Forcing To Qualify
Linked From:
An alternative to gratitude journaling for when it's difficult to feel grateful. It asks you to start journaling about "what doesn't suck", using neutrality as a stepping stone into gratitude and then eventually into optimism.
What's "Forcing To Qualify?" and why is it important to discuss?
"Forcing to Qualify" is what I'm naming a particular way of getting stuck while journaling.
It's forcing yourself (or at least trying to force yourself) to have something to journal about to meet a prompt or journaling method.
It's important to discuss because many journal keepers experience this cycle:
Taking a prompt, trying to journal with it, and something feels off about your response, if you even could respond.
Why does it happen? What can be done about it?
Why Does This Happen?
One, the conventions of writing
and two, how we've learned to answer questions.
The second one, how we answer questions is most relevant to this post so I'll highlight that.
(I'll add links to the Connected Concepts section the moment I write a post on the first).
Anyway,
We've learned that a Yes-No question should only get a "Yes" or "No" answer.
We've learned that a "What is ____" question should only get a "That is _____" answer.
We've leaned that a "How do you _____" question should only get a "It do that by _____" answer.
We've learned that gratitude journaling means saying "I'm grateful for _____".
A journaling practice or prompt that ask you to notice, discover, consider, or reveal needs you to step away from what's "right" and into what's a nuanced. The priority is transparency and uncovering, so think on the page.
Your reaction to the prompt is the entry.
