Reflecting and Responding to Words

Why there’s merit in responding to someone else’s words

One thing I love to teach my students and clients about journaling is that it doesn’t always have to be you vs. the blank page. There are so many entry points into writing with the intention of self-reflection and introspection that we couldn’t possibly list them all. But there are two practices that I frequently turn to when the well of inspiration has dried up or I stumble across something that inspires or moves me to respond to it.

These two techniques use text from someone else as source material. By that, I do not mean that we are using their words or passing them off as our own. What I mean is that we enter into a conversation with the text within our own personal journals in order to probe and excavate our thoughts in a more directed way.

This source text can be anything you find compelling, or interesting, or inspiring. For me though, it often comes from the writers I follow on Substack or Essayists.

These two techniques may share the same source material, but they diverge in the approach to the material — though both are also deceptively simple.

I will explain both techniques (with examples) and then offer you an invitation to do it yourself. These techniques are what shaped this…