Journal Prompt – Are you doing the work you love? If you woke up tomorrow and had enough money to live comfortably for the rest of your life, is your job a place that brings you enough joy that you would go if you didn’t have to go? If so, write a journal entry in which you advise others on how to get to that place in their live. If not, what would you rather be doing? What moves are you making to ensure you get there?

Story Starter – Your boss has been yelling and storming through the office for hours. Your coworkers keep shifting their to-do tasks to you and calling it teamwork. Every time the phone rings, it’s someone who wants you to do something else. And guess what? Everybody needs you to work on their work RIGHT NOW. When you hear your boss coming your way five minutes before the end of the day, you already know he has a project that will require you to stay for another late night in a month full of late night work emergencies. You close your eyes and wish to the old gods and the new (#GOT) that everybody would just go the $#%! away. And then there was silence. When you open your eyes… Write the story.

Journal Prompt: Growing up, a rule at my house was to be on the front porch by the time the street lights came on. At the time, it seemed so arbitrary. Why then? Why not when the sun went down, or at a specific time? As an adult, it totally makes sense. The street lights come on when it’s getting dark out. And while creeps will get you at any time, after dark, there are many more dangers in our world than in the bright light of day. What rules did you have as a child that didn’t make sense then but make a ton of sense to you now?

Story Starter: During the summer storms three years ago, the neighborhood children disappeared. All at once, without a trace. People searched, posted flyers, and did national interviews to no avail. Every child between the ages of 5 and 10 just vanished, almost as though they never existed. Eventually, people gave up the search. Marriages ended, people moved, and the remaining youth were kept close to home. There hadn’t been storms like that again, until this year. Last night, as you watched the storm clouds gathering just after sunset, you looked down the street and saw one of the missing. Write the story.

Journal Prompt: Think about the metaphorical bridges you’ve crossed or planned to cross. Where are your bridges taking you? What are they bringing you? Is this what you want for your life?

Story Starter: You thought it was an ordinary day, but as you turned down the street that should have led to your house, instead of seeing your regular street, you see this bridge. Write the story.