Nature-Inspired Journal Prompts

I picked up a new book at the bookstore this weekend called The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling by John Muir. While I didn’t really “need” another book about drawing, this one got my attention because it isn’t a drawing guide in the conventional sense.

It’s all about capturing your experiences in nature in order to learn more about the natural world while also documenting your own unique impressions and keeping a record.

The author poses several prompts in the first few pages that I’d like to try in my own journaling explorations. Maybe you’ll find them helpful too.

The exercise centers around finding an object, like a rock, a flower, or a feather and then writing your thoughts about that object with the following prompts:

I wonder….

It reminds me of…

I notice…

I immediately thought how useful it might be to answer these prompts when journaling about other areas of our lives.

What could it mean to wonder about why you are feeling a certain way?
Or ask yourself how a particular situation reminds you of other times in your life?
Or to write down what you notice about a situation, an emotion, or a problem you are having?

I think these prompts are powerful in their simplicity and could lead to a deep dive in your journal - whether you write, draw, paint, or collage.

I invite you to try these prompts the next time you open your journal. I’d love to hear about the insights they unearth.