STRESS-FREE JOURNALING

Journaling should be fun.  It should be freeing, cathartic, and enjoyable.  Here are some basic tips to avoid overthinking it and getting the most out of it:

1. Freewrite - pick a word at random and start wrting.  Don't stop to think or edit or correct. Keep pen to paper. If you get stuck, repeat the word as many times as you need to continue. The less you think about it, the better.  Do this for a couple of minutes.  Then take another word and do the same.  Freewrite for 5 or 10 minutes.  Close the journal and move on to another task.

2. There is no right or wrong.  Allow yourself to write the worst thing possible.  In the midst of all that, something useful or enlightening will pop up. 

3. Use different prompts every day to avoid getting bored. Here are a few to use:

I remember...
The ocean...
I don't want to...
When I was 6...
This morning...

4. Pick a book at random, open it in the middle, and take the first sentence on the left side.  Use that as your beginning prompt.  You can use this infinite times since you probably have several dozens of books with many pages.  Also, experiment writing not only in prose but in poetry. Or make lists of words.

5. Every so often, try visual journaling with the above-mentioned tips for a change of pace.  And then, combine writing with drawing/painting/doodling.

Above and beyond everything else remember that your daily journaling's purpose is to offer you a place to unload, to discover, to experiment, and to find what you want to do.  Don't worry about what you write.  Let go and write!

AND REMEMBER: THE INNER JOURNEY: JOURNALING IN THE MODERN AGE
SATURDAY JUNE 14 - 1 TO 5 PM
THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY, 60 WEST WALTON, CHICAGO
TO REGISTER GO TO HTTP://WWW.NEWBERRY.ORG.

       

VISUAL JOURNALING

Journals are not only places to write; you can draw, doodle, collage, paint, you name it.  Here are some prompts/ideas for a visual page in your journal:

1. What's the story behind your name?  What is its etymology? Why were you named that?

2. What happened in the world the day you were born?  Find newspapers, magazines, and use the news to create images, drawings, and pictures.

3. What was your favorite place to hide as a child? Draw your memories of the place.  Use colored pencils, crayons, pens, paints, and bring the place to life.

4. What are your favorite foods?  The best meal you ever had? What foods do you detest? Find pictures in magazines and create a collage of your eating life.

5. What places in the world do you want to visit? Travel magazines are a great source of images.  Cut and paste a few of your favorite places and create a visioning board.

The visual journal can also be complemented with words.  Narrate a story or simply jot down your thoughts and feelings looking and creating the images.  How do you feel while you paint or draw?  What changes do you notice in yourself from the beginning to the end of the work?

AND DON'T FORGET: THE INNER JOURNEY: JOURNALING IN THE MODERN AGE
THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY
60 WEST WALTON, CHICAGO
SATURDAY JUNE 14 - 1 TO 5 PM
TO REGISTER GO TO http://www.newberry.org

JOURNALING 101

             

Journal writing is not about writing better; it’s about writing freely. 

The journal is a place of centering, of stepping into a quiet world to focus on what’s within and what’s around. 

Writing in a journal is not only a form of contemplation and examination of yourself and the world, but also a way to keep a record. 

Write every day, even if it's for five minutes.  To help you keep the discipline, select a time of day when you'll have time and stick to it.  Early mornings or before going to sleep is always a good time.

Here are some prompts to get you started.  Don't think too much, just write. And don't read it right away.  When you're done, close the journal and go on with your life.  

1. Journaling is ...

2. My favorite season is ...

3. I wonder what would happen if ...

4. What is close to me is ...

5. I want to spend this next hour doing ...


THE INNER JOURNEY: Journaling in the Modern Age
Saturday, June 14 - 1-5 pm
The Newberry Library, 60 West Walton, Chicago
To register, go to http://www.newberry.org

THE TOOLS OF THE JOURNAL-KEEPER

Now that you've taken the first step and decided to keep a journal, you need to choose the best medium for you.  Here are some ideas:

OLD FASHIONED PAPER JOURNALS

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If you like the feeling of physically writing down your thoughts, a paper notebook is the best option for you.  Keeping a paper journal gives you the physical control over your writing that you need, and the most privacy.  

Notebook ideas

THE MOLESKIN

Moleskine's notebooks come in all shapes, sizes, types, colors, and designs. They are available almost everywhere and have, therefore, become very popular. Moleskine has also developed a cult-like following of enthusiasts and note-takers unlike many other companies.  I also like spiral-bound notebooks because they can be folded to take up less room if your writing space is small, like writing on an airplane tray.  Hardcovers are better but they can be heavy to carry around, especially when you travel.  Don't spend a lot of money on fancy journals.  They tend to make you hesitant about writing anything old thought or feeling, doodling, jotting down, erasing or scratching.  You need to feel free to write whatever comes to mind and to experiment.  Fancy notebooks make us think twice about what we put down on their pages.  And that defeats the purpose of journaling.  Remember - journaling is about writing freely.

THE BULLET JOURNAL

The Bullet Journal allows you to capture quickly and parse all the different types of information you are trying to record. This technique provides insights that can help you identify what’s important and weed out the things that are not, and, in this way, figure out what will help you focus your time and energy productively and effectively.  Once you have your bullets, take a little time and elaborate on one or two or three points.  You can also use the bullets as prompts for stories and poems.

THE PENS

Pilot pens are the most popular pens and the most affordable.  In the top five budget pens category we can also find Uniball, Lamy, Sharpie, and Zebra.  I recommend journaling with a pen rather than with a pencil.  It's easier to read and lasts longer.  However, I encourage you to experiment with different colors.  Don't restrict yourself to black.  Play with turquoise, fuchsia, purple, red, green; most colors can be fun except for yellow, which can be hard to read on a white page.  The different colors also come in handy if you want to draw or doodle.  

THE INNER JOURNEY: JOURNALING IN THE MODERN AGE

SATURDAY, June 14 – 1 – 5 pm

THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY,  60 West Walton, Chicago

SOME FAMOUS JOURNAL KEEPERS

Researching for my journaling class coming up, I found this list of 10 famous journal-keepers:  

Virginia Woolf                                    Anais Nin

David Sedaris                                    Jonathan Franzen

C.S.Lewis                                           Joan Didion

Franz Kafka                                       Susan Sontag

Jessamyn West                                 Ray Bradbury

Virginia Woolf began writing her journal in 1915, at the age of 33, and continued until four days before her death.  She left behind 26 volumes written in her own hand.  A Writer's Diary is a collection of her journals edited by her husband and a must-read for any writer.  One of the uses Woolf found for her diaries was as a place of exploration, of trying out ideas and styles for her writing.  Here is an excerpt from an entry dating to April 20, 1919:  What sort of diary should I like mine to be? Something loose knit and yet not slovenly, so elastic that it will embrace anything, solemn, slight or beautiful that comes into my mind. I should like it to resemble some deep old desk, or capacious hold-all, in which one flings a mass of odds and ends without looking them through. I should like to come back, after a year or two, and find that the collection had sorted itself and refined itself and coalesced, as such deposits so mysteriously do, into a mould, transparent enough to reflect the light of our life, and yet steady, tranquil compounds with the aloofness of a work of art.

Many of us writers use our journals the same way: jotting down thoughts and snippets of conversations we overhear, copying memorable passages we read, trying out different voices and tenses for a story or a poem, and just plainly documenting our daily lives - sometimes dull and dreary, other times exhilarating and surreal.  

Do you keep a journal?

What do you write in it?

Do you illustrate it?

Do you read it months, years later?

What do you learn about yourself from the practice?

Tell me.

THE INNER JOURNEY: JOURNALING IN THE MODERN AGE

Journal writing is not about writing better; it’s about writing freely.  It requires the whole brain: the left brain – intellect, rationale, order, and the right brain – problem solving, intuition, creativity, emotion.  Both sides work together on the page. 

The journal is a place of centering, of stepping into a quiet world to focus on what’s within and what’s around.  Writing in a journal is not only a way to communicate with yourself and the world but also a way to keep a record.  And it’s a form of contemplation and examination.  Anchoring insights is another benefit of journaling. 

Journaling can help with personal growth and development by regularly recording your thoughts.  In this way you will gain insight into your behaviors and moods.  In addition, writing in a journal is an effective tool for use in the healing process.

Journaling forces you to crystallize your thoughts into written content, which simultaneously forces you to think deeper into the topic that is important to you. The most important fact is to get to the core and to stay honest with yourself. If you are truthful with yourself, you will get to the point where you see the next level of thought that you avoided so far, leading towards a solution.  We go to the gym to keep our body in shape.  We go to the doctor to clear problems.  Why not do the same with our mind and spirit by getting rid of the mental weight we accumulated over time? 

Self-Reflection is the method to do this and writing a journal is the path to that end.