EACH person defines what it means to have a “fulfilled life” in his or her own way. For some, it means following artistic passions, finding the right career, or helping others. For others, it means building satisfying relationships and strong community ties. For still others, it means living a life […]
TODAY I stumbled upon a blog titled “Extraordinarily Ordinary: Finding happiness and inspiration in everyday things,” and I thought, “Here is a writer after my own heart. That first impression was confirmed when I read Shannon’s recent post, “Writing.” The post was about Shannon’s current struggle with time to write […]
Did you know that journal writing, in addition to helping you make meaning of life’s events, can help improve your communication with others? Whether we’re writing or speaking, our goal is to communicate our thoughts and feelings. When journal writing, you have the freedom to bring up vague ideas and give them definition and form, to surface buried feelings and examine and nurture them into a shape that makes sense.
THIS YEAR I began the habit, at the beginning of each month, of reading my journal entries for the same month of the previous year. It’s so interesting to recall where I was a year ago at this time, to read about my hopes and dreams and fears. I always want to know: Have I made any progress? What was I working on? What was going on for me emotionally? Are there any patterns related to time of year?
I often talk about how journaling is not limited to writing, but can — and perhaps should — contain artistic expression as well. Drawings, doodling, fabric art, and photography are all a part of capturing life on a regular basis.
WHETHER you are a teenager or living with one, adolescence is no easy road to traverse. It’s is a time of confusion for everyone involved, including siblings. But journal writing can help. How exactly? Here are three valuable ways that journal writing can support you during this phase of life, as well as journaling prompts for teens, siblings, and adults.
SOMETIMES life just doesn’t seem to make sense. Bad things happen to good people and good things happen to people who don’t seem to deserve them. Creative acts, such as journal writing and art, can help us uncover the personal value of every experience.
Writing is the best way I know to overcome obstacles, to explore underlying attitudes and beliefs that contribute to our “stuckness,” and to deepen your self-understanding. As I was blogsurfing this morning (did I just make up a word?) , I came across Sharon Lippincott’s latest post titled “Writing Your Way Out of the Dungeon of Despair.” I love this post for a number of reasons.
Adrienne Crezo, in her blog post “On Being Submissive,” beautifully articulates writers’ (and artists’) dilemma: we possess a need to create through our art, second only to our physical needs to breath, eat, and sleep, yet — human that we are — feel inadequate to the task. Our minds imagine […]
Sometimes, getting started with a new challenge can seem like the hardest thing in the world. Human beings don’t mind hard work or long journeys; we’re just terrified of getting started! We procrastinate, and make excuses, and stick our heads in the sand. We pretend that if we just wait […]
EVERY day, or at least every other day, I make sure to take a few minutes to write in my journal. It is precious time, just for me. I have a tendency to get so involved in all my other commitments — work, family, taking care of the house and […]
ONE of the many, many benefits of journaling is that we get to write with a sense of play and exploration that, in other ways, we may have left behind with our mudpie-making days. Journaling can be as fun as splashing in a puddle with our galoshes on, only it’s […]
