21 Journal Prompts to Celebrate our Friendships with Women

March is Women’s History Month and this Monday was International Women’s Day. According to internationalwomensday.com, this “is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.”

Nowhere do I see more female entrepreneurs and female empowerment than in the planning community. There are so many female-owned shops, and women are leading the charge in promoting self-care and wellness through planning, journaling, and scripting.

I have previously written about planner shops owned by women whether in articles featuring particular shops such as Cultivate What Matters, Simplified , and JM Planning Essentials, or ones specifically owned by women of color as in my posts about Paper Penguin Co., my first Roundup of Black Owned Planner Shops, or the Second Roundup of Shops Owned by Women of Color.

Women are the driving force behind family stability, political action, and they are the glue that holds together most communities. And, as we’ve seen most recently, it has been the women in our communities who have shouldered the burden of keeping our kids educated and safe after schools closed in response to a global epidemic, as this BBC article explains.

Fostering Positive Relationships with Women

Today, I am blessed to know women who have enriched my life and helped me through all manner of experiences, whether it be navigating my daughter’s rare illness or coping with life as a working mom. Female relationships have become an important part of my life.

That said, I haven’t always had an easy time of making friends with women. And, I don’t think I am the only one to have this experience.

Our society can do a good job of pitting women against each other. Whether it be the notion of a “frenemy” or women who have been pioneers in their fields failing to help those coming up behind them, female relationships can be ones where we lift each other up or, thanks to jealousy or competitive streaks, put one another down.

It takes self-assured women to be good mentors, cheerleaders, coaches, and friends. Otherwise, we can easily fall prey to behaviors stemming from the lack of self-confidence we naturally develop from being treated as “the weaker sex.”

In elementary school, I had a hard time forming friendships with girls my own age. My first best friend was a year younger than me and the friendship felt more like a big sister-little sister relationship.

My ability to make girl friends grew weaker as I grew older and experienced bullying and the behavior of “mean girls.” So, although I was never a tomboy (I’m totally uncoordinated and terrible at sports), by the time I hit middle school, I considered myself a “guy girl,” which meant I felt more at ease in groups of boys than girls.

This continued through high school where, although I started making some female friends, our group was coed. I even joined a garage band, and, not surprisingly, I was the only girl in it.

By college, I was far more comfortable with my guy friends and found there was less drama in those relationships. However, I also realized there wasn’t much vulnerability in them. The guys were a lot of fun to hang out with, but I couldn’t exactly share deep and personal experiences with them.

Fortunately, it was in college that my sister (6 years younger) and I started to become closer and we forged a friendship that has made her my best friend to this day. And, after college I got married, which made it difficult to remain a “guy girl.” (I mean, what man would feel comfortable with a wife who has all male friends?)

So, after I got married and started law school, I started figuring out which women I could trust as a friend. Some were friends that I made in college and law school, while others I have met through jobs and my involvement in church.

Making new female friends meant getting out of my comfort zone and trying new things. Here are some ways I have made new friends over the years:

• Taking work trips (for training or on cases we’re working together)
• Going on spiritual or church retreats
• Going out to dinner with other moms (and sometimes organizing those get togethers)
• Participating in a book club (and offering to host at my home and co-host with others)
• Being part of a movie club- a group of girls to go out to the movie theater and, in our case, watch really bad movies
• Accepting invitations, even when my inner introvert would rather stay at home

I am so grateful that I have developed friendships with other women, as I now have friends in every stage of life. These women have stood by me as I have dealt with difficult personal matters, crises of faith, and career changes. I hope I have been at least as much a support to them as they have been to me.

But, living a busy life in a world where one can “keep in touch” without ever calling or seeing each other has meant that I’ve lost touch with some of the friends who don’t live nearby. And, this has now spread to ones who I used to see more often before everything shut down thanks to the pandemic.

All of this has made me realize that I can be doing more to avoid taking some of these friendships for granted. In other words, I can’t just be satisfied with keeping up with people through social media or Christmas cards when those are poor substitutes for real relationships.

Recently, I have been in touch with a few friends whom I haven’t seen in a very long time. One friend wrote me a beautiful letter reflecting on our 20+ year friendship that she said was inspired by last month’s article on writing ourselves love letters. And, the PowerSheets FaceBook Group set up a card exchange that resulted in my receiving an incredibly kind message from one of the sweet ladies in the group.

All of this has had me reflecting on my relationships with other women. And, for me, with reflection comes writing.

Last week, I posted a roundup of websites that had amazing ideas for prompts for any kind of journaling needs. This has inspired me to come up with my own journaling prompts for women who wish to explore and celebrate their friendships with other women.

Below are the prompts I came up with. Read them over and consider doing a prompt a day for a week. Then, reach out to some of your female friends and see about reconnecting if it’s been a while since you last communicated.

21 Journal Prompts to Celebrate Our Relationships with Women

-What is your history with female relationships? (Go deep with this one. Have your friendships with other women always been the strongest in your life? Or, did you, like me, sometimes feel out of place in groups of girls?)

-How do your friendships with women differ from your friendships with men?

–Do you have a best girl friend? Who was your best friend when you were a child or a teenager? Who is your best female friend now? How did these girls and women come to hold that place in your life?

–Which women have been the best friends to you? What qualities did they possess that made them such good friends?

–How has your view of female relationships been affected by others? (E.g., did you have role models in your life who demonstrated how to cultivate these friendships? Or, did you grow up with women who warned you about not trusting other women?)

–Did you have a female mentor or role model outside of your family? Where have you found female mentors and how have they enriched your life?

–Are there female friends you’ve lost touch with? How did that happen? Any way to reconnect?

–Were there times you could have been a better friend to another woman? How did you fall short as a friend and what could you do differently in the future?

–What are some of your best memories of your friendships with other women? Are there events you attended together or things that you did that stand out in your mind?

–Did you have a falling out with a good friend? Was the relationship repaired or did it never heal? Write that friend a letter explaining any regrets you have or wishes for what could have happened differently (even if you do not intend to send it).

–What lessons have you learned from female friendships that have enriched your life?

–Have you ever been jealous of a friend? Has a friend ever shown her jealousy of you? How do you think one can overcome these feelings?

–Write about a fun trip (can be a single day trip or multiple days of a retreat or vacation) you took with a girl friend or group of female friends. What made the experience special?

–How can you cultivate relationships with female friends? Are there things you can do to better stay in touch or get together more often?

-Write out a bucket list of things you’d like to do with your female friends once this pandemic has ended.

-Do you think it’s better to have many friends or a few close ones? Why?

–How have your friendships with other women evolved over the years? Do you have the same kind of relationships today as you had when you were younger?

–Have you ever felt threatened by a friend’s having other friends? Explore the feelings around that situation.

-Describe the craziest or most fun thing you and a close friend ever did.

–How willing are you to help a friend in need? Have you done so in the past?

-Aside from family, during dark times, who are the women you turn to for support? Are you inclined to confide in your female friends? Why or why not?

After you have worked on some of these questions, see what small steps you can take to foster closer relationships with the women in your life. Also note if there are women you’ve lost touch with and would like to rekindle the friendship. As long as you are steering clear of toxic relationships, it’s never too late to reach out and reconnect with an old friend.

Have you journaled about your friendships with other women before? Are there any journal prompts you have found to be particularly helpful as you explore those relationships? Leave a comment below.

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** Images of women, hands, and “Friends” sign found on Pixabay.

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