumblr or Instagram or YouTube. It's okay if you don't journal every day or if your notebook looks like it got run over by a car, as long as you're actually using it. Nice but empty, unused notebooks make people sad :(

1. Pretend you're a space alien - I can't take full credit for this one, I got the idea from an art journaling guide I found at a secondhand bookstore. If you try to describe your everyday life to a Martian (or some other nonhuman being like a robot or an ogre or a ghost from 17th-century France), it's going to look a LOT less boring.

2. Useless trivia and history - A side effect of #1 is that your imaginary audience might start asking questions about where things come from or why certain human practices are the way they are. If you're anything like me, you'll probably start Googling out of curiosity and wind up down a one-hour Wikipedia hole about liberation theology or bleeding heart doves or ruby chocolate. You can't go wrong with writing about the weird or neat things you've learned.

3. Describe your hobby - No, I'm not just talking about the usual like book or movie reviews. Go into really fun stuff you can't find on Wikipedia, like hobby in-jokes or shipping (or how silly you think shipping is) or petty internet drama. This has the added bonus of you secretly laughing (or losing faith in humanity) from all the dumb things going on while you're too busy swooning over Chris Evans or Taylor Swift.

Note: If you're REALLY clueless about what to write, the nuclear option is to take a random TV show or movie you're into right now... and look it up on tvtropes.org. I apologize for everything that comes after.

5. Moderate your greed (with apologies to early 2000s Philippine politics) - Agonizing over those fancy shoes you'd been eyeing in the mall? Arguing with yourself over getting the latest iPhone? You can try getting to the bottom of those desires by journaling about that thing you want or why you want it. This can help you come up with reasons to quell those desires - or backfire completely and accidentally convince yourself to buy it after all. Exercise with great caution.

4. Why aren't you doing _____ - Lets face it: we all procrastinate. So be honest and write about the secret, shameful reasons why. The __ can be as simple as why you haven't washed the dishes yet, or something big like why you still haven't gone backpacking through Asia like you always dreamed of.

6. My toes, my knees, my shoulders, my head - This is a common mindfulness exercise to help you calm down when you're stressed: sit quietly for a moment and do a mental inventory of how you're physically feeling right now. Has that small cut on your leg healed yet? Do you need a haircut? Do you feel like crap because you haven't been getting enough sleep? Go ahead and complain about all those things on paper.

Trigger warning: For those of you struggling with body image issues, this prompt might have the side effect of dredging up all those old insecurities. Be very cautious when approaching those thought processes, and remember to take care of yourself.

7. Don't write at all - You probably have a spot in your house full of things you can't quite bring yourself to throw away: movie tickets, family photos, bus tickets, shopping lists, post-its from the office, a wrapper or label from the sweets your aunt brought home as pasalubong. Or you probably make stick figure doodles all the time about all the gruesome things you want to do to your boss. All of those can find a place in your journal. Journaling doesn't have to be just writing; it's meant to be good for you, not to make you even more stressed or pressured.

Note: "Pasalubong" is a Filipino word for gifts your friends and relatives take home from their travels, like t-shirts or fancy chocolate or bottles of lotion and perfume. Yeah, this is really common in Philippine culture, you can look up the (sometimes tragic) history of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) for context.

#notebooks #journals #journaling #journal prompts #notebookmuseum

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cammmgarcia-blog · 6 years

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Backstage

By Jacqueline E. Smith

Genre - YA Romance

Publisher - Wind Trail Publishing

Book 2 of Boy band Series, read my review of Boy band -> https://cammmgarcia.tumblr.com/post/167158577164/boy-band-by-jacqueline-e-smith-genre-young

Huge thanks to the author Jacqueline E. Smith for sending me a review copy of this gorgeous series! Rest assured that this does not affect my thoughts about the book. :)

Synopsis

Melissa Parker might just be the luckiest girl on the planet.

She’s just turned twenty-one.

She’s best friends with The Kind of September.

And she’s dating Sam Morneau, everyone’s ultimate celebrity crush. Of course, no one is supposed to know about that.

As it turns out, no one is supposed to know about a lot of things that happen behind the scenes of life with the planet’s most popular boy band. Now, what should be Happily Ever After for Mel and Sam is turning into a series of secrets, manipulation, and potential heartbreak... Just in time for The Kind of September’s world tour.

Thoughts and Opinions

Backstage is the second book of Boyband series. It follows the secret romance between Melissa Park and the very famous Sam Morneau, member of the hottest Boyband: The Kind of September.

“All those romance movies would have you believe that once you find that one perfect guy, everything else just magically falls into place. The real problem with stories like that is that they end before the Ever After part actually begins.”

I super love the holiday vibe on the first chapters. It's a perfect backdrop for Sam and Melissa's moments. I have mentioned on my review for the book 1 that I need more of Sam and Mel's moments and that's what I get on this book. It's just a right amount though and not over the top, just enough to make you swoon from first page up to the last! The characters of this book are so amazing! You'll adore the main characters and the whole TKOS squad. And I'm sure as hell that you'll despise with all your heart and soul the antagonist.

I swear I was infuriated.

While this sequel has a lot more drama (and betrayals) than the first book, i am so amazed how the author still managed to make the story less heavy. The writing style is very reader friendly, I think anyone could get addicted with Jacqueline E. Smith's stories.

Overall, I truly enjoyed this book. I'm not gonna lie, i love it more than the first one. The ending is so cute, i felt so giddy and so happy and so needy cos I can't wait! I can't wait what's going to happen next now that- okay i have to keep my mouth shut now before I accidentally spill one of the best parts of the story 😂🤐

So yeah, it has everything I want in a YA Contemporary: awesome characters that are still relatable, right amount of drama, and a whole lot of feel-good moments. I highly suggest it to those who loves to have a feel-good reading experience and especially to those who are fan of Kasie West's books!

Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

About the Author

Jacqueline Smith was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. She attended the University of Texas at Dallas, where she earned her Bachelor's Degree in Art and Performance in 2010. Two years later, she earned her Master's Degree in Humanities. Along with writing and publishing, Jacqueline loves photography, traveling, and nature.

For more news and information about Jacqueline E. Smith's books, follow her on her instagram account at:

Instagram.com/jacquelineesmith

#boy band series #backstage book review #jacqueline e. smith #boy band 2 #boy band book review #jacqueline e. smith books #young adult romance #music and romance #swoony guys #boy band quotes #backstage quotes

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