Detailed Journaling

“Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.”

-- Ashley Smith

What I love about this quote is the reminder to notice the details. I always use a lot of detail in my journal entries, as that's what makes the story come alive, and what makes it easy to remember when re-reading.

Next time you write, include DETAIL from each of the 5 Senses -- what did you hear, smell, see, taste, touch/feel? Include food, colors, weather, sensations, music or sounds and watch your writing come alive.

Invest in Yourself -- How to Start Journaling

Journaling is an investment. Not a financial one, per se, but an investment in yourself. Taking the time to write down dreams and goals helps make them a reality. Writing in times of illness and stress helps to heal and calm. Writing through grief gives an outlet for your feelings. Organizing feelings and emotions on the page detangles them.

Journaling is a valuable tool for personal growth. When you write things down, there is space between yourself and your feelings. Space for perspective. Space for realization. Space for awareness of not only what you think and how you feel, but what the next step should be.

Are you journaling yet? Have you purchased a journal and it's still sitting empty? Pick it up and start today. Baby steps, Baby!

Write your name on the first page and the date you are beginning your journal. Add a sketch, some stickers, or some form of decoration if you like. This will be your title page.

Turn the page and start. Like this, for example:

Write the date, day & time. ("Wednesday, 3.03.10, 12 noon") Write where you are ("I'm sitting in my brown chair by the window..."), what the weather's like or something about the season ("The rain has stopped, but it's still grey..."), write how you're feeling physically ("I'm tired today and my back is aching..."), and finally, start writing about your thoughts, feeling, emotions, or what's on your mind. Sometimes I like to write about the day's events and then segue into how I feel about them. ("Yesterday I did more work on the girls' playroom. I bought a rug and some new toy bins. I'm excited that they'll have a comfy place to sit and play, a play where they can dress up and read stories and build towers and dream. I want them always to dream.")

Now it's your turn. Go get a pen and your journal (new and still empty, or worn and almost full), and write. If you're afraid to start, or overwhelmed, set a timer for 10 minutes, and commit to writing for that long. You may find that once you start, you don't want to stop after 10 minutes. In that case, keep going!

Happy journaling!

Reverse Journaling

I had a fun idea today. Take some time to journal the day you'd like to have. If you have time in the morning and am awake then, take some time early in the day. If you have more time &/or brain function at night, take some time the night before.

Write a journal entry as if it has already all happened. Things that are possible (not "Today I flew to Tahiti... wow, is it gorgeous here!") Include things you would like to be able to write about tonight or tomorrow night. Maybe you'd like to have a conversation with a friend or family member, maybe you'd like to finish planting a section of your garden, maybe you'd like to go shopping and have lunch with a girlfriend you haven't seen in a while, maybe you'd like to clean out your girls' playroom (oh, um, oops that's mine....)

Fun or not, if you'd like to include it as a reality in your next journal entry, write it down.

Now use that as inspiration and focus to live the day you imagined.

If you try this, I'd love to hear about it!