The Journaling Muse – Issue #34 Who Do You Choose to Be
A soft space to reflect, reconnect, and create with feeling.​ My intention is to help you slow down and soothe your nervous system — through colour, texture, and expressive journaling that speaks gently to your inner world.
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Hi, Dear Reader,
Years ago, I was a workaholic. I worked in Corporate Finance as a managing director of a brokerage company on the securities market, moving from project to project without pause. My life was spent in air-conditioned offices, arriving home late at night.
One hot August morning, my neighbor asked me how I was coping with the heat. I was surprised, I hadn’t even realized it was summer. I had been so consumed with deadlines and projects that I’d lost touch with the seasons, with time, with myself.
That moment stayed with me. I thought: If I keep living like this — project to project, always waiting for the next thing — one day I’ll wake up retired and realize my life passed while I was concentrating only on my job. Do I really want that?
And if not, who do I want to be?
That question became a turning point. I decided to find a less demanding path, and to finally give space to other parts of myself. It wasn’t only about what I was doing or having, it was about asking who I wanted to be.
The Hardest List to Write
In The Success Principles, there’s an exercise: write down 30 things you want to do, 30 things you want to have, and 30 things you want to be before you die.
The “do” and “have” lists usually come easily. But the “be” list? That’s the hardest and the most powerful. It asks you to name your identity now, not someday.
And autumn feels like the perfect time to ask this question. As the light shifts and the year turns, nature reminds us: becoming is part of the season.
Because identity isn’t only discovered. It’s chosen.
Journaling Prompts
Make three lists: 30 things I want to do, 30 things I want to have, 30 things I want to be. Which list feels hardest to write? Why?
From my “be” list, choose one identity I want to claim fully now.
How does it feel to step into this version of me?
What happens when I act as if this identity is already true?
If I can’t act as if it’s true yet, what needs to shift in order to embody it?
Creative Invitation
Create a page or canvas beginning with the words “I am…” and let colour, marks, or collage express that identity.
Or: make three columns — Do / Have / Be. Fill them with words, sketches, or images. Circle one identity from “Be” and explore it visually or in writing.
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A Little Muse for You​ Identity isn’t something we wait for the world to confirm. It begins the moment we choose to live as that version of ourselves.
This week’s Muse painting is Set Me Free. It began by a spring, but it also carries the memory of my college friends. Over the years, one of us became a singer, I became a painter, and another remained as she was, still an economist, almost like a statue among us. Not intentionally, just the way life unfolded.
The painting reminds me that identity is fluid. We can choose to step into a new one: singer, painter, dreamer, anything or we can stay as we are. Both are choices. And sometimes, the greatest freedom is giving ourselves permission to change.
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No matter what you choose, I’m thankful our paths have touched. 🌿
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