image: from my visual journal

Finding our own Inspiration

has been the theme for the quotations I chose for

September 2023

Below…you’ll find all of the quotes from September along with some

thoughts

journaling prompts

suggestions

&

 questions

to get you thinking and your Journaling Juices flowing…

I hope you enjoy…

There are a lot of thoughts, suggestions, questions, prompts in here….all my rambling ideas collected together

Maybe just pick one!

 The one that stands out to you, to work with in your own Journal 

All of this months quotes are selection from the people who I admire and/or inspire me or who’s lives & legacy have been an inspiration.

  On the wall behind my desk, I have pictures of some of these people who are important to me.

  I find it helpful to have these constant visual reminders.

Week 1:

What a comfort is this Journal.  I tell myself to myself and throw the burden on my book and feel relieved

Anne Lister (1791 – 1840)

My understanding from the little reading I’ve done about Anne Lister is that she started writing a diary in 1806 at the age of 15.  She died in September 1840 in a remote province of Russia aged 49, leaving 24 volumes, 6,000 pages, two million words of diary content.  When Anne Lister wrote in her Journal, over all those years, she was not writing for someone else to read. Quite the opposite in fact as much of it was written in a secret code.  She wrote it as her own  record, her own account and as she says in this quote, she wrote to relieve herself of the burden of her own thoughts

picture of my own journal

Questions…

• Who inspires you ?
• Why ?
• Is your journal a ‘comfort’ to you ?

Suggestions…

• Make a list of all the people you can think of who inspire you
• Think about the reasons they inspire you

Week 2:

My hearts desire was freedom…400 years ago they’d have burned me as a witch or dunked me like a big biscuit

Kathy Burke

artwork: own

This weeks quote was from Kathy Burke, Actor, Writer, Comedian, Director.  I aspire to know myself well enough, be comfortable enough in who I am and to be brave enough to show up as I believe Kathy does.

Suggestions…

• Go on a hunt for images that reflect those people or things that inspire you
• Make a collage,,,images of all the individuals, places, things that inspire you
• Either put it up somewhere to act as a reminder, or keep it in your journal

Week 3:

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.  You must do the thing which you think you cannot do

Frida Kahlo  (1907 – 1954 )

image: stock photo

Our third quote for September came courtesy of Frida Kahlo…iconic artist who endured incredible pain and suffering in her lifetime as a result of a terrible accident.  She has become a muse and inspiration for many people whether it be for her amazing artwork, her distinctive beauty or her strength & determination.

Journal Prompts…

• The things I fear I cannot do…
• The things I have already done…
• Strength & courage show up in my life…

Week 4:

There are no ‘most women’ and not to be one, through disinclination or disability even, is not to be a personal failure: the failure lies in the expectations of others

Janet Frame  ( 1904 – 2004 )

image: own visual journal

This, our final quote for September is from Janet Frame, famous writer from New Zealand.  Her first book was published while she was a resident in a psychiatric hospital and it’s publication saved her from the fate of undergoing a lobotomy for which she was scheduled!  She went on to produce many more works of literature including novels, short stories and poems. She was awarded the ‘Order of New Zealand’, New Zealand’s highest civil honour.  Her story has been dramatized in the well known film ‘An Angel At My Table’.

Journal Prompts…

• the expectations of others…
• ‘most women/men’…
• I feel disinclined…

Here’s a peek inside my Mini Journal for September ….

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In the group,  I share our weekly  quote and usually, to accompany it, I share some of my thoughts, ideas, suggestions.  Not all of those make it to here on the website. So, why not join the group to make sure you don’t miss anything

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