A Guided Waterfall Prompt
Best For:
Hikers, nature lovers, those experiencing grief, intentional adventurers, emotional essay readers, creative writers.
What fear feels louder than the waterfall, even now?
Waterfall Confessions
Nature has a way of stripping back the noise of daily life, leaving us alone with the thoughts we often try to outrun. To help navigate those moments, I’ve created Waterfall Confessions. My independently published digital or printable emotional reflection journal. I specifically designed for hikers, nature lovers, and adventurers that also are in tune with their emotional side, enjoy journaling, or want to explore the more emotional side of themselves .
Whether you are deep on the trail or reflecting from your favorite chair at home, this journal provides a dedicated space for you to unpack it all. A space in the back exists so you can log your location after you process the internal landscape on the pages inside. It is currently available for $2.00 USD on Etsy, Gumroad, and Payhip.
IFYKYK; We do not hike to outrun our ghosts; we hike to find a space wide enough to finally walk betide them.
Below, I am sharing my own response to one of the prompts included in the collection.
My Journal Entry
The Setting:
Brandywine Falls, CVNP (12/19/2025)
The world was draped in a heavy blanket of snow and ice. My two friends and I were the only souls at the parking lot for Brandywine Falls at Cuyahoga Valley National Park that morning. We moved in a virtual silence that felt sacred. The boardwalk was slick beneath our shoes, and the roar of the falls began to vibrate in our chests long before we left the parking lot. In that cold, snowy silence, the water felt like the only thing alive.
The Prompt:
What fear feels louder than the waterfall, even now?
My Reflection: The Weight of the “Without”
Standing there, the sheer volume of the water is usually enough to drown out everything. But for me, the thing that remains louder than any cascade is the grief of the last four years and the daunting realization of the years to come.
It is the pain of doing everything without my mother. Every milestone, every quiet hike, and every struggle I face from here on out is shadowed by her absence.
Grief is much like a winter waterfall: it remains loud and powerful even when the rest of the world has fallen into a frozen silence.
When you lose someone that foundational, you find you are no longer afraid of the small things. Hurt feelings or every day normal things don’t compare to this void.
People say it goes away, but it doesn’t. You simply learn to live with the empty spaces.
I am trying to learn how to enjoy the moments where the weight feels a little lighter. Grief comes in waves; I’ve realized there is no point in bracing for the inevitable crash while I’m standing in the shallows. I am learning to enjoy the peace while I can. Trying to begin focusing on living with my grief instead of living in it.
Continuing the Journey
This is just the first of three reflections I’ll be sharing from this collection. Keep an eye out for the next two prompts, where I’ll dive into different trails and different corners of my heart and maybe yours. This is the first of many emotional reflection journals planned for publishing available for those of us who find our healing in the wild.
Thank you so deeply for reading and for being part of this creative community. Your support allows me to keep sharing these stories and providing resources for others to share theirs.
Before you go
If these words resonated with you, I invite you to share this post with your hiking group or your journaling friends. Or maybe you know someone who finds solace in the woods; this might be the thing they need to start their own journaling journey.
Links to Buy
Internal Links
Waterfall Confessions– About the First Emotional Hiking Journal.
Care for You– The First Poeaxtry mini collection, a deep dive on self care through history- about this mini collection.
Because I was Prompted– 17 creative writing & Poetry prompts with the poems I created off them for you to use in your own creative writing journals. Learn more about the collection.
Kelso 2– An interactive and gamified relationship themed poetry zine, created with poems made by me for Kelsey, with 6 hidden bonus items. Learn more about this collection.
Learn more about Indie Advocacy & Emotional Poetry Collections by Title- Beginnings & Endings// Rambling of the Lost & Found// I Like to Read; You like to Watch the Life Drain Out of a Person// Sometimes the Prince Needs Saved
External links
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