Journal Prompts for Shadow Work: What Do Your Pet Peeves Say About You?

Apr 3

Photo of woman looking down at phone annoyed. — What can your pet peeves tell you about your shadow self?

Photo Dragana Gordic/stock.adobe.com

Shadow work journaling

Everyone feels annoyed sometimes. Maybe it’s loud chewing, slow walking, or showing up late, whatever your pet peeves are, they have a story to tell about your past and how you experience life. They even have a story to tell you about your shadow self.

Shadow work is all about making aspects of ourselves that are unconscious, conscious, or in other words, bringing these aspects of ourselves out of the shadows and into the light. This is how we meet our shadow self and integrate our shadow self. When something is unconscious, however, that inherently means that it’s difficult for us to see. Exploring how we interact with others, or in other words, understanding that others are our mirror, can help us to bring our shadow selves into the light.

I invite you to join me in this shadow work exercise as we journal about pet peeves and meet our shadow selves. If it feels helpful, use the journal questions below to start.

Shadow work journal prompts

Photo journal sitting on table next to glasses, mug, and tablet, hand poised over journal with pen. — *Photo tortoon/stock.adobe.com*

Write down your top three pet peeves.
For each pet peeve, write about a few times someone annoyed you by committing the pet peeve. What happened? What emotions did you experience? How did you respond to the person whose behavior annoyed you.
Are there people in your life who repeatedly annoy you by engaging in the same pet peeve?
When in your life did these things start to bother you?
Who was the first person in your life you remember engaging in behavior similar to each of your pet peeves?
Do you commit any of the pet peeves on your list yourself?
How do you respond to yourself when you commit one of these pet peeves?
Why do you think you respond to yourself this way?
Do you like how you respond to yourself when you engage in this behavior? What impact does your response have on you? How does it make you feel? How does it impact your behavior in the moment and in the future?