1. Section 2- How do I remain spontaneous as I react to the unexpected? Life can be very random and chaotic, but many of us want our worlds neatly planned and structured. We feel pressure from ourselves and other to have a plan and to know exactly where our lives are heading. Life rarely unfolds like we plan, so open yourself and the journaling process up to some spontaneity as you allow a bit of chaos and random juxtaposition into your working method. The journal is nonlinear and allows for this freedom from structure, and it is a place to experiment with new techniques to strengthen your investment in the journal. Too often artists can freeze because they have an idea of what they want the piece to be—a picture-perfect image in their minds. They plan, plot, scheme and then freeze. They are afraid that things will not go according to plan, and they will mess up and fail miserably. However, it can be helpful to openly invite a bit of randomness and chaos into your working habits and to put the ideal of the finished page to the back of your mind. By purposefully cultivating spontaneous acts, you can set aside the fear of making mistakes and learn to embrace the surprises that arise from giving up a little control. You can discover beautiful images and themes as they arise from the chaos and that you could never have planned.

2. Writing Techniques As you explore the prompts, try some simple brainstorming. You may want to write the prompt or the key words, and then jot down anything that comes to mind. The key to this is to be open and to write down everything. Don’t judge your thoughts, but let them fly. Generate lists or scatter them around the page as quickly as they flash in your mind. Let the ideas storm and flash. You have a ton of thoughts, so write them all down. You never know where these brainstorms will lead. As scientist Linus Pauling said, “The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas.” Growing up we learned to read and write from left to right in evenly spaced lines. Even the book you have in your hands is formatted that way. But who says that you always have to write in such a way? Instead of writing in those neat horizontal lines, try drawing some random paths in which to write. These paths can curve, turn, slant, loop, zipzag and spiral.

3. Writing Prompt 1- Random Words Open yourself to chance by picking a random word to use as a source of inspiration. Grab a book or dictionary that you have close at hand, and open to any page and just point to a word. Don’t’ like that word? Pick another. Not ready to completely aimless? Pick a specific page, and choose a word that draws you in. Don’t use this process repeatedly in order to pick a word you already have in mind or one that fits your mode of thinking. Let chance take you in a direction that you are not ready to go. If you find the word challenging, let it challenge you and see how you can respond to it even if it’s the silliest or the most unusual word. What does this word mean to you and your life at this moment? Writing Prompt2- Operative Words Operative words are the essential words in a sentence, story, poem or script. Performers and spoken word poets stress or emphasize these words when performing to give them impact. We scour our writing for operative words and highlight or visually emphasize them to draw attention to them, so that we can come back later and quickly find and use these words as sources for further investigation and exploration. Look over some of your writing, and choose important words or phrases and highlight them in some way. Circle them, make them bold, and use a different color or different material. These are words and phrases that you are drawn to, so again, trust your instincts. Try to find at least three or four operative words or phrases in your writing, but feel free to find as many as you’d like. Pick one of these words to use as a source of inspiration. What does this word say about you, your life or your work? Why is it important to you? Writing Prompt 3- Chaos and Order Life can come fast at times, creating a lot of action, turmoil, upheaval and chaos. The to-do list gets long, and there doesn’t seem to be enough time in the day. For some people, the day is scheduled, compartmentalized and structured. For others, the day is spontaneous, free-form and tumbled together. Reflect on your tolerance for chaos and your threshold for order. Do you make order out of chaos or chaos from order? How do you deal with order and chaos in your life? Are you structured or spontaneous? Are you balanced somewhere in between the extremes? How do you react when things don’t go according to plan? Writing Prompt 4- Routines Contemporary life is hectic, and keeping up with the household chores, the responsibilities of word, the emails, the social networks, the text message and the phone calls can quickly bury you under a pile of to-dos and must- dos. Take time to reflect on the organizational and structure of your life. Think about everything from your mundane, daily routines to your big, special hopes and dreams. How do you get things done? In what ways do you keep yourself organized (or even disorganized) physically, socially, mentally and spiritually? What routines and rituals do you use in your daily life to make certain that everything that needs to get done does get done? Are your routines and rituals turning into ruts stalling your growth? When do you throw your plans out the window, and when do you stick steadfast to them?