Journal Fetish » Journaling

Journal Templates

admin — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 13:35:04 +0000

While wondering through Borders, I came across a journal. It wasn’t your standard blank journal, it was more of a journal template. I didn’t take note of the publisher or name, but it did strike me as odd.

Why would someone need a template for journaling? Okay, maybe it’s not that odd because some people do need prompts — what happened today and how did it make you feel? — to get going, but I wonder if those prompts are taking some of the organic creativity out of journaling. There were no places for doodling or gluing snippets from a great magazine article or anything like that.

Hmm, maybe I should create my own journal template for nurturing organic creativity. It would still contain the prompts — hello dear, tell me about your day – but it would go a step further by asking for images, clippings, music, or anything else that made that day what it was.

(This is a perfect example of me thinking out loud.)

Collecting Epiphanies

admin — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 20:33:59 +0000

How many times have you been struck by an aha! moment while writing in your journal? Now, just imagine how many nuggets of wisdom are wedged between random ramblings and how valuable they could be if you were to see them each day. Instead of imagining, why not put down that novel for an evening and revisit the past?

Comb through each page of your journal and each time you come to one of these epiphanies (better known as life lessons), write it down on a sheet of paper. Get into the essence of that life lesson and note any patterns you find. If you continue coming across a particular lesson over and over again, then maybe you should be closer attention to it, because you continue repeating the same mistakes.

When your collection of epiphanies is complete, you’ll have an easy reference chart that you can use on a daily basis. Read through it often and see whether you’re about to start repeating mistakes which will lead to one of the life lessons you were supposed to have already learned.

Journal Guilt

admin — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 12:11:36 +0000

It’s strange to read that some people actually feel guilty when they don’t journal for a while. I personally don’t feel guilty if I don’t write for a few days (heck, entire months have gone by where my journal was neglected), because I know that, like a trusted friend, it will be there when I return.

Like anything else, journaling needs to be kept in moderation and perspective. It should never become a chore or a job or a task that needs to be completed. Journaling is about releasing and balance. When it becomes more than that, your journal is no longer being a good friend and it’s time to take a break.

In time, if it’s meant to be, you will be drawn back to your journal.