I want to recommend something special I recently came across: A guided journal called, “Exploring Me.” It is a journal that offers up thought provoking writing prompts, encouraging self discovery while combining detailed illustrations to color in, unleashing your creative expression.

It’s a self help book without being a typical self help book. Rather than speak at you in written words, it instead, invites you to speak and connect with yourself and follow your intuition. It poses questions about emotions, dreams, values, and more, and it asks you to dig deep and think about what each means to you.

If you need to contemplate a question before answering it, there’s a fun illustration on the next page that you can take time to color in, which instinctively encourages you to meditate and ruminate, and it allows you to set your mind free. It provides a calm place for you to reflect and express yourself.

While it’s a great book to dive into privately, I’m finding it is also super enlightening when exploring it alongside a friend or family member. It allows you to tap into that person’s views on life and self, ultimately allowing you a better understanding of, and connection to them. And, coloring together provides some good laughs as you find out:

-who stays in the lines and who does not (me!)
-who carefully shades in realistic shadows versus bold and solid color blocks
-who colors from left to right versus all over until it’s completed
-who uses realistic colors versus unexpected hues
-who chooses to make an Autumn tree versus a Spring tree

The beauty of this is, there is no right way, or even better, all of these ways are right! And, you learn more about that person through the simple acts of answering questions and coloring, which provides an enjoyable and creative shared experience.

~J.W.