Journaling has saved me more than once. You would think it wouldn’t be so since I am a natural-born talker. Journaling has been my way of talking when I couldn’t find the words. It’s been my tool to getting the words I didn’t know were stuffed inside me. Plus, who doesn’t love a pretty new notebook and some good pens?
I was digging through my old boxes a few weeks ago, and I found a Coca-Cola Mead Notebook circa 1988, my first journal. I use to collect Coca-Cola; hence, being the first notebook, I poured my heart out to God. I wrote in it with a pencil because I still wasn’t old enough to be trusting myself to be writing in pen. How cute is that? Nowadays, my journals come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes I even find a piece of scrap paper tucked in a book with a prayer written on it or some thought that popped in my mind. And I have now graduated from a pencil. These days I use a Frixion Erasable Gel Pen (if you don’t know about these magical things, you must go out and buy some ASAP).
I don’t journal every day. I go through spurts. Some days I write what I am grateful for, others I list my day, and the days I spill my heart. A clean sheet of paper is as beautiful as a sunrise. It’s space to create what doesn’t yet exist. A journal doesn’t have to be written words; it can be drawings, collages, or coloring. Your journal is a gift to yourself, the present, and the future.
Here are some tips to jump-start your journaling:
- First, don’t write on the first page because you will never be able to make it perfect.
- Start small- write one sentence or thought a day for the few journal entries. Don’t put pressure on yourself or a big expectation. Instead, get yourself use to the idea, or get your love for journaling re-inspired.
- Journaling before going to bed great way to clear your thoughts out and stop your mind from racing before slumped.
- Find a particular spot or chair in your house to the journal. In Austria, I had a chair and called it my “Jesus Chair,” as that is where I sat to all things related to God. I have carried that tradition on in all my moves and homes.
I created the…
Journey Well,
Coach Holly,
