A Week’s Worth of Journaling Prompts: What’s Blossoming? 4

I can’t help but breathe deeply. The world is blossoming around me, coming to life through leaf and stem, flower and fragrance. With the late spring rains and near-constant cloud cover, it hasn’t been nearly warm enough for me, but the pink dogwood outside my back door doesn’t seem to mind. In fact, it seems to be relishing the weather. Yellow and white daffodils, red and orange flaming tulips, and cherry blossoms decorate the neighborhood. Even the cacti are making colorful statements.

Blossoming—the quintessential image of spring—has metaphorical as well as literal connotations: growing, becoming one’s true self, opening up, expanding, awakening, reaching potential, and maturing, to name a few. When my students find their voice, I think of them as blossoming as writers. My daughter, at 26, is blossoming into a woman. My youngest son, a man. Blossoming isn’t always positive, however: Pain sometimes blossoms in my low back, and explosions can blossom into mushroom clouds.

How do you relate to blossoming?

This week’s journal writing prompts are designed to explore this seasonally inspired topic:

1. Create a cluster, using the word blossom as your nucleus. Write for 10 minutes using your cluster for inspiration.
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2. Complete the following sentence: I am blossoming in …
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3. Who in your life seems to be blossoming and in what ways? How do you know, and how do you feel about it?
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4. Look up blossom in your thesaurus. Which synonym do you not usually think of when you think about blossoming? Write a couple of paragraphs about your life using that synonym. Alternatively, write about a time in your life using as many synonyms for blossoming as you can.
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5. What is the opposite of blossoming? Write a couple of paragraphs about your life from that point of view.
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6. Make a list of 100 ways to blossom. It’s not as difficult as it seems—write quickly, don’t stop, it’s okay to repeat, allow yourself to “color outside the lines” of your normal definitions.
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7. Take a walk and go to a local park, noticing how many different kinds of flowers are blooming. Breathe deeply. When you return home, write about the experience. Include as many details as possible, incorporating all 5 senses.

I invite you to share some of your responses and/or writing by leaving a comment. What did you write? Did you learn anything new or perceive something in a new and unexpected way?
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