Reflective Writing: Personal Journal Entry Examples

What is Reflective Writing?

According to the UNSW, reflective writing is:

“A form of personal response to experiences, situations, events or new information. It is a processing phase where thinking and learning take place.”


It is a critical form of in-depth learning, as it bridges the gap between our external experiences and you – in a way that can be traced (through writing).

The beauty of reflective writing is that there is no wrong way of going about it.

It is tentative, private, and solely about exploring your thoughts and insights about life.

Today, I wanted to write to you a more personal blog post, because I feel as if I’ve been missing this for quite a while from my blog.

I want to share with you a couple of my recent reflective journal entries.

I like to journal everyday during my spare time.

It’s a great way to piece my thoughts together and be a little more self-aware about my life.

I would like to say that these are my raw writings: They have not been edited and I do not premeditate very much before I start writing.

My writing may be elementary in that regard and not so eloquent, but I hope this helps any of you who are wanting to get into reflective journaling.

You definitely don’t have to be a great writer.

There will be a lot of cringey things that come out during your writing sessions… but there will also be so much of yourself that you will love that comes out as well.

So I hope you enjoy. I hope this inspires you even just a little bit.

Journal Entry Examples: Personal examples of what I write in my reflective journal

Reflective Journal Entry #1: From 1/6/19

The time I have with myself is the most important.

I change. I grow. I know myself a little more each time.

I want my voice back.

This year, I would like to work on that a bit more: Finding my voice.

Knowing who I am just a little bit better.

So that I can love me more with each and every passing day.

The thought is a little sad actually: We are all so busy with our lives, we don’t have enough time to grow.

And I find that just spending 1-2 hours by yourself, for yourself, isn’t enough at all.

It takes 5+ hours sometimes of contemplation, of feeling, or exploring that tentative zone of darkness within us.

Because it’s within that dark zone where the best and beautiful parts of ourselves “hide”.

And they “hide” only because there is nothing like it in the physical world for us to compare it to.

For it to be known as real.

It takes time and presence to translate those “things” in the darkness into something of words, feelings, thoughts, and ideas.

The beginning is never easy.

More than anything in life, we as people need this.

For art. For beauty. For poetry. For love. For souls.

It all begins this way.

In understanding.


Reflective Journal Entry #2: 1/6/19

My eyes are getting heavier tonight.

I should sleep soon.

It’s funny how I always think I have nothing to say but once I play with the start of ideas, it all starts to come down like rain.

I needed this.

To know I still have it in me.

If I were to ever lose this part of myself… I’m not sure how I’d take that.

For sure, I would feel so sad and so alone. Lost even.

Writing is another love of mine.

Writing is a form of looking in the mirror.

Like drawing a figure.

It is the drawing of one’s soul.

Of one’s subconscious.

Perhaps if you write the cusp of one’s soul and draw it out like a thread from the tangle of nothingness.

And perhaps soon – it can become poetry.


Reflective Journal Entry #3: 1/7/9

The mind can be its own worst enemy sometimes… More so than any angry comment, uncaring action, or thoughtlessly spewed words by others to you.

You say the worst things to yourself.

You make yourself cry and you mean to make yourself cry. Why?

Why are you so mean to yourself?Β 

The world can be so hurtful sometimes, so why must you stoop so low to even yourself?

You must take care of yourself even more so during the times the world is busy and can’t seem to care at the moment for you.

Later, they will ask for forgiveness.

Later, they will be kind and care.

Later they will explain.

But right now, you must not hurt yourself even more.


Reflective Journal Entry #4: 1/8/19

Am I always going to keep others at arm’s length?

You will never be able to make true, close friends like that.

You must learn to give completely.

Not be afraid.

Freely love.

Freely give love and affection to everyone.

It is what you are missing the most from life right now.

So love.

Love not just internally.

Let the love go everywhere around you.

Stop being so afraid of getting hurt.

You will gain more than what you could ever lose.

I named my painting “What I See of You”. My art is a reminder of how much I love and care for people.


Reflective Journal Entry #5: 1/12/19

Why would I care about how I look?

What’s the purpose for it?

So that I can be liked by others?

I won’t fall for it. 

Because when I open my eyes and look around – I already know how beautiful I am.

To be able to see a world as rich, peaceful, beautiful as this – whether I am in a messy, ill-lit room or in a forest path – it is all so, so very beautiful.

And only beautiful eyes can do that.

Only a beautiful mind.

Only a beautiful heart.

So I don’t care how I look.

This life is beautiful.

I know I am beautiful.


Reflective Journal Entry #6: 1/12/19

Every person has a story that will make you cry.

Make you feel everything a human being should feel from another person: Love. Sympathy. Care.

It is all there. Hidden –

Until you ask. Until there is trust. Until there is vulnerability.

So never be afraid of the past and never be afraid of sharing your truth.

It is meant to be shared.

Your story has the power to change someone’s life merely through a few sentences.


RELATED BLOG POSTS:

100 Life Lessons I’ve Learned
Stream of Consciousness in Journal Writing 
100 Questions to Ask Yourself for Self Growth 
100 Journal Prompts for Self Discovery


Thank you again my lovely readers for another blog post.

This one was a bit harder to put out as it is leaning more on the personal side and the writing is not something I would normally feel comfortable sharing with others, but I hope that there is even the smallest thing you can take with you from this little piece of writing.

Also, these journal entries may seem a bit random because I do not offer a backstory of what happened to instigate the certain train of thought.

I rarely go into detail in my journals of my daily happenings.

I’m not exactly sure why.

I don’t personally feel the need to record the exact things that happened during my day: Just the afterthoughts that come from such experiences.

I guess, I find those the most important in my day-to-day.


Please like, comment, or share down below if you enjoyed this blog post. Let me know if you would like more blog posts like this in the future. This is a fairly exploratory piece for me.

Anyways, I hope you have a wonderful day my lovely readers! Thank you <3

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  • Hi, dear! I was looking for journaling prompts when I found you. And now I’m here for already an hour. I like your self-discovery path. It so resonates with what I experience in my life. Especially about finding and getting my voice back. And I’ve been dreaming about my personal blog to share my thoughts.
    My name is Irina, I’m 32. I live in Russia near Moscow.
    Your 100 Journal prompts for Self Discovery go to my journal. I have an idea to take A4 notebook and share every page in three parts and fill one part for one day, f.e. 23/1/19. And feel the same page next year this day and see where I am and where I was. I can take one question. Or different questions. And use one journal for three years to see my growth, my transformation.

    • Hi Irina, thank you for leaving such a beautiful comment! I love your journaling idea to see how one’s mind changes over the course of each passing year. I have never tried that – but I can see how beautiful such a self-discovery would be. I’m glad you enjoyed these blog posts and I hope you have a wonderful day <3

  • I looooove these! My reflective journal has played a huge, helpful part in helping me to process things that have happened to me and ensure that I don’t just continue to cycle, repeating patterns that don’t serve me well.