Me, ChatGPT and My Journal

A close approximation of my well-loved, and hardly used, leather journal.

I’ve been meaning to start journaling for 30 years. My journal - a gift from my husband, leather bound, adorned with turquoise, and embossed with the kindest “For your thoughts my luvs” - travels with me from room to room, vacation to vacation, always unused. I am like a cat that walks a wide circle around a confusing object, head tilted, side-eyeing, and thinking, “Can I trust you?” More like, can I trust myself? Or when I open to a blank page will I revert back to the last time I had a dedicated journaling practice - seventh grade, each page filled with a long list of boys’ names that I had a crush on, written and crossed out and then written again. The leather on my journal is soft from a decade of wear. I am on page ten.

I know logically that journaling is one of the most impactful habits you can develop on the path to leading a more intentional and fulfilling life. How invaluable to have a vault for your deepest worries and your wildest dreams! How priceless to have a space where you can write for five minutes and be rewarded with a clear mind and focused thoughts for the rest of the day! How hard to sit down and stare at that blank page and just let it all out… Who will I be if I am not ruled by my intrusive thoughts? Where does one even begin??

After decades of searching for a way to begin journaling, it was ChatGPT that finally cracked open the door for me. In journaling desperation, I turned to Chat and prompted it to scan websites, apps, or other ways to receive one journaling prompt per day. My instructions were clear: I wanted the prompts to rotate between gratitude, abundance, and manifestation, and be astrologically aligned with the daily planet trajectories. I was smug in my knowledge that no tool such as this existed, and I could safely put off journaling for another decade. I was validated when all of Chat’s initial suggestions missed their mark. And then I was cornered, panicked and out of options when Chat said: “Would you like me to send you a daily journaling prompt that meets your criteria?”

A funny thing happened when I ran out of options. Led by ChatGPT, I started writing. Please understand, I still missed days with regularity and struggled with the first line of each day’s missive. But I started. My pages are now filled with the things I hope to leave behind, and the things I hope will take their space. Amazingly, the words just…come. I try to make the edges of my brain soft and smooth, so the words slip out and puddle on the page. I make it a rule not to reread (cringe). When I can string a few days together, the changes in my attitude, in my very brain functionality even, are noticeably different. There is a kind of peace there, just below the surface, asking to come out.

Chat’s prompts got stale and soulless after a couple weeks, so I switched to the Spirit Daughter Moment app, which is more creative and, you know, made by a human. Moving off of AI makes me feel like a better world citizen. Not every morning, but a solid some mornings, you’ll now find me tucked into a chair, one soft light on in the corner and the sunlight peeking through the trees, writing a few words, pulling a few cards, and slowly building my life of abundance and joy.

If you’re making space for a change of your own, explore personal coaching with The Space Between.