Journal Your Life, Part II

By Leesa Ostrander

I recently saw a quote that said, “Don’t expect everyone to understand your journey, especially if they’ve never had to walk your path!”

Journaling is not having others walk your path; it is allowing them a glimpse of what the road seemed like to you.

Through exploring inner feelings, strife’s, joy and accomplishments, words on a paper (bound in a book) take on a life force. They become a story. They become a journey. They become the path you walked.

For some journaling is difficult. My mom told me, “How about I tell you my story and you write it?”

Thanks mom, but it is for you to write - J.

I have always loved journaling and writing stories. I also love writing research essays – but that is for another entry.

Journaling is important for help writing skills. It can help organize your thoughts, give meaning behind actions, and be good practice. Also, some plot twists can come from everyday occurrences that may be unknown because they seem simple. Yet, the simple daily behaviors are what create a story that shaoes a reader’s reality.

So, how can we encourage those not journaling?

First, set a goal to write one event in the day.

Second, (which I feel is really first) get a good book to write in. I like a classic journal for my daily and leather bound for my spiritual journaling. Or if you prefer typing, set up a folder to save your entries in.

Third, do it. The journal is for you. It is not to be published. Well, it may be if you become ultra-famous and the public wants to see inside your thoughts and then you die and a long-lost relative decides to make money.  For this entry sake, know the journal is for you and building a strong foundation to better writing.

Last, read your previous entries. When reading through entries for weeks, months, even years ago you remember and inspire to write more.

My mom’s mom kept her wall calendars. I thought it was strange, until I could look back at them and see her journal on them. She wrote her appointments on the calendar and life’s moments. Every year I saw my birthday and sharing the day was a moment in her life; a doctor’s appointment, the neighbor brought her cookies and one year the little birds on her porch hatched.

Share the path you are walking.