Fall Reflections - designed copy - with lines - Heather Plett · Each one takes you in a new...

Fall Reflectionsa mindfulness journal

by Heather Plett

Copyright: Heather Plett, Winnipeg, Canada 2014ISBN #978-0-9936350-3-8

Unless otherwise attributed,all content is the proper ty of Heather Plett.

www.heatherplett.comWithout written permission, resale of any content herein is

prohibited.

If you have purchased the rights to make multiple copies, you may do so. Otherwise, please contact [email protected]

for permission.

With proper attribution, you’re welcome to quote sections of this document.

Welcome to Fall Reflections: a mindfulness journal.

This is the second in a series of journals that star ted with Summer Lovin’. The purpose of these journals is to help you pay more attention to your life - to the litt le details you often overlook, to the stories in your past that have helped shape you, to the people in your life who

matter, and to the sensory experiences you don’t take the time for. It is also meant to help you expand your creative writing skills and develop a writing practice that can help you process the world around you

There are sixty prompts in this journal. Each one takes you in a new direction. Some are playful and some are more serious. Some are

focused on the past and some on the present. Some are sensory and some are contemplative.

You can do them every day for two months, or you can spread them out and do them at your leisure. (Many can be done in a season other than Fall.) Other than the first and last few, they are in no particular order, so you can do them as they’re listed, or jump around and do the

ones that speak to you each day.

This is not about polished writing - it’s about intuitive writing that emerges spontaneously and unedited. Though this kind of journal writing is an excellent practice for anyone who wants to do more

“serious” writing, that’s not its primary purpose. Its primary purpose is to help you live a more mindful life - to savour the moments, to

slow down enough to really engage in the world, and to PAY ATT ENT ION.

Heather Plettwww.heatherplett.com

heatherplett.com - Fall Reflections - page 1

Day 1 - RememberIn the Fall, nearly every teacher the world over will assign at least one “tell me what you did during summer vacation” essay. That’s your assignment today. Write about the highlights of your summer. What were your favourite moments? What did you learn? Who did you play with?

Day 2 - HomeWalk through your neighbourhood. List ten things you love about your neighbourhood.


Day 3 - FarewellWrite a letter of farewell to summer - like you’re saying good-bye to a friend who came into your life for only a shor t time. What did summer mean to you? What did it bring? What regrets does it leave you with?

Day 4 - Yourself“The time will come when, with elation, you will greet yourself arriving at your own door, in your own mirror, and each will smile at the other's welcome,” (from the poem Love after love, by Derek Walcott) Imagine meeting yourself at the door. What would that meeting be like? Would you meet yourself with kindness, with abruptness, with disappointment, with excitement? Write a dialogue between you and yourself as though you’re meeting yourself for the first time.


Day 5 - CrunchWalk through the crunchy dry leaves. What does it sound like? If that sound were the backdrop for a song or movie scene, what would it be about? Write the lyrics for a song, or the dialogue for a movie script, that has the crunchy dry leaves as a backdrop.

Day 6 - ColourWhat colours do you associate with Fall? Describe them in as much detail as you can and give them names, like you would if they were the new Crayola crayons in this year’s school supplies (eg. Dried Oak Leaf Brown).


Day 7 - Dance“We have come to be dancednot the pretty dancenot the pretty pretty, pick me, pick me dancebut the claw our way back into the bellyof the sacred, sensual animal dancethe unhinged, unplugged, cat is out of its box dancethe holding the precious moment in the palmsof our hands and feet dance”(from the poem “We have come to be danced” by Jewel Mathieson) What kind of dance would you associate with Fall? A ripe harvest dance under the full moon? A dance of dying leaves released from the trees? If you can, dance that dance and then write about it. Or simply imagine it.


Day 8 - WaterWhat does water do to you? Which body of water (lake, river, ocean, bay, stream, etc.) makes you feel the most at home? Which one makes you feel rest less? What’s your favourite place to sit by wanter?

Day 9 - SuppliesWhen we were children, Fall was the time of new pencils and notebooks. Write a memory of school supplies and how they made you feel. If you wish, go buy a box of new pencils, sharpen them, and breathe in the smell.


Day 10 - Attention“Star ting here, what do you want to remember?How sunlight creeps along a shining floor?What scent of old wood hovers, what softenedsound from outside fills the air?”(from the poem You Reading this, Be Ready, by William Stafford) What do you want to remember about this day? Describe one moment that was wor thy of your attention.

Day 11 - MovementDoes your body move different ly in Fall than it does in Summer? Does it change its shape, its colour, its rhythm? Pay attention throughout the day and write what you notice.


Day 12 - EmotionsWhat emotions come up for you in Fall? How does the shift in temperature, light, etc. impact your mood?

Day 13 - TeacherWrite a letter of gratitude to a teacher who made a difference in your life.


Day 14 - HarvestFall is the season of harvest. What are you harvesting in your life right now? What project, commitment, relationship, etc. has ripened and is ready to move toward closure?

Day 15 - Party“October gave a par ty;The leaves by hundreds came-The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,And leaves of every name.The Sunshine spread a carpet,And everything was grand,Miss Weather led the dancing,Professor Wind the band.”(from the poem October’s Par ty, by George Cooper) There’s a song based on this poem that my mother would sing every fall, and it brought a bit of fancy to the world around us. Walk through the woods, or past the trees in your neighbourhood park. Imagine the scene of October’s par ty. Which characters/trees/etc. from your neighbourhood would you cast in this scene? What would happen at the par ty?


Day 16 - TasteThere’s nothing quite like a crunchy carrot or soft juicy peach, eaten straight from the garden. What’s your favourite Fall-harvested fruit or vegetable? What does it taste like? What does it remind you of? What memories do you associate with it?


Day 17 - ThanksgivingFall is the season of Thanksgiving, a time when we pause in gratitude for the bounty of the harvest. List ten things that you are grateful for.

Day 18 - ChangeLook around your home. List five things you would change about your home if you could. Is there one that’s within your power to change? What will you do about it?


Day 19 - DecayWhile Fall is a beautiful season, lush with colours and abundant with harvest, there is also the sadness of decay as the leaves fall, the grass withers, and the unpicked fruit begins to rot on the ground. The decay leads us into the season of rest and stillness. What is dying in your life right now? What feels like it is rotting? How does the release of what has died help you transition into the next phase of your life?

Day 20 - WishWhat is your wish for this day?


Day 21 - ProtectionTrees that drop their leaves seal the spots where the leaves are attached. Then fluids cannot flow in and out of the leaves, which change color and fall off. They do this to protect themselves during the harsh winter. If sap needed to flow through their trunks and branches during the winter to feed leaves, they would freeze to death. How are you like a tree, releasing something that once held beauty and purpose in order to protect yourself from greater harm?

Day 22 - MemoryIt’s the first day of school again. You’re carrying your bag full of school supplies, climbing off the bus or walking down the street, stepping into a new classroom where last year’s “big kids” learned. Write a memory of returning to school as a child.


Day 23 - Seasons“Seasons is a wise metaphor for the movement of life, I think. It suggests that life is neither a batt lefield nor a game of chance but something infinitely richer, more promising, more real. The notion that our lives are like the eternal cycle of the seasons does not deny the struggle or the joy, the loss or the gain, the darkness or the light, but encourages us to embrace it all - and to find in all of it oppor tunities for growth.” (Parker Palmer, Let your Life Speak) How is Fall a metaphor for your life?

Day 24 - The DeadHalloween. All Hallow’s Eve. A time for remembering the dead who have gone before. Name 5 people who have passed on - either people you knew or heard about through the history books - and write a sentence or two about what influence each had on your life.


Day 25 - MellowFor Keats, the famous poet, fall was the "season of mists and mellow fruitfulness". Finish the sentence “Fall is the season of...”

Day 26 - BalanceAutumn equinox is the day when both the daytime and nighttime are of the same length, which has been long interpreted to mean that the world is in balance. It’s like the ying-yang symbol - darkness balanced with light. Does this reflect your life? Is it in balance, or are you shifted too far into either darkness or light, rest or productivity, extroversion or introversion, etc.? How might this season help bring balance into your life?


Day 27 - GrowthMake a list of some of the good things you’ve harvested throughout your life - the things you’ve accomplished, grown, or nur tured that you’re proud of.

Day 28 - In Between"The in between times are some of the hardest times in life. No marching bands, no parade. There is no grand event to either plan or attend. The in between times are filled with waiting and plenty of wondering about 'what's next?' Turns out the thing that is next is simply showing up - to the promises that have been made; watering the garden that you planted at the beginning of last season. Maybe it is more true that what feels like 'in between' is the actual stuff of life. The diligence without the dreams. The ordinary fulfillment on all that we have agreed to do. Turns out that doing that which is ordinary with mindful excellence may be the cord of real ar tfulness." - Mary Anne Radmacher How does this quote reflect where you are (or where you’ve been) in your life?


Day 29 - DisguiseHalloween is a time for disguises, a time for hiding your real identity and pretending you are someone you are not. How does this reflect your life? What mask are you wearing to project an identity that doesn’t really fit who you are?

Day 30 - FriendWho was your best friend in elementary school? Describe him/her in as much detail as you can remember. What drew you to this person? Do the qualities that drew you to this person still reflect what you’re seeking in life, in your relationships, and in yourself?


Day 31 - Woods“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” - Henry David Thoreau How does going to the woods (or the shore, the prairies, etc.) help you to live more deliberately?

Day 32 - SitDescribe your favourite place to sit.


Day 33 - SensesClose your eyes for at least a minute. Pay attention to your other senses. What do you smell? What do you hear? What do you feel? What do you taste? Notice the things you might have ignored when you had your eyes open. Write about that.

Day 34 - FearDescribe one thing that scares you right now. Imagine a conversation with that thing.


Day 35 - MigrationIt’s the season of migration. Geese and other birds head south for the winter. It’s a long and arduous journey, but it’s built into their DNA that this is what they must do at the turning of the season, and so they do it. Write about a pilgrimage in your life. When did you return home, or visit a place that was calling you? Why did you make the journey?

Day 36 - JourneyStaying with the theme of journeying (in the last prompt), what journey is calling you right now - either literally or metaphorically? Where do you need to go? Star t with “I need to go to...”


Day 37 - BodyWrite a letter of gratitude to your body. Break it down into specific body par ts (hands, feet, hips, etc.) if you wish. “Thank you hands for...”

Day 38 - Dark Night“Change always involves a dark night when everything falls apar t. Yet if this period of dissolution is used to create new meaning, then chaos ends and new order emerges.” (Margaret Wheat ley) Write your reflections on this quote. How did a dark night bring about change in your life?


Day 39 - NightThe days are shor tening and nights are lengthening. List at least five benefits of the longer hours of darkness.

Day 40 - HappinessWhat has made you happy today? What has made you sad? “I am happy about...” “I am sad about...”


Day 41 - Guidance“Every time you don’t follow your inner guidance, you feel a loss of energy, loss of power, a sense of spiritual deadness.” (Shakti Gawain) Write about a time when you followed your inner guidance, even though others believed you were being foolish.

Day 42 - AnimalWhat’s the last animal you saw? Imagine having a conversation with that animal. Write a dialogue between the two of you.


Day 43 - CourageWrite about a brave moment in your life. When did you have courage?

Day 44 - Interesting“Trust that litt le voice in your head that says, "Wouldn't it be interesting if.." And then do it.” (Duane Michals) Complete that sentence. “Wouldn’t it be interesting if...”


Day 45 - FoodWrite a letter of gratitude to the farmer, hunter, fisher-person, etc. who was responsible for growing or gathering any of the food you ate in your last meal.

Day 46 - ChildRemember the person you were in grade one or kindergar ten, stepping into school for the first time. What would you tell that person if you could?


Day 47 - ShoesWrite about your favourite pair of shoes.

Day 48 - Feet“The way to know a place is not through our minds, but through our feet.” (JulianNorris) Go for a walk or remember a walk you’ve been on recent ly. (If you don’t have the ability to walk, imagine the equivalent for you.) How did your feet help you know a place?


Day 49 - BeautyFirst define beauty. Then, based on that definition, describe one beautiful thing in your line of sight right now.

Day 50 - Small“If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to sleep with a mosquito.” (Dalai Lama) Write about something small that has an an impact (positive or negative) in your life.


Day 51 - ThoughtsWhat was the first thing you thought about this morning? What do you want the last thing to be tonight?

Day 52 - Delight“A life without delight is only half a life.” (John O’Donohue) What do you delight in? Make a list of at least five things.


Day 53 - KindnessList five acts of kindness you’ve witnessed (or done) in the last week.

Day 54 - Waiting“The Waiting Place…for people just waiting. Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting. Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting.” - (Dr. Seuss in Oh The Places You’ll Go) What are you waiting for?

Day 55 - ConversationWhat conversation needs to happen that you’ve been putting off?

Day 56 - SmellHow does Fall smell?


Day 57 - SkyWhat’s the colour of the sky right now? Does it reflect your mood or not? If you were to paint a sky that reflects your mood, what colour would it be?

Day 58 - GiftImagine... You’ve just been given $1000, no strings attached. What will you do with it?


Day 59 - Calling“Remember our rule of thumb: The more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.” (Steven Pressfield) What’s one thing you’re scared of that you’re pretty sure you are called to do?

Day 60 - ForwardWinter is coming. What do you look forward to about winter?


Closing Reflections


Fall Reflections - designed copy - with lines - Heather Plett · Each one takes you in a new...

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