out of the woods into the light · carol chesney he . the serenity prayer god, grant me the...

Out of the Woods& Into the Light:

30 Writing Promptsto Help You Survive & Thrive

in Challenging Times

Carol Chesney He�www.carolchesneyhess.com

The Serenity Prayer

God, grant me the serenityTo accept the things I cannot change,

The courage to change the things I can,And the wisdom to know the difference.

~ Reinhold Neibuhr

Introduction

Out of the Woods & Into the Light

©2020 Carol Chesney Hess All rights reserved.www.CarolChesneyHess.com 4

Hello!

Thank you for purchasing “Out of the Woods & Into the Light: 30 Writing Prompts to Help You Survive & Thrive During Challenging Times.”

I hope you will find this therapeutic writing journal a useful tool to turn to often as you navigate your way in and out of the woods in which we all find ourselves from time to time.

May it help you find what you seek – answers, peace, hope,and more.

Warmly,

CarolCarol Chesney Hess



Why a Therapeutic Writ ing Journal

Writing has pulled me through some of the toughest times in my life – the death of my adored father from cancer a few short months after I ended my marriage, a surgery gone wrong that left me in a wheelchair for months, the abrupt departure of the love of my life with no explanation, a diagnosis of a particularly deadly form of breast cancer.

Each situation felt unbearable at the time – something I wasn’t even remotely strong enough to survive. Every day stretched out interminably, a nightmare from which there was no waking. And the feelings – oh my God! I thought I would suffocate under their weight if I allowed myself to experience them even just a little bit.

So I turned to writing as a last ditch effort to just get through the day, to just survive the next 24 hours of the hell in which I found myself.

And, lo and behold, the writing worked. Not only did I survive, but I eventually thrived.

Writing allowed me to safely ride the waves of emotions that threatened to drown me. Much to my surprise, it even afforded me a way to process and accept those emotions, to learn the lessons each experience contained, and to give me a much needed new perspective on myself and my life.

And so writing has become my therapeutic tool of choice to which I turn for the little challenges, the big challenges, and the I-don’t-think-I’m-going-to-survive-this challenges.

I hope it will prove to be as powerful a tool for you.



About This Journal & How to Use It

Out of the Woods & Into the Light has two purposes:

1. To encourage you to explore the dark and difficult woods in which you find yourself and to express and process the feelings you are experiencing in a safe way.

2. To inspire you to discover the lessons hidden within the woods and to learn from them so you can find the path that will lead you, step-by-step, out of the woods and into the light.

Therefore, the journal is divided into two sections:

• Section 1 is an inner, introspective journey of the woods in which you find yourself right now.

• Section 2 is an adventurous discovery of the life and light you want to walk into in the future.

When I designed this journal, it was my intention that you use it for 30 days, writing your response to one prompt each day. However, you are encouraged to make this journal your own and use it the way it works best for you.

Allow your intuition to guide you.

Maybe you will work through the prompts in order. Or jump forward. Or go backward. Or go back and forth. Maybe you will respond to every prompt. Or skip some prompts. Or add your own. Or both.

Maybe you will complete the journal in a month. Or two months. Or three days. Or a year.

There is no right or wrong way to use this journal.



Tips for Using This Journal

1. Keep the original “clean” so you can make copies and use the journal over and over.

2. Choose a time and place to write in your journal when and where you won’t be interrupted. This is an opportunity to be kind and compassionate with yourself. Give yourself this gift of time to take care of yourself, express your heart, and heal your soul. You are doing sacred work here that deserves to be respected and honored, first and foremost by you.

3. Don’t censor yourself. This journal is for your eyes only. Do what you need to do to keep it private and keep yourself safe. And then write your heart out! Get down and dirty, as honest as you know how to be. Don’t hold back. Pour it all out.

4. Don’t judge yourself. Don’t judge what you’re writing. Don’t judge how you’re writing it. This journal is a therapeutic tool. Don’t use it as a stick with which to beat yourself. Don’t allow your harsh inner critic (we all have one) tell you how to do this. There is no right or wrong way. There’s just your way.

5. Write as little or as much as you want. Some prompts might touch a hidden well within, and buckets and buckets of words will come pouring out. Other prompts might engender a “meh,” and you’ll write a sentence or two or nothing.

6. Stay in the moment and linger as long as you need. There are two kinds of butterflies. One sips the nectar of each flower lightly and then quickly moves on to the next flower. The other lingers at each flower and drinks deeply, extracting all the sweetness the flower has to offer. Choose to be the butterfly that lingers at each writing prompt and squeezes the juice out of it before moving on to the next. There’s no hurry.

7. Allow yourself to wander off the beaten path. Let your writing wander wherever your heart and mind wander. Yes, you will probably take detours and maybe even get lost. But you never know – a wandering detour off the beaten path can lead you right to the door of what you seek.

8. Listen to your intuition and spiritual guidance. Always. They won’t steer you wrong. They will keep you safe. And they will lead you home to yourself. Always.

The Woods



Prompt #1: Describe the challenging situation in which you find yourself right now.



Prompt #2: When you check in with yourself today, how are you feeling? How would you rather feel?



Prompt #3: Right now, what are you finding particularly difficult? Why do you suppose it’s so challenging?



Prompt #4: What worries you the most right now? When you take a step back from your worry, how would you judge it? (Reasonable, excessive, misplaced, etc.) Is the source of your worry something over which you have control?



Prompt #5: What angers you the most right now? When you take a step back from your anger, how would you judge it? (Reasonable, excessive, misplaced, etc.) Is the source of your anger something over which you have control? Is your anger masking another emotion?



Prompt #6: What scares you the most right now? When you take a step back from your fear, how would you judge it? (Reasonable, excessive, misplaced, etc.) Is the source of your fear something over which you have control?



Prompt #7:

When you are worried, angry, or frightened, how do you react? How do you tend to think? What do you tend to do?



Prompt #8: If you could change one thing about yourself right now, what would it be and why? How could you start to make that change?



Prompt #9: What are you doing/saying/thinking that makes you most proud of yourself in the current challenging situation and why?



Prompt #10: What unhelpful and/or limiting beliefs are you holding right now? How would you like to reframe them?



Prompt #11: What is your blind spot with regard to this situation? Your Achilles heel? What can you do to counteract your blind spot?



Prompt #12: If you could change one thing about the situation in which you find yourself now, what would it be?



Prompt #13: If you can’t change the situation in which you find yourself, is there a way you can learn to accept it and make peace with it?



Prompt #14: Why do you think change is so difficult? Why do you think acceptance is so difficult? Why do you think letting go is so difficult?



Prompt #15: What are the lessons you are learning in this current challenge?

The Light



Prompt #16: One of the things I like most about myself is . . . . . I am very strong when it comes to . . . . . . Unlike most people, I . . . . . Are there ways I can apply these things to my current challenging situation?



Prompt #17: One of the things my family and friends most appreciate about me is . . . . . People count on me to/for . . . . . I am known to be . . . . . Are there ways I can use these qualities to my advantage in my current situation?



Prompt #18: One of the most important lessons I’ve learned in my life is . . . . . How can I apply what I’ve learned to this situation?



Prompt #19: The five most important values I want to live my life by are . . . I chose each of them because . . . . .



Prompt #20: The five things (objects, people, activities, places, etc.) that give me the most pleasure are . . . . . Is there a way I can incorporate these into my current situation?



Prompt #21: My five favorite ways to feel are . . . . . (Be sure to name a feeling.) And some of the things (objects, people, activities, places, etc.) that make me feel each of those feelings are . . . . How can I generate my favorite emotions in the current situation?



Prompt #22: I wish I was more . . . . . Here’s how I could make that happen. . . . .



Prompt #23: One of the peak moments in my life was . . . . . (Describe it in full detail and what made it a peak moment.)



Prompt #24: If I could change one thing about my life in general, it would be . . . . . Is there a way I can start to make that change?



Prompt #25: If I had a million dollars, here’s how I would spend it . . . . .



Prompt #26: My secret dream that I haven’t told anyone about is . . . . .



Prompt #27: If there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s . . . . . I know this because . . . . .



Prompt #28: The person I most admire is . . . . . because . . . . .



Prompt #29: If I could change one thing about the world, it would be . . . . . One way I can nake that change in my small part of the world is . . . . .



Prompt #30: This is what I want people to say about me when I’m gone . . . . .



Bonus Prompt: Surprise! A gift prompt – except it isn’t really a prompt. It’s more like a lovely date with your future.

Describe your ideal, ordinary day in the life you dream of living – from the time you get up in the morning until the time you go to bed at night. Let yourself have fun with this. Don’t

let your inner critic censor you. Don’t let it limit or judge your dream.

Get as specific and as descriptive as possible about your ideal ordinary day. What time do you get up? What time do you go to bed? Who is part of your dream life? Where do you live? What is the climate? The geography? The flora and fauna?

What does your home look like? What objects and colors and materials and environments surround you? What kind of work do you do and with/for whom? What social activities do you enjoy? What hobbies and interests do you pursue? How do you spend your alone time? Your time with other people?

And most important of all, how do you FEEL when you are living your dream life? How do you feel when you think about and write about your dream life?



My Ideal Ordinary Day



My Ideal Ordinary Day(continued)

A Final Word



Congratulations!

You have come to the end of this journal. But not to the end of your journey. In fact, I have a sneaky suspicion that your journey – the new one that’s filled with light – is just beginning. How exciting is that?!

Thank you for allowing me to accompany you on this journey. I am grateful for the opportunity.

Warmly,

CarolDo you dream about writing a book?

Check out my website (link below) for book coaching programs and writers’ retreats for women who want to write books.

Carol’s WebsiteCarol’s Website

A final PS . . . . . . . .

Here I am at age 3, sailing my grandfather’s Friendship sloop on Penobscot Bay, off the shores of Deer Isle, Maine.

I look so serious!

But I love this photo. Maybe because I hadn’t gotten lost in any woods yet. I was still living in the light.

Thank heavens the light always awaits us. Sometimes it’s as close as the end of our pen.

https://carolchesneyhess.com

out of the woods into the light · carol chesney he . the serenity prayer god, grant me the...

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