Reviews with TLC

The Joy of Writing Journal: Spark Your Creativity in 8 Minutes a Day Expanded Edition by Lisa Tener was both better and worse than I expected. I bought this journal more as research in how it was designed than in thinking I needed the promised spark to my creativity; however, it did add a spark to my creativity most days. I found the 8 minutes a day more of an aspiration than a reality on several days, but I was okay with that. A few of the prompts didn't work that well for me, but others were great. The videos were nice but didn't really seem necessary. I quite enjoyed the meditations Tener provided links to. Tener offers creative prompts that allow the writer to mold them to their own needs. I did all the expanded exercises, so The Joy of Writing Journal took me a little over two months to complete. Overall, I would suggest The Joy of Writing for anyone who feels a lull in their creativity, enjoys writing prompts, or likes to journal. Currently Reading: The Ethnic Cleansin...

The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook: A Proven Way to Accept Yourself, Build Inner Strength, and Thrive by Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer is an interesting and inspiring workbook that reiterates that self-compassion is a way of life not a goal to be met. Neff and Germer gently remind the reader that to be self-compassionate is to constantly notice where one needs self-compassion many times in the book. The exercises in this workbook pushed me to think about events in my life and accept my feelings about those events with compassion instead of judgment but also to approach my judgment with compassion. As I worked through the exercises, old issues I'd thought long resolved resurfaced and reminded me that suppressing isn't the same as dealing with things. Facing these with self-compassion rather than judgment was a helpful exercise. That said, I also found it hard to relate to some of the exercises and felt like I just worked through them without much depth because they felt...

Self-Love: Journey of Self-Discovery and Emotional Healing to Help You Feel Good Enough: Guided Journal by Suzanne Heyn started off putting me on edge because my copy was put together incorrectly. I considered returning it but decided to just go with the flow. It made the entire experience feel like I was reading and writing backwards, an interesting brain exercise. Heyn offers an essay before each daily prompt. I found some of them interesting but mostly felt like this was work I'd already done. Heyn does what the book promises, but also leans into religion and spiritually in places that felt limiting but that could be because my personal beliefs don't align with hers.  I bought the book to help me explore a specific reason for a dip in my self-love. By twisting the prompts, I was able to kind of hone in on my issue. Overall,  Self-Love  was good, but I don't think I'm its target audience. Someone who is earlier on in their self-love journey might find the book far...

We Should All Be Feminists: A Guided Journal  by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a beautifully designed and inspiring guided journal/workbook for exploring feminism and the role feminism plays in an individual's life as well as in society as a whole. I often found that the questions I most dreaded answering were the ones that brought me the most insight into not only my own struggles with feminism but in the messaging of feminism and even anti-feminism to some degree. Exploring the platitudes that often popped into my thoughts and how those platitudes became so much a part of the lexicon helped me find a deeper relationship with my feminism. Many of the exercises helped me better integrate feminism's role in the wider struggle for equality. We Should All Be Feminists: A Guided Journal inspired me to examine my own inner struggle with feminism and reminded me of the importance of speaking up for equality whenever I can however I can. I highly recommend We Should All Be Feminists: A...

I moved a bit more toward workbook style guided journals than I have used in previous years. I found the ones I used this year to each provide some helpful insights as well as to have some less than insightful points. Whether this is because of where I am in my life journey or a fault of the journals is yours to decide should you decide to try them.   52 Lists for Calm  by Moorea Seal is  a list journal with prompts that one fills out weekly rather than daily. Some prompts are better than others. Honestly, I didn't enjoy this list journal as much as I've enjoyed others in past years. I never could quite figure out why. All I know is that instead of making me feel calm, somewhere around the middle of the year it began to feel like a chore. I've really enjoyed list journals in the past, so I'm not so sure if the problem was with the journal or with where I'm at in my life.   52 Lists for Bravery  by Moorea Seal -  This is another list journal I started at the...

Verseweavers: the Oregon Poetry Association of Prize-winning Poems Number 25/2020  is a compilation of the winners of the Oregon Poetry Associations contests held in 2020 with comments by the judges who chose the winners. As usual it was an interesting compilation of poems from a diverse group of poets. I found many quite compelling and almost all of them interesting. This book is only available in the Oregon Poetry Association's store .  Bear Witness by Mary Gaitskill (part of Out of Line Collection) took a journey that felt a jarring in the way Gaitskill explored the different points of view she presented in the short story. The storyline was interesting but none of the characters were easy to like. There was a feeling that something was going to happen that quite seemed to materialize.  Halfway to Free by Emma Donoghue (part of Out of Line Collection) still gives me chills just thinking about it. A story of haves and have nots and those who want to control others is ...

52 Lists for Togetherness by Moorea Seal left me feeling lonelier and more alone than I imagined a journal ever could. I've done other 52 List Journals and enjoyed them for the most part. This one, however, really made me question my relationships as time and again I couldn't figure out which, if any, of my friends would be willing to participate in the sharing lists. I think it might work for some people, particularly if two or more people agreed to do it as a bonding exercise; however, to do it solo just didn't work for me at all. The Life Organizer: A Woman's Guide to a Mindful Year by Jennifer Louden was kind of interesting but didn't really do much for me. The questions didn't give me a single "ah-ha" moment or make me dig deeper into my motivations. I did my entry every Sunday to set up for the week and then promptly forgot the whole thing. Sadly, it quickly became one more activity to check off my task list. All that said, I think for someone...

I've started playing around with guided journals the past several years. Sometimes I like them. Sometimes not. I often use them as writing prompts as much as journaling prompts, that is if they are conducive to writing. Not all are.  My 2020 Journals List Becoming: A Guided Journal for Discovering Your Voice by Michelle Obama - This journal hit home in ways I didn't expect. The questions forced me think and to feel and to explore. Sometimes the questions pushed me into those places I didn't want to go and other times I had so much fun with it. I liked this journal so much, I gave it to a friend as a gift and might send it to a few others! In one of my few Instagram posts this year, I posted the following about this book. "I feel both sad and happy that I just wrote my last entry in Becoming: A Guided Journal for Discovering Your Voice by Michelle Obama. Sad that I have no more prompts and happy for the journey! I often found myself hearing the prompts in her voice and...

I first ordered The 52 Lists Project: A Year of Weekly Journaling Inspiration by Moorea Seal last January after I read about it in an article I have long since forgotten. I liked the idea so much I sent copies to a few friends and my nieces. As stated it's a journal. The prompts are often thought-provoking without seeming overwhelming. They push journalers to look deeper inside and to examine the lives they live, the world around them, and the lives they wish they lived. Seal is on to something with this book. While I started it late and didn't really dedicate myself to it at first, when I finally did, I really enjoyed the vast majority of the prompts. There was the occasional prompt that just didn't apply to me personally, but even those gave me a reason to think about why they didn't apply to me. I did manage to finish it by the end of the year. I found the prompts intriguing and the exercise fulfilling. I imagine The 52 Lists Project: A Year of Weekly Journaling I...