A Journal Begins with One Word by Gloria Guest

One word is all it takes to light the flicker that can grown into a thousand words.

In our small writers group, Friends with Pens, we use this technique to write a fifteen minute narrative that must include the word(s) of choice by that month's leader. This small writer's prompt has garnered some very good beginning 'first drafts' of a story, a devotional, a poem or even the potential germination of a book. The character, scene and dialogue development that has come out of just fifteen minutes of writing has also proven to be intriguing in some very delightful ways. We have all found as we plumbed these depths, that there was more within us than we'd at first imagined. It leads one to wonder; how much more do we each hold within that without a nudge or a prompt, will never find its way onto the page and ultimately into print?

A journal is very similar to those writing prompts. Whatever we're choosing to write about; a letter to God, ourself, someone else or just putting our thoughts down on the page, once we start we don't usually know where it's going to branch off to. It's a word adventure where we step out onto the trail and see where it takes us; dense dark foliage which we struggle through before we come out on the other side; a meandering pathway that is obstacle free until we trip unexpectedly on a tree root; maybe a steep uphill climb when we'd rather have gone down into that happy looking little valley with the babbling brook.

Most of my past journaling has taken me into places I wasn't expecting. I knew I had some anger issues but until I indiscriminately wrote them on paper, I wasn't aware of just how much it was consuming parts of my life. Or I'd find myself start and before I knew it some deep hurt would bubble to the surface. Journaling has also served to 're-introduce' me to myself in some interesting ways. Memories can glide from far back and suddenly find themselves front and centre on the page. Where did that come from? They no longer want to be ignored. Other times, they've stood back afar and hazy but clearing a little as I've stopped and acknowledged them. Slowly a shadow figure of my younger self seemed to step carefully between my words and whisper, "Nice to see you again. I have something to show you."

Perhaps that sounds too mystical to some, but it's what can happen when we are ready to engage our words with our memories. Maybe we don't always feel safe to go on such a journey. Then we can start down a different path; no less important but one that leads somewhere we feel less frightened of. A Gratitude Journal can help help us skip across a few flat rocks in the pond without getting our feet too wet, while still learning about ourselves. A gratitude journal can help us become more comfortable with acknowledging what we have received, in spite of our hardships, and bring a sense of peace amongst the storm.

One word...is all it takes.... A journal, whatever form it takes, is not something that we 'plot' out. We 'step' out. And with each step we take we can be confident we are on a journey to where God has been wanting to take us all along.

Gloria journals and writes from a small prairie village in southern Saskatchewan. She writes memoir, creative-non-fiction, fiction, poetry. She has taken editing classes from Simon Fraser University and Creative Writing classes from U of T. Mostly she has written as a past reporter/columnist. Her small writers group, Friends with Pens (three members strong) has been an important source of inspiration and support for her as she's navigated the past couple of years.

On Journaling by Brenda J Wood

Somewhere in the early seventies, I heard that journaling helped a person overcome abuse and I thought, that is for me! I gathered up notebooks and several pens. Then I warned my family never to touch those scribblers. I left them in plain view on the coffee table and trusted they'd never open them. That’s many years and sixty plus notebooks ago.

This is what I have learned.

Just get all your thoughts out of you and onto the page; everything from joys to jealous and juicy gossip. Getting words down on the page somehow makes the life they represent more manageable. Some people like to organize their overwhelming thoughts. I just pour mine out and deal with them face-to-face.

Who else is better qualified?

Those sentences help you understand the real you. There is no pretense when you face your regrets and reality.

Be a Velveteen Rabbit. Find that true happiness means accepting yourself as who you really are. Of course, by necessity, we write the good, the bad, and the ugly. How do we experience joy if we haven’t experienced its opposite?

Write on and expose your hidden attitudes and prejudice and deal them a heavy blow of correction.

The lessons you learn? Invaluable. Let your words lead you—through loneliness, leisure and life in general.

J - just

O - organize

U - understand

R - be real, record

N - necessary

A - attitudes and

L - life lessons

You might never write a best seller or publish your memoir, but your journals are a fine second.

Brenda J Wood has authored more than fifty books. She is a seasoned motivational speaker, who declares the Word of God with wisdom, humour, and common sense.

Journaling for My Heart by Mary Folkerts

 

I pulled a dusty old box from the top shelf in my closet, and immediately, I was transported back to elementary and junior high school. Inside were stacks of letters and tiny pieces of paper filled with the angsty words of teenage girls, passing notes in class. I could spend hours shaking out the dust, opening folded paper and remembering young Mary and her friends. It takes me back to the days that formed me; the bad, the good, the embarrassing and the painful. I am no longer that girl, but it was who I once was.

I’m not sure why I have kept that box of memories, and maybe it’s time to trash it. Or perhaps I’ll leave it for my kids to have a chuckle over someday. The same goes for old notebooks filled with journal entries I started, with good intentions to document my days. My mom faithfully kept a diary, and I thought it was a wonderful idea. Inevitably, there were many stops and starts over the years, but I do find it fascinating to read the entries. For me, it’s like looking through old photo albums, remembering my childhood.

In my adult years, I have been much less faithful about keeping a daily physical journal. The recording of my life has taken the form of calendars, to-do lists, photo galleries on my phone or laptop, and writing articles. These, too, are journals in their own right, returning us to the memories of yesteryear.

Whatever form the documentation of our lives takes, I think it’s important for our legacy and for our own remembering. I have often looked back over something I have written and, with greater clarity, can see how God has worked in my life to grow and change me. There have also been many times when I have needed to reread words to minister afresh to my own heart.

Untangling feelings onto paper, even in haphazard sentences, frees the mind to think more clearly about a situation.

That’s the thing about words—they are perennial. Times may change, cultural norms may shift, but truths don’t change. Journaling our lives, in whatever form that takes, is a life-giving practice. Untangling feelings onto paper, even in haphazard sentences, frees the mind to think more clearly about a situation. And reading back those thoughts years later, disorganized as they may be, can bring a realization of how God works change and growth in us.

And even when not journaling, our writer words are often written to our own hearts, for we, the sick, know well the Cure. We write from our pain as our journals can confirm.


Physician, heal thyself!
taunts at the obvious—
fissures splayed
wide, pinned
like a specimen.
Heads nodding,
prodding,
pointing out the fault
line—
there, see?
But never denied,
each spoon of medicine
dolled out,
two taken in turn.
For the sick
know well the
cure.

Mary Folkerts is mom to four kids and wife to a farmer, living on the southern prairies of Alberta, where the skies are large and the sunsets stunning. She is a member of Proverbs 31 Ministries' COMPEL Writers Training, involved in church ministries and music. Mary’s blog aims to encourage and inspire women and advocate for those with Down Syndrome, as their youngest child introduced them to this extraordinary new world. For more inspiration, check out Joy in the Small Things https://maryfolkerts.com/ or connect on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/maryfolkerts/

Journals by Sharon Heagy

 

Once upon a time there was a young girl who was whisked away to a land far away and she didn't find the time to get her blog post done ahead of time as she had planned. Now she is scrambling to put something together as her thoughts swirl around like the ocean waves in the picture above. 'Bad little blogger, shame on you!' she thought. But this gray-haired lady, who was only young at heart, realized the grace and mercy of the One for whom she wrote and the extended grace from those she wrote with, would cover this transgression, and she was grateful. 

While thinking about the subject of journaling, I realized my thoughts had been very linear. I supposed a true journal was done daily, with discipline and was a bundle of random thoughts and feelings to be worked through or day to day activities, more like a diary. With this in mind, I thought I was a true failure. I would start and stop and was very tentative to write my inner most struggles for fear that upon my passing my family or friends would read the words meant only for my eyes and be hurt or take them the wrong way. I have burned and tossed pages that fit into this category.

But then I realized journaling comes in many forms and I am not doing so badly, though there is massive room for improvement. I do have a daily journal that I rarely miss writing in and this is my prayer journal. Every day, in addition to other prayers, I pray for 3 specific people and write those prayers down on paper. I have just started my 16th prayer journal, so I guess I am not doing as poorly as I thought. I don't keep them when they are full, but I have kept track of how many I have filled for my own knowledge. 

When on a holiday, I always keep a written record of our day-to-day activities, knowing I will not retain all the details of the journey and will have to go back and take a look. It's kind of amazing how you forget the wonder of things experienced when you are back in the world of daily life. I think of the Israelites in the desert, guided by God every day, heading to the promised land, walking through the Red Sea on dry land, having escaped the tyranny they experienced in Egypt and then decide they want to go back. We are not unlike them in so many ways.

Pulling open file drawers, I found many notebooks and scraps of paper that could be collected and correlated into a journal. These little bits and bobs are my 'organized chaos journals.'  They are closely linked to my 'fits and starts' journals that I write in one day and then not again for months. Then there are my 'restaurant napkin' journals. Thoughts that come when a notebook isn't available. 

Beside my living room chair, I have a 5-year sentence journal that I love. Each day you write a few lines about the happenings of the day and on that same page are sentences for that day for previous years. It's helpful to look back. My husband keeps a similar journal for one year and we have often looked back in them to find out what occurred on various days of a given year. 

When my husband and I have suffered some illness, it has been necessary to keep a journal of meds or drains or other things relating to recovery and often a record of our food and liquid intake. I don't like these journals so much, but they are super helpful to map recovery and to give accurate information to the health care team. 

Upon reflection there are oodles of methods and forms for journals, and I guess I am doing ok with a few of them. Thanks for spending a few minutes to read about my journal journey. I have certainly enjoyed, and hope to continue to enjoy, reading about yours. God bless.