Journaling: A Discovery Tool
By Terri Cheney
My youngest daughter came to me the other day
clutching her first diary. "I'm going to write in
it everyday so when I become famous they will have a
record of my life." She is eight years old,
and I must admit, I felt much the same, at age
eleven, when I began journaling. I may not be
destined for fame, and I'm not sure I'd want anyone to
know all about me, but I do still journal.
My journaling began as an assignment for a teacher who
wanted to reach her students on a creative level. I
will be the first to admit that journaling was
initially a space to record the latest crush, and the
last gripe I had about my parents, but I also
discovered my first writing voice in my journal, as a
poet. Through the years, I have realized that
journaling is a powerful tool, as well, akin to
therapy on the soul level.
What do I gain from journaling? Free therapy. Rant
and Rave time, without hurting anyone's feelings.
Creative ideas. Time out. Meditations.
Visualizations of the future me. An idea of
how long this journey has been.
A journal can be a creative feast, including drawings,
sketches, or doodles; it can also contain story ideas,
poetry, quotes that have an especial meaning for the
writer. Occasionally a journal may be a series of
collages. I have a visual journal of
pictures (including my own, and phrases, that embody
the warm, strong, self assured side of everywoman. I
also maintain a daily gratitude journal.
A journal can be a straight forward, day by day, or
weekly, accounting of all the minutiae that floats
into our minds. My own journals include hundreds of
lists, sometimes of things I felt I should have been
doing, sketches, poems, stories that suddenly came to
light, ideas for character development, spiritual
yearnings, and pity parties.
I find that my journals have changed and grown with
me. I have watched my transformation from a lonely,
troubled teen, into a woman certain of her desires. I
have seen my growth in all roles: as a daughter,
wife, mother, friend. The pages are real: I have
grieved as I've written; I've laughed; and I've
worried. I've written my way into solutions, or at
least the light bulb stage of realization. I've
learned to let go of issues that held me back.
A journal really should be a private affair. It is a
place for you to reveal the inner most workings
of your soul and mind, and a learning forum, in which
no one can ridicule, bully, or question your feelings
and thoughts. Sometimes we may be moved to share a
piece of our journal, but that should be for us to
choose. A journal is, ideally, a place to test the
waters of our being, and discover exactly what it is
we
value, and how strong our integrity is on that issue.
There are as many ways to journal, as there are tools
for usage. Guided journals, which begin each page
with a quote; journaling with groups; Internet
journaling pages. One aspect of an online journaling
group is the year long course offered by Susan Letham
at Inspired2Write. Individuals, or groups, are given
monthly assignments designed to explore the inner
workings of the creative soul. Or Wendi L.Cali's
internet journaling group, justjournals, (currently 103
members), may be more appropriate. The tools may vary:
from computer to beautifully bound blank books, or
plain composition books and pens, colored pencils, gel
pens, or pencils.
I hope you will begin journaling today. Whatever your
choice of tools, there is a world waiting to be
discovered in a journal. And it is the world within
you.
(c)2001 Terri Cheney
