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Journaling is a powerful
tool and support for living. Keeping a personal
writing journal is a good habit to get into because
it gives you a simple and reliable method for
discovering and working with thoughts and feelings
on a daily basis. Our thoughts and feelings are
sacred, but do we really know in a clear way
what we are thinking and feeling? A regular practice
of journaling is a way to stay clear about what’s
happening in our hearts and minds so that life
will be happier and harmonious. Journaling may
bring more balance to our lives after we begin
this practice because we can say anything that
is on our minds in our journal. Saying what’s
up lets us release it and move on.
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What’s
a Personal Journal?
A personal journal is writing done regularly
about your own life. It’s a book you
keep in which you can write anything you want
about how you are thinking, feeling, or what’s
happening in your day. The writing style and
content of each person’s journal book
will be different and distinctive to that person—once
you get the idea you’ll do it in your
own way. It’s a writing book that you
can keep entirely private, or perhaps share
some of it with others. It’s up to you.
It’s a way to stay clear by having a “conversation
with yourself” on a daily basis.
Why Keep a Personal Journal?
A journal is a tool for living. By keeping a
journal, our own self-awareness deepens because
it is a way we can take a look at ourselves
very easily. Knowing ourselves better helps
us make better choices about things coming
up in our lives because we will have visited
issues in quiet times when we have the space
to think about them. For example, if there
is a problem with a personal relationship a
journal entry might look like this:
“I feel bothered by so and so, because… I
feel foolish and unhappy when I’m with
so-and-so. I begin to feel like I’m ‘less-than.’ Hey!
I didn’t know I felt inferior when I’m
with so and so.”
From an entry like this,
you can see that keeping a journal can help
a person actually discover things they didn’t know about themselves.
Another benefit of keeping a journal is that
it helps you stay in practice as a writer. If
you are a student––high school, college
or grad school––your writing skills
will gradually improve as part of keeping
a journal and you’ll benefit at school.
How to Get
started—the
Actual Book
It’s best to purchase a dedicated low-cost
writing book to begin a journaling commitment.
This could be a spiral bound notebook from the
supermarket or office supply store. It can be
a ruled book as large as 8 1/2 “ by 11” in
size, or maybe one as small as 5” X 7” It’s
probably not a good idea to start off with one
that’s smaller than about 5” X 7” because
you might feel cramped for space. You can also
purchase one of the fancier journal books that
office supply or book stores offer. These would
be fully bound books with special, attractive
features, such as woven covers or interior designs.
They might be lined or un-lined. In general,
you might want to use a lined book to get started
and then later on switch to an unlined book if
it seems better for you. You can use an ordinary
ballpoint pen, or maybe a fancier pen that makes
writing a comfortable experience. For example,
gel-ink pens make writing effortless and smooth.
How to Get
Started––Your
First Entries
First, date the page. Each new day could be
on a separate page, or you can leave a space
from the previous day’s entry to place the
current date. It’s up to you. What to
write? If you have something on your mind,
just plunge in. Here’s an example:
June 21, 2005
It’s summer solstice today. Sundances and
other traditional summer events are starting
to take place all around. We went fishing over
by so-and so’s and caught some nice bass.
Cooked them up for supper and fed everybody.
I’ve been thinking about school. I’m
wondering about the fall semester…
To write a journal entry,
you might imagine you are writing a letter
to someone, talking to a friend or Elder, or
just listening to your own internal self-talk
and putting it out on paper. Maybe you are
having an internal conversation with someone.
Write it down. That’s a way
to get started. Put it out on paper. Sometimes
talking about the weather or something casual
can be a lead-in to what is really on your mind—just
like in everyday life.
If you do some writing at one time of day, and
then pick it up again at another time, you can
draw a star between the entries to separate them.
A journal might be your ongoing conversation
with yourself. For example:
-----
Now it is later in the
afternoon. I went over to …’s house
and we talked. It really helped clear things
up. I feel like some of the confusion from this
morning is gone. Hey! I feel really good!
-----
More Tips About Journal Entries
There are many books out there about keeping
a journal and lots of information on the internet.
Once you get started, you might want to take
a look at one or two. But remember to keep
it simple. Rachel Naomi Remen is a popular
writer who advocates personal journaling. Here
is what she says about getting started:
“Ask yourself, ‘What surprised me
today? What moved or touched me today? What inspired
me today?’ Begin your journal entry with
those questions. Often, people are surprised
eight or nine hours after something happens when
they look back on it deliberately. But that gap
shortens until eventually they are able to see
in the very moment what surprises them, what
touches them, and what inspires them. And then
everything changes. The world has not changed,
but they have begun to be able to see the world,
and they can then communicate that experience.”
Keeping a journal is something that can go along
with other personal self-awareness experiences
in your life. For example, by keeping a regular
journal it might become easier to speak in group
process situations such as talking circles, or
at meetings, or in class because you will have
been discovering how you think and feel about
things through the journal. If you are in counseling,
it might make those sessions stronger. It might
help clarify relationships with family, friends
or children, or teachers.
Another way to begin is to
write down a favorite prayer or quotation under
the date and write about why that inspires
you. For example, Black Elk said, “Behold this day, for it is yours
to make!” How does this relate to your
life at this very moment?
You can also keep a Gratitude
List, as well
as a list of resentments, because your journal
is a place for honesty.
When or Where to journal
Try setting aside regular times during the
day to open up your journal and write. Early
mornings might be a good time, or just before
bedtime. Think of it as a discipline just as
you would prayer or meditation, if you have
regular commitments to those. Once journaling
becomes a reliable practice or tool, you’ll
find that you can write short entries during
lunch, during a break, or maybe on an airplane
flight. Learn how to go off by yourself for
short periods of time to write in your journal
book. Journal at a quiet place in your home • Outside
with nature • In a favorite coffee shop • Sitting
on your bed • On a bus commute to work
or school • During a period of retreat • During
breaks at conferences or workshops • Carry
your journal with you so you can take advantage
of other times and places that work for you.
A Sacred Practice
For some of us, keeping a journal will become
a sacred practice, just as private prayer or
meditation, sweat lodge, vision quest, talking
circle, or whatever your own Way encourages.
For this reason, it is good to keep a journal
book in a special bag or container, just as
you would a Sacred Pipe or Eagle Feather. You
can make your own bag or personalize one that
you purchase, or use one that might be a gift.
It does make a difference to keep a journal
book in a good way like this. Sometimes you’ll
want to smudge with sage, cedar, sweetgrass
or whatever your tradition calls for before
beginning a journaling session. Sometimes you
might even want to hold an eagle feather or
other sacred object as you write. You might
do this while in private, but not, for example,
if you do a short journaling session during
lunch at school or on an airplane. Experiment
with this to see what best gives you those
feelings that make your thoughts flow out onto
the paper easily.
A journal is also the perfect
place to talk to God. There will be times when
the heart has no words for the ordinary things
of life, but is in the mood to talk with Creator,
Great Spirit, Jesus, the Mystery, or however
you understand the sacred in your own heart
of hearts. This is one way some of us pray.
Your written prayer can be as beautiful as, “Oh Great Spirit,
Whose voice I hear in the winds, and whose breath
gives life to all the world—hear me!” Or
it can be, “God, why am I having such a
hard time today? “Why have you placed stumbling
blocks in my path? I know and trust your presence.
Please show me what I might be doing wrong…” Your
journal is the perfect place to talk to Creator.
Other Ideas for Journaling
Once you get established in keeping a written
journal, other kinds of writing or self-expression
might naturally want to come out in your journal
book. Some of that “self-expression” can
be some very pragmatic and practical record-keeping
because, after all, day-to-day practicalities
are important parts of life and the purpose
of your journal is to report the happenings
of your life. So for example, one entry might
read:
August 8, 2005
Went to the dentist today and learned my own
oral hygiene was not too good. I must remember
to brush and floss every day. What is keeping
me from doing that? What goes on with my feelings
or my energy causing me to forget?
Or this:
September 1, 2005
My doctor increased the dosage of my medication
today. She asked me to keep track of how I
feel, on a scale of one through ten on a daily
basis. Well, here goes. Today it is a six.
Or this:
September 15, 2005
My brother Paul and his family visited today
on their way back to Seattle. We haven’t
seen them for such a long time. Thumbing through
this journal, I can see it has been almost
a year since their last visit.
Journal entries can also switch between ordinary
writing (prose), and poetry, if that suits you.
Poetry opens up writing and is closer to prayer
or music. It allows you to say things that might
come more from feelings. Everyone has a poet
inside themselves. Give it a try. Here is an
example that was mixed in with some journaling:
Healing Song
Root by root
Stem by stem
Branch by branch
And bit by bit,
The sacred tree is growing.
Little by little
We heal our hurt,
Our families heal,
And the people again
Become whole.
You might also want to do sketches or other
kinds of graphics mixed in with your journal
entries. For example, you can draw a mind map
of something you happen to be talking about in
a journal entry. This can help get us out of
the literal, left-brained mind, just as poems
can.
Another possibility is to
do a small sketch with colored pencils right
in the journal book when it seems appropriate.
Once again, visual art can take us into the
right brain, revealing feelings and insights
we didn’t even know
were there. Sometimes this kind of daily sketching
is called a visual journal. Your visual journal
can be part of your written journal book. Or,
if you find yourself drawing as much as you are
writing, you can keep a second book for the visual
journal.
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Journaling Topics
Writing about a specific topic or subject is
another way to use the personal journal. We
all have thoughts and feelings taking place
as we go through a day. If you find a particular
subject coming up in your mind over and over
again, why not write about it? You don’t
have to be an expert, and you don’t have
to be “right.” This is your own
personal journal to use as you see fit. Suppose
you find yourself thinking about the difference
between spirituality and religion—and
the topic won’t let you go. Let it become
a journal entry:
September 21, 2005
Spirituality and Religion
Are spirituality and religion the same or different?
My spirituality is so big and so encompassing.
I can’t even really talk about it. But
when I am involved with religion, there is always
this and that to say, all those ideas and things
that are “right” and “wrong.” Our
traditional ways were always spiritual. Did we
ever have religion, the way people speak about
it today?
Sometimes a group of people
can agree on certain topics to write about
in their journal books as part of regular meetings
or a talking circle process that you attend.
By thinking and writing on particular topics
over a time period of, say, a week or two,
the next gathering of your circle or group
might be very fruitful or lively because you’ve had time to “live” with
a particular subject that is of importance in
your life through your journal entries. Here
is a suggestion for some topics that people in
recovery, self-discovery, or circle process might
want to consider:
Topics for Journaling
• Getting
on the path;
• Spirituality;
• Sobriety;
• Family of origin;
• Hostility;
• Father/son or Mother/daughter issues;
• Fatherhood or Motherhood
• Communications;
• Interdependence; and
• Generosity/service
Give it a Try
Journaling can become a valuable, enjoyable,
and useful life-practice. Sometimes it’s “all
you’ve got” when going through
a difficult or challenging period, always part
of the healing journey or path. It’s
a great instrument to use if your temperament
is to work alone on some parts of the healing
journey. It is also good fun to write about
joyous, happy and beautiful things taking place
in your life. So give it a try. It might become
a lifelong friend.
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