Leigh Patterson, founder of Moon Lists, believes that "to have self-expression, you need a self to express." For her, journaling begins with "locating yourself—being willing to just exist in your own experience. Developing the muscle to be curious and receive things with no audience and no goal." This practice creates space to "sort through what's actually occupying my attention: what I'm fixated on, what pattern keeps resurfacing that I haven't named yet. To distinguish between what matters to me and what's just ambient cultural static."

The following prompts are helpful for finding a way in when you need one—tools for naming unexamined patterns, taking stock of what's been quietly shaping your days, and returning to the headspace where, as Patterson observes, "my life improves in every way."

What’s a story about yourself you’re currently telling that isn’t quite true (to yourself or others)? A plotline that used to resonate but now feels outdated, performative, or up for revision.

Go through your screenshots folder and list five from the last month. No need to analyze, let’s just take stock: what struck you as significant enough to save?

I listened to an interview with Miranda July where she describes repeatedly reading novel drafts aloud to herself as part of a self-editing process; orating to better hear what felt unnatural or clunky. 

Identify a method you practice in order to see yourself—or your work—more clearly. (Or if nothing comes to mind…is there something that could benefit from this approach)?

Identify a very specific place that's been shaping your days lately: not dramatically, but differently than before. Maybe it’s a coffee shop you never liked until recently, a route of driving home that you never took before, a spot at home where you’ve started hanging out. 

Don’t overthink it. Scan your senses: what is most “you” right now?

A Taste/Flavor –

A Scent –

A Song/Sound –

A Visual Reference (i.e. Film, Artwork, Place…) -

A Texture –