A guide to understanding the stories we tell ourselves and the actions needed to reclaim power over our narrative
Story Work: Field Notes on Self-Discovery and Reclaiming Your Narrative is the latest project from author and workshop facilitator GG Renee Hill, forthcoming from Broadleaf Books in November 2025.
All of us absorb and understand the world around us through stories. It’s how we make sense of our surroundings, our communities, and ourselves. There’s often truth and validity in these stories. However, the stories we tell ourselves are not an end-all, be-all. Instead, they’re all part of a larger, ongoing, unfinished narrative—one that we must continually refresh, expand, and contemplate to stay soft and open-hearted.
The stories we carry can open or close our imaginations to what’s possible. That’s where Story Work comes in. Through essays and prompting questions, GG Renee Hill pens the raw material of her own life: an upbringing raised by a mother with schizophrenia, and a lifetime of internal and external forces trying to minimize that impact. It was a long, old, heavy story Hill silently carried with her—the powerless girl who lost her voice in the wreckage of her mother’s condition — until she turned to writing and began to change the meaning she’d assigned to her experiences. And she doesn’t stop there. Hill invites readers to the transformative practice of creative self-discovery through storytelling — treating our life experiences as creative material that we have the power to shape. For the person searching, Story Work is the answer that enables us to live with an open-hearted curiosity—one that both fuels and grounds us.
Find your center during a year of self-reflective journaling
Sometimes, focusing on our goals and responsibilities keeps us from paying attention to our own thoughts, feelings, and actions. Recenter and refocus in just a few minutes a day with this guided self-reflection journal. Thoughtful quotes and writing prompts encourage you to pause and make conscious choices. As you tune into your inner guidance, you’ll uncover beliefs, patterns, and habits that aren’t serving you―and open the door to shaping your life around your true values.
365 days of reflection―Short journal prompts and off-the-page exercises encourage you to consider all aspects of your life, like motivation, healthy habits, your living space, and more.
Inspiration and meditation―Discover positive affirmations and inspirational quotes centered around weekly themes like Building Courage and The Productivity of Rest.
A welcoming format―The soothing design contains plenty of space to write, making this journal a pleasure to come back to day after day.
Unlock joy and cultivate growth―guided journaling with practical self care strategies
Self care isn’t about escaping life’s problems―it can actually help you solve them. The Self Care Check-in is a guided journal packed with research-based techniques to help you manage stress, nurture your values and goals, and take steps toward concrete change. Equipped with these tools, you can open the door to a healthier, more fulfilling lifestyle.
The Self Care Check-in journal includes:
3 steps to self care―Each exercise begins with observation and awareness, focuses your intentions, and then guides you toward practical change.
Creative space―Work your way from thoughts to action plans with a colorful, easy-to-use format that includes room to write.
Everyday exercises―Every short one- or two-page exercise stands on its own, so you can flip through and find the perfect self care strategy for your needs in the moment.
Discover how even small, simple choices can cultivate greater joy and wellness.
photo credit: Tomorrow’s Portraits
Self-Care Check in has been featured in Bustle, Buzzfeed, and PopSugar as a highly recommended tool for wellness and personal growth.
Bustle — The 8 Best Mindfulness Journals You Can Start Any Time Of Year
Buzzfeed — 32 Products To Help You Focus On The Future
PopSugar — The Best Self-Care and Gratitude Journals For Starting Your Day on a Positive Note
Book Authority — 20 Best Self Awareness Books of All Time
Yours — 20 best self-care books to help guide and inspire your life
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“GG is a transparency, a beautiful space for light to shine through into this world. I saw it when we first worked together nearly a decade ago, and I see it now, in full splendor! Let GG and her Self-Care Check-In guide you to that same brilliant, transparency, to an inner peace that nothing can shake.”
― Nikki Walton, licensed psychotherapist and spiritual teacher
“This is the perfect book for people who want to care for themselves beyond the stereotypical bubble bath. With exercises for self-reflection and suggested action steps, GG Hill makes it easy for you to not only care for yourself in tangible ways but also shift habits and behaviors that aren't serving you. If that's not the ultimate goal of self-care, I don't know what is!”
― Jennifer Sterling, MS, CNS, R-DMT, LCAT-lp, Dance/Movement Psychotherapist
“If you want a self-care practice that goes beyond the hashtag, beyond the aspirational value, and beyond the cute spa day surface, this book of GG’s will give you just that. With gentle but penetrative guidance, GG allows her readers to not only tour their past experiences but also decide and put into movement how they’d like to shape their new ones. GG is an authority for showcasing how the written word can be a magnificent tool for healing and manifesting. This journal is absolute nourishment.”
― Tracy G., wellness artist and founder of She's Beauty and The Beast
“There are seasons in life when we feel supported, and there are seasons when we feel untethered. It's in the untethered seasons that we feel the urgency to connect with ourselves and find meaning in our stories. Curious to understand our purpose and impact in the world, we turn to many things, but the most powerful thing we can do is sit with pen and paper and listen as our stories silently unfold. A Year of Self-Reflection Journal is your beautiful invitation to come home to self, activate your stories, and find meaning in a life full of uncertainty.”
— Nicole Annette, journal keeper, writer, coach, and publisher
“GG Renee's thoughtful journal offers a place of solace, self-reflection, and focus in a world moving at an impossible pace. The prompts give readers the opportunity to do the transformative work necessary to see a better and brighter version of themselves. It's an essential tool for daily writing.”
— Ashley M. Coleman, author of Good Morning, Love
“A valued and trusted self-care practitioner, GG Renee Hill has curated a perfect daily resource to help us re-center and reflect on what matters most—ourselves!”
— Christine Platt, author of The Afrominimalist's Guide to Living with Less
“I cannot think of a more compassionate and intentional way to move through the year than with this journal. GG has created a journal with prompts meant to reveal to you the very best of yourself. GG's reflections ask you to recall your essence, what makes you special, and tune in to your own voice in a way that GG has been facilitating for years. This journal is truly a beautiful offering and any faithful user will walk away seeing themselves in a more loving light.”
— Jessica Jamese Williams, contributing essayist in New York Times best-selling anthology You Are Your Best Thing, empowerment educator and CEO of Golden Peaches, LLC
“This is the second journal from GG Renee Hill that I've purchased and absolutely loved. A Year Of Self-Reflection is an integral part of my morning routine. It's gentle and thoughtful prompts help me to stay grounded, especially in times of transition. I adore GG's work and it has a lasting positive impact on my well-being.”
— Rachel Nusbaum, Founder, Orchid Story
“During the isolated year of 2020, I took the online "Memoir & Motherhood" workshop with GG, whose skilled and motivational guidance elicited some of my best writing. So, I was excited when her daily reflection journal arrived in 2021! As usual, her writing prompts encourage rich self-inquiry and inspire thoughtful writing. The weekly themes progress keenly, from simple reflections (discovering your unique approach to cultivating happiness) to detailed assignments (creating a vision board), and beyond to goal setting for bigger-picture themes. I have been doing the exercises in my own time, having discovered that - for a daily journaling practice - a more simple book format works best for me (i.e. a page-a-day gratitude journal). Still, I'll always look forward to workshops with and writing prompts from GG!”
— Holly Meyers, workshop participant and Founder, Urban Yoga Den