Journaling
“What
needs to be counted on to have a voice? Courage. Anger. Love.
Something to say; someone to speak to; someone to listen. I have
talked to myself for years in the privacy of my journals. The only
things I've done religiously are keep a journal and use birth
control.”
Terry
Tempest Williams (When Women Were Birds)
There
is a difference between a diary and a journal. The diary, which every
little girl gets in elementary school, is supposed to be a daily
record, while a journal is a free-flowing collection of thoughts and
happenings. For years I kept a journal—beginning in my early
twenties and continuing until recently, when my writing evolved into
other forms. I wrote about what was going on in my life, my plans, my
hopes and, quite literally, my dreams, nocturnal and otherwise.
Sometimes I wrote straight down the page as usual, sometimes I turned
the book sideways, or wrote on the diagonal or in a circle. I drew
pictures and designs, wrote poems, made lists, jotted short story
lines, and snippets of conversation. I'm happy that I kept
journals all those years because now I can go back and check in with
my twenty-year-old self and follow her progress all through the
years. Let me tell you, she was a mess for many of those years.
Keeping
a journal is an excellent way of working through difficult decisions.
Making lists of pros and cons and allowing the different parts of the
self to dialog with one another usually brings clarity. Also, going
through a process of assessment keeps you from making
spur-of-the-moment, and often faulty, choices. And further,
journaling forces you to spend some time inside yourself, shining a
light around in there, looking for bug-a-boos that might come back
to haunt you, as well as good stuff to inspire.
A
proper journal should have blank, unlined pages. Lined pages box you
in and discourage creativity. Some people like journals that are
large enough to draw in, and some like them small enough to fit
inside one's purse or backpack. Journals are hand written,
coordinating the hands and eyes with the creativity centers of the
brain. Besides, we are going to forget how to write if all we ever
use is a keyboard, and who wants their innermost thoughts recorded on
a hard-drive?
Going
to a bookstore to buy a journal is a great pleasure. Choose one that
speaks to you, that feels good in your hands, that gives you a little
tingle of excitement when you open it. After all, your relationship
to your journal is both personal and intimate, so pick one that
pleases you. Don't feel you have to write every day, but make
writing a priority or you won't do it. Best of all, enjoy this
journey of discovery. Your inner-reaches are every bit as interesting
as your outer surroundings.
In
the spirit,
Jane
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