These are prompts from some other place besides a book that ask to examine certain aspects of yourself. I will not have created these prompts myself, so I want to pay respect that they came from somewhere.
This months’ prompts are going to be coming from this substack that I recently started following:
https://substack.com/@theebookclubx/p-180404522
December journal prompts
1. What did this year teach me about myself that I didn’t know before?
2. Which version of me am I leaving behind in 2025?
3. What am I proud of myself for, even if no one else noticed?
4. Which disappointments from this year still live in my body, and what permission do I need to release them?
5. What boundaries did I learn to set or wish I had set sooner?
6. Write about one person who made your year a little softer.
7. What small, mundane moments brought me unexpected joy?
8. What blessings arrived quietly, without fanfare?
9. What did I survive that I didn’t think I would?
10. What parts of my life feel like answered prayers?
11. What did love (romantic or otherwise) teach me this year?
12. How did I show up for the people I care about, and how did they show up for me?
13. What is one relationship I want to nurture more intentionally in the new year?
14. Which connections drained me, and why did I hold onto them?
15. What does a healthy, gentle love look like for the version of me I am becoming?
16. What habits helped me grow and which ones quietly held me back?
17. What fear dominated my decision-making this year, and how can I release it?
18. What is one truth about myself I can no longer ignore?
19. What did I learn about trusting my intuition?
20. How did I show resilience even when I doubted myself?
21. What do I want December-me one year from now to thank me for?
22. What kind of energy do I want to carry into the new year?
23. What is something I want to try, even if I’m afraid or unprepared?
24. What word or theme do I want to guide me in 2026?
25. What would a gentle, ease-filled life look like and what is one step I can take toward it?
26. What is one thing I forgave myself for this year, even quietly?
27. What old dream am I ready to revisit with a wiser, gentler heart?
28. What did this year reveal about what I truly value , beyond status, speed, or success?
29. Where did I experience unexpected beauty this year, and what did it teach me about paying attention?
30. What is one soft promise I want to make to myself as the new year begins?
Where did I experience unexpected beauty this year, and what did it teach me about paying attention?
The unexpected beauty that I experienced this year was in intentional places. It was when I went to see the Grand Canyon, Meow Wolf, and Great Wolf Lodge. It was also when I visited San Francisco, CA. When I was standing above the Grand Canyon there was such a moment of feeling small and insignificant that could make it sound like a bad thing, but it was a positive that put life in perspective. It helped to start forming that life should be about living and not about just working. Working should be the thing that helps to do the things you want to do in life, not be the sole thing that is existing in the world to you. I recognize that I let this change for me because work used to never get that bad for me, even when I would complain. I would know when it was time to move on, but it wouldn’t lead me to doing absolutely nothing. I don’t believe it is the place that I currently works at fault either, I blame myself for allowing this to happen. I started having a lot happen this year and because of it I stopped looking at the beauty of an existence rooted in my values. When I was at Meow Wolf, I saw beauty in all the weirdness. In all the strange things that did not fit in. I have tried to “fit in” to a world that I shouldn’t want to fit in. I have had to be a polished turd to exist in a world that isn’t a correct fit for me. I have had to let my values go away because I wanted to get to what I believed was the next logical step in my career, but I forgot happiness. I forgot to do things in alignment with your value system. I forgot that just because a job is on the surface level sounding like a good fit, doesn’t mean that it aligns totally with your value system. Seeing beauty is looking past the surface level and finding where you truly belong in the world. That strangeness that was in Meow Wolf showed me that I like my people a bit strange. I like things that are weird and that is part of who I am. Great Wolf Lodge was more of a release and it was beautiful as well. I saw a side of me that I do not often see, the kid side. I ran around that hotel with a wand pointing at TV screens like they owed me lunch money. It was truly magical! I went back to the room after and I could tell that there was a beauty in that moment. There was happiness in the silliness that I had done.
San Francisco is different. I saw a beautiful life again that I had been missing. It taught me when I was there to pay attention to the places that make you feel happy. There were things that, of course, were not great about a city with a large homeless population, but even that made me recognize that my desire to help others has always been attached to this place. It has always been about helping people that were similar to me. The prompt states unexpected and this was definitely unexpected. I went thinking it was going to be my last time in San Francisco ever. I went with the idea that I wanted to go back by myself to do the things that I wanted, since the previous time I had went I went with my now ex-partner. While I was there, I saw myself talking to others again. I saw myself living a life. Yes, I was on vacation, so I was visiting places, but I realize that these things are all things I could do if I lived there. There was so much to do that I wanted to do. The other telling thing was when I came back, even though I was sunburned, my colleagues and friends all said that I looked different, that I seemed more at peace. I realized I did because I had been home. I had been somewhere that makes my heart soar. If only one person had said it, I would have been able to ignore it, but it was pretty much everyone that saw me. People that did not even regularly speak to me said that I seem lighter, happier, and full of life. I was.
