Thread: Journals..

My lovely wife bought me a journal on our wedding day, because i had been talking about wanting to start one.

Well... fast forward 6 months and i find it while cleaning my desk.

I started carrying it around, but have not written anything in it. My first instinct is just to transcribe what is happening throughout the day, but that does not seem quite right..

Is there really a wrong or right way to write in a journal?

btw, I picked up a pilot plumix from target last week because it was a cheap entry in to fountain pens($6). Not sure if like the medium nib though, I think i am going to try to snag a lamy safari fine point to replace it.

I started doing free writing a few years back. Just take a page and start writing and let your mind wander, but whatever you do dont stop writing..! Its quite amazing (and weird sometimes!) what your mind comes up with.

But I've always thought of traditional journals as being your thoughts and musings at a particular point in time, and a record of things you've done that you found particularly hard, funny or challenging and what those things made you think and feel.

Good luck with it, hope it goes well for you!

I used to buy those tablet composition school kid books with the lined paper bound in them. I have a half dozen I wrote in periodically from the mid-'80s through the very early '90s. I would write about what was going on at the time and my feelings in general. I still have them and browse through them from time to time. It is surprising to see how much of day to day life I forgot from back in those days. If you just sit down at the end of the day or whenever the mood strikes and begin it will become a habit. Kind of like posting on an internet forum.

Ben's Journal:

My alarm clock went off too early again, so I told it to DIAF.

I got to work and had to attend pointless meetings, so I told the project manager to DIAF.

When I got home, there were conservative talk radio show hosts on TV spouting their hate. I told them to DIAF.

I hope tomorrow come quickly, so I can kill it with fire.

Record anything and everything related to your feelings: good, bad, happy, sad, angry, hurt, excited, ecstatic, whatever you are feeling (not necessarily at that moment).

Choose a time of day you can have a few uninterrupted moments to yourself. Early morning or late evening before going to bed when there are few distractions are good times to sit and write in your journal.

Keep your journal private to yourself; allow no one else to read it. The act of writing about and recording situations that evoke various feelings in you will help you process those situations and better integrate them into your life. This will increase your quality of life. You'll understand that better as time goes by and you continue to write.
Namaste,
Morty

My dear Slartibartfast:

A journal is the play of your thoughts.

If an honest play, then the actors take their lines from your inner soul.

But you must remember to keep the curtain raised and the stage alive.

Regards,
Obie