On Journaling: Where to Begin

So now you've pick out a good one. You maybe even made your own. But now what?

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As we're seeing through the stories being shared here, folks keep journals for a variety of reasons. To jot down memories, share secrets, ask questions, pray, make lists, remember details.

If you're serious about starting a journal story of your own, ask yourself a few questions. The answers to these questions would be a great beginning to the pages of your new journal.

Why do you want to start/continue journaling?

Do you have a specific purpose for beginning a journal?

How do you see if playing into your daily routine?

When do you have time to journal? 

How will you make it a priority?

How will you allow yourself flexibility?

I hesitate to ask "What do you want to write about?"

Instead, I will ask...

What story do you want to tell?

At the surface, my journals are a mixed up pile of rants and prayers and happenings from the day.

But when you dig down deep, read what's not there, progress through page by page, you will see it's more than that.

It's my story. It's who I am. Or was. Am becoming.

I love journaling because there is no audience and I'm certainly not performing. 

I began my journey journey by writing the things I saw. 

Then when I was more comfortable the things I experienced. 

Then as I progressed, the things I felt, thought, was angered by, found passion in.

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- Start small. Write a little bit every day. Pretty soon you'll find yourself sharing more and needing to express yourself through your writing.

- Create a space. Carve out a bit of space where you can sit comfortably, be free(ish) from distraction, and where you feel safe enough to write it all down. Carve out the time you need during the time of day that makes sense to you.

- Keep your journal handy. I keep all kinds of thoughts and ideas between the pages of my journal and I never know when I'm going to need to write something down. I never want to lose a bit of inspiration because paper wasn't close.

- Be flexible. There are days (and weeks) when the spine of my journal hardy gets cracked at all. That's ok. There is no judge or grade. Just you. Don't be too hard on yourself if you don't meet your journaling goals or expectations. When it comes to these sorts of things, I don't think those things should apply.

Need more inspiration?

Gadanke journals (listed above) provide all the prompts and pretty paper you need to get started.

write down all the things that you're currently doing/experiencing/etc.- source

she features prompts for each of the months- source

where are you from?- source

create a page of all the things you love. you could also create a page for the things you believe, find beautiful, or are grateful for- source

create a journal jar of prompts- idea and photo here, prompts here

January's coming up and what better time to start a new chapter than with a new year! Are you ready?