Deep Journalling
Welcome to #KOKOROWORK, a 36-day deep journalling adventure. Each day from September 9 - October 14 2024, I am sharing one thought-provoking question from my new book Kokoro: Japanese wisdom for a life well lived, with an invitation for you to go deep in your journal, responding to that question.
This page will be updated daily with the latest question. You can start anytime, but I encourage you do the questions in order.
Kokoro (心) is a beautiful untranslatable term in the Japanese language which is perhaps best articulated in English as 'the intelligent heart'. Asking ourselves the kind of questions I will be sharing in the coming days, and listening for the answers to arrive, is the work of the intelligent heart. It is #kokorowork. I hope you will join me in doing this, and release some of the wisdom you carry within onto the page in the coming days.
You might like to light a candle before you begin, or put on some quiet music, and then ask the question to yourself, take a deep breath, and listen for the answer. Allow the response to surprise you. Don’t force it. Don’t write what you think you should write in case someone reads it. Just write what comes.
Personally I like to write the question at the top of a new page in my notebook, and then fill an entire page with my response. Why not try that?
When you have finished, if you want to, I invite you to summarise your response in a single sentence and share it in the comments of this post, but this is completely optional. You are very welcome to just enjoy this as a quiet solo practice.
✨May these questions guide you inwards, so your own kokoro can guide you forwards.✨
Beth Xx
All questions are taken from my new book KOKORO: Japanese wisdom for a life well lived.
Questions for Days 1-3 come from Chapter 1 ‘LIFE: The Scroll Unravels’
DAY 1: Where are you in your life right now? How is this different or similar to how you imagined your life would be at this particular age and stage?
DAY 2: What tensions or conflicting priorities are real for you right now? (Don’t judge, just write them down)
DAY 3: What questions about life just won’t leave you alone? (You don’t have to answer them, just write them down). If you like, add some thoughts about why these particular questions might be following you around at this particular moment in time.
Questions for Days 4-6 come from Chapter 2 ‘HEART-MINDFULNESS: Just arranging flowers’
DAY 4: In which areas of your life do you tend to overthink things? What might be different if you tried to tune in to the wisdom of your kokoro – your intelligent heart – and follow its guidance instead?
DAY 5: Think of a recent situation where you have carried negativity from one space to another. How could you have cleansed your kokoro - your intelligent heart - in between to avoid contaminating the new situation? (Note: In the book Kokoro I share how I was taught to ‘cleanse my kokoro’ by spending time in nature, or in a peaceful place like a shrine or temple, just being quiet)
DAY 6: Who do you know who lives guided by their kokoro - their intelligent heart? In what ways do they inspire you? What could you learn from them?
Questions for Days 7-9 come from Chapter 3 ‘STILLNESS: Where silence speaks’
DAY 7: What everyday activities or occurences would you savour more if you knew that the next time would be the last time?
DAY 8: Take a moment to get quiet, breathe deeply and listen from your kokoro - your intelligent heart. What do you need to know today?
DAY 9: How could you build more opportunities for stillness and silence into your daily life?
Questions for Days 10-12 come from Chapter 4 ‘TIME: A voice like thunder’
DAY 10: What is your relationship with time?
DAY 11: To what extent do you try to plan and control your life? What might be different if you eased up and focused your attention on the present - this point in your life, this week, this day, this hour, this moment?
DAY 12: What really matters to you right now?
Questions for Days 13-15 come from Chapter 5 ‘MORTALITY: Here. Not here.’
With our next set of questions we are moving on to Chapter 5 of KOKORO, ‘Mortality: Here. Not here.’ I never thought I would write about grief, and yet I did. In living through the process of losing someone so precious to me, the questions I used to ask myself about life actually changed. Please go gently.
DAY 13: Take the three-week test. If you knew that the next three weeks would be your last – that you would be fine and healthy and then just gone – how would you spend that time? What does that say about your priorities? Are there any actions you need to take right now, just in case?
DAY 14: What do you hope happens when we die?
DAY 15: Have a conversation with someone about death or endings. After your conversation, ask yourself this: How did it make you feel to talk about it?
Questions for Days 16-18 come from Chapter 6 ‘FALLING: Letting go. Being carried.’
DAY 16: What endings are you grieving? What beginnings did or might they bring about?
DAY 17: What is the most thoughtful or helpful thing someone has said to you or done to help you during a time of loss or grief?
DAY 18: Is there anything unsaid between you and people you love? If you they are no longer alive, could you write down what you want to say? If they are still alive, could you write them a letter (whether or not you send it), have a conversation or reach out another way?
Questions for Days 19-21 come from Chapter 7 ‘RELEASE: Travelling Light.’
DAY 19: Where in your life do you sense hikikomogomo - the bittersweetness of joy and sorry alternating in your heart? (See this essay for more on this utterly gorgeous Japanese word)
DAY 20: What would be different if you were not afraid?
DAY 21: What have you been putting off that it is now time to do?
Questions for Days 22-24 come from Chapter 8 ‘AGEING: Layers of Life’
DAY 22: Divide your current age in half and imagine encountering yourself at that age. What would you say?
DAY 23: What will you miss about this particular life stage when you move on to the next one?
DAY 24: What might reflecting on our own mortality teach us about how we want to live?
Questions for Days 25-27 come from Chapter 9 ‘RETURNING: Becoming who we are’
DAY 25: What creative urges have you sensed in recent years, months and weeks? What poetry lies beneath your skin? What hunger flows in your veins? What quiet dreams, and dreams of quiet, call to you across the chaos and the noise?
DAY 26: How might the concepts of desirelessness, formlessness and emptiness help you release any fears you have around creative expression?*
*This question is taken from Chapter 9 of my book Kokoro and to be honest you need to read the book to fully understand this one. If you have a copy, why not re-read Chapter 9 first, and then dive in. If you don’t have a copy yet, just go with what you feel the question means…
DAY 27: What is your vow? What will you wholeheartedly devote yourself to from now on? Is this a new dream, or have you been carrying it for some time?
Questions for Days 28-30 come from Chapter 10 NOURISHMENT: Goodness in. Goodness out.’
DAY 28: How could you better nourish your body?
DAY 29: How could you better nourish your relationships, and be nourished by them?
DAY 30: How could you better nourish your heart?
Questions for Days 31-33 come from Chapter 11 ‘WHOLEHEARTEDNESS: The time is now’
DAY 31: What opportunities are presenting themselves to you right now? What is possible because of this particular moment, life stage and time in history?
DAY 32: What is stopping you from doing the thing you really want to do? What single step could you take today in the direction of making it possible?
DAY 33: What do you currently do that ‘stinks of effort’*? How could you do things differently to invite more ease?
(*’stinks of effort’ is my translation of a lively Japanese term mendо̄ kusai 面倒臭い)
Questions for Days 34-36 come from Chapter 12 ‘INTENTIONALITY: We get to have this day’
DAY 34: What and who do you care about, really?
DAY 35: What questions are alive in you right now?
DAY 36: How will you go about your days to ensure that yours is a life well lived?
And that wraps up our Deep Journalling challenge! Thank you so much for joining in. I’d love to hear how it has been for you - feel free to send me a DM or an email to hello@bethkempton.com.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR: I am going to be doing a Calm Christmas inspired Deep Journalling challenge daily from December 1-24 as part of my annual Alternative Advent Calendar this year. That will be shared on Instagram and Substack Notes @bethkempton and on Facebook @dowhatyoulovexx. I hope it brings a sense of slowness and gentle reflection to your holiday season this year!
