Journaling
There are so many, many ways of journaling, of course! If you have a practice already, you may want to keep doing what you’re doing. But read my thoughts about it, anyway.
Journaling is my lifelong practice. Even as a little kid, I was scrapbooking pictures and drawings and scribbles and pretend writing. I recommend it, because:
it helps you to clear your mind
it’s a process of discovery
Things come out in the writing /sketching that you didn’t realize were there. Some of them, you are happy to get off your chest! Journaling about them helps you to release them. Good riddance! And you know, feel free to rip it up, paint it black, burn it…as desired. And also…
Some discoveries are priceless treasures. They will enrich your life and understanding. You may not even realize their value until after you’ve journalled them.
It can be illuminating to look back over your journals. Especially to see:
themes and patterns that you’ve been revisiting for weeks, months, years
how you’ve grown and changed and reached important goals that you forgot about
great inspiring ideas that got buried along the way and are now ripe for the picking
My Favorite Tips:
Make it easy. Use whatever kind of journal you’re most comfortable with. A spiral bound notebook is one of my favorites, and so is a sketchbook with blank pages. Just don’t make it too precious. Forget strict rules about what can or can’t go in it, or how it looks! Perfectionism is deadly to the process.
Write by hand. Journaling by hand is the best way to go. Relax and express yourself in non-linear fashion. Write sideways. Draw arrows. Color outside the lines. Underline with passion. Use a variety of media. Let your hands make OTHER kinds of marks and motions. And this I swear is true: you will say different things when you write by hand than when you write by keystroke. Hand-writing helps you to voice the myriad impulses and ideas within you, all clamoring for expression! See what happens!
Date your entries. Simple enough. Dates will help you to easily cross-reference events and dreams over the long arc.
Practice Inner+Outer journaling. Track your inner thoughts and feelings alongside your outer events and observations, and something wonderful happens. As you move back and forth, you notice connections and relationships you might have overlooked. You will naturally find the space in between inner and outer expanding.
Write something everyday. What you write, and how much or how little--that’s up to you! Personally, I avoid rules that will turn me away from the practice.
Things to journal about:
What did I wake up thinking about, wondering about, singing about, imagining?
What did I notice today?
What conversation did I overhear?
How did I move, think, speak?
What did I read today?
What events happened today? (might be a snowstorm, a political event, a party, a long car drive, an earache, an argument
What memories come to mind?
What’s on the grocery list? Just write something. It doesn’t have to be art! And who’s to say a grocery list isn’t an art form, anyway!
What art form would I most like to engage in right now?
What image would I draw? What song would I sing?
Further suggestions:
Take some time every week or two to review what you’ve written. Simply scan over your entries so that you have a sense or an image of what’s transpired. What’s been most significant? What’s been most troublesome? What terrain have you encountered? Where are you moving? Where are you stuck? Where have you found common ground with others? Where have you recognized your singularity? What themes are arising? If the review inspires you to make notes or express more deeply about anything, great!
Let your journaling support you, not restrict you. Journaling can feel like another heavy habit to carry along if you give yourself a lot of rules, but it doesn’t have to be. Stick with One Simple Rule: write something everyday. But what you write, and how much or how little--that’s up to you. When you see the interaction of what you think, feel, and do, your understanding of the events and relationships in your life is bound to grow!
Sticky Notes are your friends! For stream-of-consciousness journaling, when ideas and images are swirling all around, don’t stress about putting them in order or writing complete sentences: just get them down. One per post-it. You’ll figure out how they are related later. Move them around as desired.