A Microcosmic Journal is a diary for the purpose of deepening your spiritual awareness. It is a useful practice on the path to a complete life and a powerful tool to internalize your attention and understand yourself. Journaling helps one become a true self-observer, to process emotions and events without judgment or assumption. A journal is easy to do, and it helps to relieve stress. There’s no format to it. You can make it neat or messy, using any grammar you like. You can write as little or as much as you like, and it may serve as a useful tool to remember past events. Journalling with specific questions helps to gain deeper perspective on your life. Above all, a journal helps you live a more creative, complete life, by quietly and honestly watching yourself in utter detail. Your journal is for yourself only. No one else will read your words. How do you observe yourself? Aha! That is the question. I keep a Daoist journal every morning, to sharpen my internal subtle awareness for the day. Find a beautiful blank book and keep it by your bed. Are you ready? Here are some possible questions to get you started:
- Mood: What is my overall attitude? Do I feel auspiciousness, enthusiasm, or dread entering
the day? Do I want to curl up in bed or jump into the day? - Presence: Is my energy 100% present in my body? Or is my energy partly elsewhere?
- Distraction – Am I able to focus with clarity? Or do I feel distracted by too many things?
- Sensation – Do I feel a clear sense of my body mind spirit? Or do I feel rather numb?
- Priority: What am I avoiding? Is there something I need to deal with to be complete today?
- Dreams: Do I remember dreams? What were the overriding emotions?
- Sense of Purpose: Do I want to start any projects? – or do I wish no responsibility? Does my to-do list feel like a great burden?
- Relationships: What is my true relationship to people I call friends? Do I feel a faithfulness or suspicion and insecurity?
- Sexuality: Does sex seem like something for someone else on another planet? Or does it seem fascinating, revelatory?
- Light/Darkness: Do I crave light or shade?
- Voice/Speech: Do I want to speak? Or am I reluctant to speak? Do my words match my heart?
- Leadership: On this particular morning, if I were a leader, would I trust or doubt myself?
- Memories: Joyous Memories: What are my most joyous memories? Do they seem
close at hand, or far away and hypothetical? - Loss/Grief: When I think of a loss in my life—do I feel a sense of value gleaned from
that? Or a sense of despair? - Weather: What is the weather outside? Is it sunny or overcast, calm or stormy?
- Mental State/Intelligence: Do I feel smart? Intelligent? Or is there a dullness in my mind?
- Laughter: Have I laughed from my belly in the last few(3) days?
- Shame: Am I ashamed of some aspect of my being?
- Love/Self- Worth: Do I love myself enough to do this journal daily? Do I believe in my
destiny enough to ask these questions? - Kidneys: Do I feel pain, discomfort, weakness, fullness? Do I feel full of energy or tired?
- Senses: Are my senses clear and present? (eyes, ears, nose, tasting, touch)
Or do they feel dull? How about my subtle senses? Are they clear or fuzzy and numb? - Moon: What is today’s Moon phase? (New, Waxing, Full, or Waning) How does it feel to me?
- Earth Season: Is the season Yin (winter), Expanding (spring), Yang (summer), or
Contracting (fall)? How does that feel emotionally? - Food: What do I crave? What did I eat recently and how is it affecting my body, mind, spirit?
- Sleep: How were my sleep patterns? Did I fall asleep easily? Did I sleep deeply? Am I rested?
- Lessons: What events am digesting? What emotions and lesson can they show me?
- Big Picture: What’s the big picture for me now in my life? Ask to slow down and observe it.