Why Work Logs Are Now A Part Of My Daily Routine - Bruce Atchison

Until fifteen years ago, I never saw much use in writing diaries. Though I kept one when I vacationed in Trinidad during Christmas of 1982, journaling each day's events never appealed to me. Any attempts I did make to fill in a diary became so tedious that I quickly abandoned each one.

My attitude toward recording my daily activities changed in 1996. A year previously, the Government of Canada placed me on disability due to my vision problem. A work counselor suggested I try freelance writing after I showed him tear sheets of articles from electronic music fan magazines which I had written on an amateur basis. Since Canada Pension Plan insisted that I find some sort of gainful employment, and since my ophthalmologist warned me not to strain my vision, writing via my screen-reader-equipped computer seemed like the best career choice.

In order to prove to CPP that I was actively looking for work, I began recording every writing-related task that I completed each day. I found a small wooden clip board that I had scrounged from the garbage at work and wrote what I did on scrap paper. When I had time, I transcribed my notes onto a floppy disk.

I still do this today.

Not only does keeping a work log provide evidence of my diligence but it yields several side benefits. One of these is that seeing the blank page each morning encourages me to fill it with writing-related activities. Another is that I'm reminded of publications I've sent work to, what I've submitted, and book purchasers when I transcribe my jottings to the PC. Since I have address macros for my customers and I record them in my electronic entries, I have additional proof of where these buyers live and when they bought my books. If I am challenged by my case worker, I can show her the dates on which I searched for work as well as what I did on each.

Creating a work log has given me incentive to continue writing on days when I've felt like quitting. The more than four and a half megabytes of log entries alone reminds me of the work I've accomplished. It also is a ready reference that I can use to remind myself of when I worked on various articles or manuscripts.

I highly recommend work logs for anybody who needs to focus on accomplishing tasks. After a while, these daily entries will show definite patterns in work habits. They'll also give a writer's descendants a window into his or her daily routine. Likewise, they help dispel the myth that we merely dash off articles or books and then relax the rest of the time.

Lasting Letters - Denise M. Ford

One of my desk drawers barely closes because the contents push against it in an ongoing struggle to be set free. Plain notecards in all shapes and sizes, notepads with delicate designs, greeting cards of every variety, postcards featuring nature, and pieces of handcrafted folded cardboard; they all seem to push and shove their way toward the edges every time I reach inside to retrieve something appropriate on which to write a letter.

When I try to recall the first time I enjoyed the easy flow of conversing on paper, I picture myself in the kitchen of my childhood home sitting on a counter stool, happily scribbling on purple lined paper. My thoughts would tumble into stories about my daily activities, questions that needed to be answered, and funny captions of different people. I see myself smiling, giggling, but then shaking my head as a frown crinkles my face while I ponder over a troubling incident. I poured my words into heart to heart chats, sharing worries, and concerns. I sent letters as far away as Vietnam to one cousin serving as a nurse, and one serving in the Navy. I mailed notes to friends as they travelled, and to strangers known as pen pals.

I partly enjoyed deciding which type of paper and pen to use to create my letters. When sealing wax appeared on the shelves of the stationery store, I eagerly selected the stamp to grace the envelopes I mailed. I treated each missive as a treasured tale on a journey to reach an important destination. Even as a young girl I chose words that I hoped would impact the recipient in the way he or she required at the time.

The responses to my letters continually surprised me. Often something I had shared prompted someone to write in similar fashion, confiding or laughing along in kind. Looking back, that’s when I realized the true worth of letter writing. Each time I selected the paper and began to write, I began a process of pausing to take the time to hold another person in my thoughts, to wonder what he or she needed to hear, and to believe that my presence conveyed in the words I was about to write would be the gift needed at that time.

For example, during my college years I wrote to my parents even though I lived in a dorm only 30 minutes away from home. They in turn sent encouraging words to me. However, the most memorable and cherished ones I ever received arrived as three short, separate notes. Over the course of a week I received three envelopes from my Dad that briefly said everything I needed to hear that particular week. In order I opened the first one: I. Then the next one: Love. Followed by the final envelope: You.

Despite e-mail, Facebook, and blogs, I still like to open my desk drawer to select the one letter to send to someone who needs to receive my written words.

To read Denise's personal blog and writing website go to: www.walkingwithDustyandDee.com

"Seeing the Self as Soul" - Karen Toews

I've recently watched a series of blog videos focused on self-care. They have been targeted towards busy Moms shuffling life responsibilities of young children, work, home and everything in between. Though I don't qualify in the first category - the rest is in my mix. The practical guidance given was based on our human physiology, chemistry and emotional make-up - and the presenter's gentle spirit could only add to the calming of one's soul.

The soul. Where does it fit in with this attention to taking care of my self - not a surprising query from one who grew up with the JOY Sunday School chorus: "Jesus first, Yourself last, and Others in between!" Though this posed a semantic question more than a deep theological concern, I believe it was no coincidence that at our public library last week, I came across the book, The Contented Soul, The Art of Savoring Life by Lisa Graham McMinn.

In the second chapter, Lisa expands on "Seeing the Self as Soul." The following quote is the essence of how she clarified this, referencing Dallas Willard from Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ. "...[regarding] the soul... that dimension of a person that inter-relates all other dimensions so that they form one life. The soul organizes our whole person: our mind and will, thoughts and feelings, body and social context, and through these, reaches ever deeper into the person's vast environment of God and his creation."

In this framework, taking care of self is an understanding that "I am a living soul who lives in a physical world and is held together by a spiritual world." This links well with other nuggets I've found in this great book - God created us for joy, having mellowness of heart, practicing fortitude - and I anticipate more as I slowly savor my way through the chapters.

I'm hoping some of you have read this book, and would enjoy hearing from you.

Do take good care....

Passing It On

Posted by Lynda Schultz

Almost fifteen years ago I began to journal the thoughts that came to mind as I meditated on Scripture. It had been my habit to read through the Bible once a year and it occurred to me that it would be a good exercise to write down what I was learning. For three years I added to my notes, amazed that each year something new came out of the same passages I had read so many times before. I had such rich, wonderful, passionate hours with the Lord and His Word over those years. My devotional time had never been so exciting. At the end of those first three years I had hundreds of pages of notes—my own personal commentary on the Bible.

"My own personal..."

Why was it my own personal commentary? If studying the Scriptures from cover to cover every year was so exciting to me, shouldn't it be that exciting a journey for every believer? How could I encourage others to take their own journey through the Word and discover the riches I had found?

Devotional books are plentiful—in North America. But at the time I was working in Venezuela and like so many countries outside of English-speaking ones, Christian books weren't plentiful or inexpensive. Added to the problem was the government's insistence on controlling the American dollars that were necessary to buy translated books that come from outside the country.

So, I thought, I could share what I discovered, encourage the journey in others, and meet a need if I published my material in Spanish from inside Latin America. The Lord gave me an obscure verse from Habbakuk as confirmation: "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it" (2:2, NIV).

Thus began a fourth year reading through and editing all my notes and reducing each day's discoveries to three hundred words or less. In 2009 the Spanish edition of the book was published. Later that year a limited edition was published in English. The Spanish edition has circulated in several Latin American countries, in Central America, in the U.S., Canada, and in Spain.

I'd have to say that the discipline of keeping that spiritual journal was a turning point in my writing. Nothing has been quite as satisfying. Though I am no longer working in Latin America I feel especially blessed that God has allowed me to leave a small legacy behind for the glory of His Name.