Mid Summer Journalling Prompts

A couple of days ago, we in the Northern Hemisphere, experienced the summer solstice. The longest day, and the shortest night of the year. It is one of the two key pivot points in the natural cycle of the year. At each solstice, winter and summer, we can look back at the last half-year and marvel at how far we’ve travelled and also take time feel into what we might want the next part of the cycle to be.

I always feel pulled into so many directions at this point in the year. The natural energy is high, the long days around the solstice pull me outwards to ‘do more’, to ‘make the most of’ the sunlight. And although I absolutely LOVE being outdoors, the sun on my skin and savouring the long days I also can feel frazzled. I feel I have little time for my inner landscape, or to tend to myself.

For me the Summer solstice is extra special, yet extra busy. My daughters were born on the summer solstice 12 years ago (despite not being ‘due’ until August!). And so it is always an especially busy day (usually frantic) , and even more of a celebratory day for me. I’m feeling particularly exhausted after a garden sleep party over for nine girls!

And so only now am I getting my head around time to think about my own celebration of the solstice and my own moments of contemplation at this mid point of the year.

I have to remind myself that despite the high fiery energy and almost never ending bright light, the Solstice is a time of natural pause. The word itself comes from the Latin words “sol” for sun and “stitium” which can mean “pause” or “stop. And so I would love for you to take this as a literal cue to pause and reflect. I find journalling helpful to do this, and so I have some journalling prompts below for you that you might find supportive too.