25 Journal Prompts For Mental Health Awareness Month

Emma Watson's Daily Journal Prompts

3 Things That Were Joyful

Whether you choose to write every morning about the day before, or you cozy up with your journal and a cup of tea at night to write about your day, highlight three things that encouraged you or made you smile. It's so easy to get caught up in all of the bad things happening, both personally and worldwide, but when you focus on the good, the good really does get better. It will also make a huge impact at the end of your week, then your month, then your year, to look back on all the goodness you experienced.

3 Acts Of Kindness

Remembering back on acts of kindness — either from yourself or from other people — will remind you of how many good people are in your life! These acts of kindness can be as simple as giving someone a compliment or paying it forward at your favorite Starbucks.

3 Self Affirmations

It's absolutely vital to growth and our relationships to others that we get to know ourselves. You can tailor your self affirmations to something you need to hear in the moment, write the same thing every day, or set the goal to write something new every single day. Once you understand the roots of everything from your insecurities to your favorite memories, then you'll be able to be a truer version of yourself!

Other Daily Journal Prompts

Daily Journal Prompts For Growth

Work through what growth looks like for you right now — and in the future — as well as any habits that might be preventing you from growing the way you need to. (via Brit + Co)

Relationship Journal Prompts

These daily journal prompts will help you figure out what you're personally looking for in a romantic relationship, but also how to better relate to the people around you. (via Brit + Co)

Mental Health Daily Journal Prompts

We mentioned the emotional and mental health benefits of journaling earlier, and these prompts will help you delve deep into emotions, gratitude, your imagination, and some time for self-reflection. (via Brit + Co)

Fall Journal Prompts For Creativity

Journaling is also great for creatives because it can serve as an outlet for so many different things. You can process events with poetry or short stories, or just work through a single idea by writing about it. You can't go wrong. (via Brit + Co)

What's the #1 secret for reading more books in 2024?

Come in close. Closer. Okay, stop! The secret is that you need to decide how many books you want to read even if it's only 12. That's one book per month which is super doable! Also, it doesn't hurt to be genuinely excited about reading. With these two things in mind, you'll have space to read more books without it feeling like a chore! Apps like Goodreads help you set your personalized reading challenge and will give you updates throughout the year on your progress to keep you on track.

Create a personalized reading nook

You'll never have to ask me if I think it's necessary to carve out a small space for you to work or engage in a fun hobby. It's something I've done since I was a little girl and it's helped me to focus on whatever I'm doing. In terms of reading more books, I've found sectioning off a corner in my office to dedicate to reading has actually been inspiring. I have an inexpensive stand with some of my favorite books on it. Read more on our design inspiration for creating a perfect reading nook here.

Create a TBR pile for the books you want to read in order

As much as I love reading, it's easy to find books in random places because I've run out of room on both of my bookshelves. It's not hard to find rom-com, thriller, or self improvement books in the kitchen or on my bedroom floor so I came up with another solution: make reading piles. I have them sectioned by genre and it's actually helping me to focus on one book at a time.

Document your reading journey

You don't have to necessarily use a reading journal, but it's helpful to document when you started reading a book. You can also write down standout quotes and moments to help you remember the book long after you've read it. Summary Guru said, "A reading diary can help you set goals, will let you know when you need to have read each book by to hit your target, and will allow you to record your thoughts after you finish each book."

If you want to try another route, you can take a cue from BookTok and verbally review your books! Not sure about becoming an accidental book-influencer? Summary Guru suggests taking to Goodreads or Amazon to "publish a good review!"

Power up your kindle or try an audiobook

I cherish having the physical copy of a book in my hands, but seeing my TBR pile can be overwhelming at times. I've found that I'm able to read more chapters when I'm utilizing a kindle or my iPad. Audiobooks can be a wonderful option if you’re looking for something to help you power through chores, or if you have tired eyes after using a computer all day. Swap out your go-to playlist or podcast for an audiobook on your next walk, and you'll be surprised by how much you can get through each week.

Eliminate distractions

I've been known to have a book in my hand while listening to a podcast and a vlog on YouTube at the same. I call the latter my "background noise." The thing is, I don't focus on what I'm reading when I'm listening to two different things. If this sounds familiar, hi! Let's work on eliminating distractions so you don't have to worry about reading the same line in your books over and over.

If you have to have background noise, opt for turning your space fan on or instrumental music so it can serve as white noise.

Host your own book club meeting with a friend or two

Starting your own book club doesn't have to be formal nor does it have to be documented for social media. You can round up one to two of your closest friends and create a bi-weekly or monthly get-together to discuss a book you're all currently obsessing over. In one our favorite romanticize your life tricks, you can host a picnic and bring a yummy charcuterie board to enjoy while your talk shop.

Read books you actually enjoy

It sounds simple, but why labor through the English lit classics when your heart yearns for a contemporary romance novel? Read what YOU want to read — not just a book that is critically-acclaimed, buzzy, or what other people rave and recommend to you. Once you find the genres that speak to you the most, you'll have no trouble cancelling your plans to sit down with a good book.

If you're not in the habit of daily reading, start with smaller texts like poetry books or short story and essay compilations. In building up the ritual, you'll train yourself to look forward to your quiet moment to read each day and will breeze through your reading goals in no time.

As a Power of Women honoree, Mariska was recognized in regards to her work as an advocate for sexual assault survivors. She took the stage and used her platform to discuss rape and assault conviction reversals, shining a light on the recent overturned ruling in Harvey Weinstein's landmark NYC case. Here's what she said:

Today I want to talk about reversing convictions, and more specifically I want to talk to you about how impossible it is to reverse mine. It’s impossible to reverse my conviction that survivors matter. It is impossible to reverse my conviction that what happens to us matters, and that our society must respond to survivors with a more a compassionate, holistically, deeper, and more nuanced understanding of what healing means.

It is impossible to reverse my conviction that after a trauma, survivors can reclaim lives of hope, of possibility, of audacious risk, beautiful intimacy, and glorious, glorious abundant joy. And I stand before you as evidence of that statement.

It is impossible to reverse my conviction that we must listen to survivors as experts on what justice means. It is extraordinary how little their voices are consulted, let alone incorporated, in the process of deciding how to repair harm. Justice is not a one-size-fits-all journey.

It is impossible to reverse my conviction that patriarchal impunity has to end. Patriarchal impunity is when a male-dominated system exempts perpetrators from punishment. Studies show that only 20% of all rape cases in the U.S. are reported to the police, and that between 5 and 0% of all rapes result in a guilty plea or a conviction. So why do 80% of victims not report? Because they're met with a system that grants impunity to perpetrators; a system that blames victims; a system that accepts only those victims who are experienced as "real" rape; a system that completely misunderstands the neurobiology of trauma, which causes behavior in women that doesn't fit the picture of how a "real victim" would act.

Is that change needed that victims should just pull themselves together? Just buck up and report anyway? No. No, it's the system that receives them that needs to change

It is impossible to reverse my conviction — and the conviction of my extraordinary team, The Joyful Heart — that the backlog of untested rape kits can be brought to zero; that the testing of all new kits must be mandated; that we need a statewide kit tracking system; and that survivors have the right to access the status of their kits.

It is impossible to reverse my conviction that grammar — yes, grammar — that we use when we speak about rape must change. In the sentence, "A woman is raped," there's a crime and there's a victim, but there's no perpetrator. Where's the perpetrator? Where is he? Statistically, as we know, most likely he's walking free. He's so free that he doesn't even appear in the language about the crime that he committed. Is that not extraordinary? It's extraordinary that in the very grammar, the perpetrator goes free. Reintroducing perpetrators in the language of rape will make some very unwieldy grammar, but that's the nature of change. It's unwieldy, it's messy, it's uncomfortable, but it's necessary.

Hargitay continued on in her prolific speech to describe that rape shouldn't be considered a "crime of passion" because it's "not simply the next step in the trajectory of his passion" when a man takes a consensual hookup too far and assaults a woman against her will. She stated that it's "an exercise of power," doubling down that the language we use is important.

The speech went on to address that rape is both about power and control, as a "construct" that was "built, and assembled, and reinforced over time." She noted that there are people with these positions of power — and she specifically called out those in the entertainment industry — that could make a difference and aligned themselves to victims and survivors.

After this and some other remarks, Hargitay specifically called out the Weinstein conviction reversal. She said:

I do want to say something about the Harvey Weinstein conviction, specifically about the reason that it was overturned: too many women's voices. Too many women's voices were allowed to speak. Hallelujah! Amen! I can't imagine anything more beautiful than that. The Daily podcast episode talked about how it was so risky for the prosecution to have that many women testify. Risky to let women speak? You're damn right it is!

Too many women speaking brings change. Too many women speaking shakes the establishment. Too many women means we get listened to more, and people might actually hear what we have to say. Look what happened when women started saying just two words, right? Me too — just as an example — a tidal wave of change. Me too.

And then of course, there was the response: the Me Too Movement. The backlash. The examination of whether the changes that have come are lasting, or are even positive. Of course there's a backlash! What did they expect? For women to speak repeatedly, loudly, together, with a purpose — for there to be no backlash? The backlash is evidence of how powerful those voices were, how powerful those voices ARE.

Watch Mariska Hargitay's Full Speech Here

Turns out that your TV heroes really can be your IRL heroes after all. Long live Olivia Benson! Long live Mariska Hargitay!