review notes: journaling project (💁🏻‍♀️completion)

Posted on by stargardener
notes in my altered book journal

A review/reflection practice facilitates clarity and ultimately minimizes the inevitable overwhelm phase in the cycle(s) of living.

This post includes my review notes + favorite prompts from the second half of Suleika Jaouad‘s New Year’s Journaling Project.

This daily project was precisely what I needed to slow-start this calendar year! ❤️ My guide word for 2026 is [freedom] and daily, focused writing and creation ushered in fresh perspectives! 🥳

[Day 15] Marginalia: “More often than not, I find that the real stuff happens in the margins—meaning a free-flowing zone where the stakes are lower and I’m somehow able to tap into the essential.” -Anne Francey

  • This is definitely a way to journal [keep a record of] our reading, Braveheart! 🔍
  • When I read a book, I like to “move in”—marking pages with notes and doodles as I add colorful tabs to pages I know I will want to revisit.

[Day 16] Set a timer

❤️ “Set a timer for twelve minutes. Write as if you are absolutely going to destroy this page when the timer ends. Say the thing you keep revising away. … Permission to burn or tear up your pages after writing.”

[Day 19] Write a letter from your body to your mind.

“Together, we made it to October. On the day I gave birth I felt an otherworldly sense of purpose. I was certain of my body’s ability to power through.” -Nell Diamond

❤️ I enjoyed this prompt immensely! It led to pulling two of my favorite books from my bookshelves for review and inspiration!

currently reviewing these books

[Day 21] When the mind goes quiet

  • “If you quit thinking for one hour, what will happen?” -Rumi
  • “When you don’t name things any longer, you start seeing.” -From “Zen Bones,” a lecture by Alan Watts

❤️ This day of the journal project also included an interview

  • “What does it mean to choose joy—not as denial, but as resistance?”

The second half of this project was affirming and inspired me to value intuition on a deeper level.

Two weeks ago, I discussed the “On Purpose” chapter of The Book of Alchemy by Suleika Jaouad with kindred friends. Reading this chapter allowed me to revisit the transitions, heart-breaking realities and healing revelations of that decade.

My practice led to me understanding that my worth is not tied to my service to other people—a belief that previously kept me captive to trying harder and doing more.

“I needed to find and pursue my singular purpose—one that was meaningful to me, and had an impact on others, and also told the world, I’m a person of value. I needed to choose the correct path, preferably yesterday but by tomorrow at the very least. My eighty-year-old self depended on it.” -Suleika Jaouad

I appreciated the consistent reminder that this project is “not a challenge or dare. It’s a daily ritual to help nudge you, one millimeter at a time, toward the person you’re becoming” (Suleika Jaouad).

“Recovery is a side-effect of curiosity. Knowledge is a side-effect of curiosity.” -Richard Siken

[Day 22 & 26] Favorites! ❤️ A map made of feeling and mapping the shape of memory. 🗺️

  • These prompts were a marvelous adventure!
  • Of the examples Suleika shared with this prompt, this one inspired one of the maps of feeling I drew.

❤️ The prompts for Days 27-29 focused on values and beliefs and led to several meaningful realizations; realizations about how I have changed (and remained consistent) during my 60+ years.

❤️ Day 30’s prompt: write a journaling manifesto. This has become one of my current projects!

  • I listened to this song 🎶 several times during my writing during Days 27-30. (It was also recommended as a prompt by Suleika.)

“We need rituals that ground us and invite reflection—rituals we can turn to for whatever shows up on our doorstep tomorrow—and that help us hold the beautiful and the brutal facts of life in an open palm.” -Suleika Jaouad

What does this review + journal project have to do with my right brain planning practice?

  • I journal and read (varying amounts) on a daily basis as a part of my practice.

Chronicling (and reviewing) our thoughts and activities on a regular basis reveals patterns; it fosters meaning and helps us to live according to our values.

  • Setting aside time and space on a regular basis for both tangible and intangible processing is how we come to identify our values and desires + get clarity.

Thank you kindly for your interest in right brain planning! I am so grateful for your presence and support! ❤️