Keeping a personal journal has been a pursuit of human society for many hundreds of years. In times past, men and women of knowledge kept careful records of their days, their achievements, and their dreams. We owe a great debt of gratitude to each one of them, as we have gathered a lot of information about the lives of those in the past from many of those journal entries.

For some people, journaling is a natural extension of their everyday life. How many of us have lifted the family Bible to discover little snippets cut out of the newspaper, flowers pressed between the pages, envelopes with letters, or pictures safely tucked away for future generations to discover? I have certainly found such treasures in the more “ordinary” books on the shelves of secondhand bookstores and at garage sales. It is always a surprise and a delight to discover them and then I feel a certain sadness that somehow these treasures have ended up in the hands of a stranger.

The unexpected gift of these items has been a better understanding of our desire to record and preserve important memories and items, and while tucking these treasures into the pages of a book isn’t exactly journaling, it is one component of this incredibly creative and satisfying pass. . -time.

There are some basic skills when learning to journal, some of them are:

• Make the time and space to do it regularly. Whether you are keeping a dream journal, garden journal, baby journal, travel journal, or personal journal of any kind, this step will make or break your experience. If you have to go as far as making a ‘date’ with yourself, do it. At a minimum, spend some time once a week going through your calendar or journal and recording the highlights or least highlights of your week. Even after many years, I am an irregular writer in my diary, but when I write and communicate with my wonderful partner, the value I receive from this is immense. It is always worth the effort.
• Start with something you are passionate about. This makes it so much easier to write regularly, the words and ideas seem to flow effortlessly and you will enjoy reading through the pages of your journal entries. I keep more than one journal because I like to keep my gardening insights (successes and failures) separate from my personal and spiritual growth conversations. I’m sure you’ll develop a process and style that works for you.
• Use materials that inspire and motivate you: My journals are ALWAYS beautiful to look at and use. Also my writing instrument. I have a preference for a certain type of pen, a certain color, and a certain texture on paper. This adds a lot to my enjoyment of the writing process and when I look back I can remember what it was about that particular book or pen that drew me to it. me. Layers of enjoyment will build a strong relationship with your journaling process. Find out what you like, experiment with different things until you find the right mix of items for you.
• learn from others: So many times, at the beginning of my journaling adventure, I wanted to peek inside the pages of other people’s journals. What did you do? How they did it? I was lucky that some of my friends were willing to share some of their pages with me and introduced me to the idea of ​​drawing, painting, collage, coloring and doodling in addition to the words I was writing. This immediately reminded me of newspaper clippings, pressed flowers and images that I always found inside the pages of old books and this idea of ​​adding that visual texture to my journal was so enticing that I started immediately. I am so grateful to my dear friends for opening my eyes to these new possibilities.

There are many reasons to keep a journal. There are many ways to keep a journal. If you are really worried about not knowing how to write a journal, there are many sources of inspiration and motivation, only you will open their eyes and hearts. I have recently discovered many books on the subject, as well as a number of inspiring examples that have been posted on the Internet. Use these resources if you feel stuck or uninspired, and I’m sure it won’t be long before you’ll enjoy journaling your days, your dreams, successes, and triumphs.