Perhaps I write for no one. Perhaps for the same person children are writing for when they scrawl their names in the snow —Margaret Atwood

Spirituality/Worldview

Today we are going to explore your spiritual beliefs and/or worldview. For some, this may encompass a belief in the immanent or transcendent. For others, this may be a more scientific or rationalistic paradigm. Your worldview may not ever be in your story explicitly, but it is a good thing to know about the woman you are writing about - especially if that view has changed over time. The prompts below are intended to help you explore what you believe now and what you believed then.

Read the prompts below. Select the one that resonates with you most. After you’ve decided on your writing prompt, close your eyes for a moment and reflect on the question and your experience. Allow your feelings to come up. Open your eyes. Write at least one minute. You may choose more than one prompt, but please don’t write for more than 15-20 minutes.

1. I used to believe… but now I believe…
2. A recurring dream I’ve had is... I think it might mean…
3. A way that I have been compassionate with someone else is... A way I have been compassionate with myself is…
4. I’ve experienced spiritual abuse. It impacted by spiritual journey in that…
5. If I had to write a prayer, it would be... (Write the prayer and write about your prayer; starting and stopping is useful for this prompt)
6. I consider evil to be…
7. My belief about the supernatural is…
8. Something I need (or really want) to know the answer to is.... because….
9. I had a very weird spiritual experience once... (Describe the experience without discounting your experience as silly or nonsensical)
10. Use the list of values below to identify your core values. Write down some of the ones that resonate most for you and then free write in response to your list.
11. Explore the list of archetypes below. Which of these have been most active in your life? You don’t have to understand this concept at all, just write about your experience or identification with any of the archetypes that resonate with you or feel familiar.

List of Values for Question 10:

List of archetypes for Question 11:

StoryList

Remember to write down anything that may have come up today. (You might also modify a storylist item based on something you discovered today.)

It is not the end of the physical body that should worry us. Rather, our concern must be to live while we're alive - to release our inner selves from the spiritual death that comes with living behind a facade designed to conform to external definitions of who and what we are. -- Elisabeth Kubler-Ross