Journaling...

I love to journal.

I have been keeping one regularly since I was about 12 years old, and it has helped me so much. Sometimes it is so embarrassing to look back at what I wrote when I was thirteen or fourteen years old. But sometimes it's fun. =) I love to see how much I've grown and changed (or not, unfortunately, in some cases). Writing helps me sort out my thoughts and feelings, and it helps me stay focused. Here are some reasons why I love journaling:

1. It lets me be creative. I can do whatever I want to on the pages...write, draw, collage, etc.
2. It helps me remember things, feelings, and experiences that I might otherwise forget.

3. It's a place where I can be completely honest, which is sometimes a difficult and scary thing. While I don't actually write my journal to God, that's pretty much how it works. I write in my journal with the honesty that I talk to God with.

4. It's fun and relaxing. I love to write out what I'm feeling or thinking or include Bible verses, song lyrics, poems, book excepts, quotes, pictures, etc.

5. It's something worthwhile to leave behind. Seriously, I would have loved to have some writings from my parents or grandparents left to me. That means so much more than other things. I hope at least one of my children or grandchildren will enjoy looking through my journals and have a love for inky words and the smell of old books as I do. =)

This is a page from Friday night. We had a terrible thunderstorm, and the power was out. So I had to write by candlelight, which was actually a pretty cool experience. =) As part of my entry, I wrote out Psalm 29, which in my Bible is called "God In The Thunderstorm."

Here is a quote from the "A Holy Experience" link below that I love:

"So we carry about pen and paper and collect bits of our lives, clippings and cuttings, rubbings and wrappings, and lay it down between leaves, a pressing out of our lives...Fear would silence us, leaving the descendants with old plates and tarnished jewelry, but no words, no hand-scrawled, inky words...We would let the Truth set us free. We choose the pen."

An excerpt from "The Magician's Elephant." I used to hate the idea of using a journal without lines in it. But now that's what I want. For my next journal, I want something with sturdy paper than can hold up to anything, and minus the lines so I can be more creative. =) This is the journal I currently use. It was the first thing I bought a year ago with some money I got for graduation. It's beautiful, leather and handmade in Italy, but I'm ready for something new. I still have a ways to go before I need a new one, though. This is the gorgeous handmade one I really want from Etsy.

Here are some websites I love for journaling inspiration for you guys:

Blog series at "A Holy Experience"
"Soul Journaling" Prompts
Some beautiful pages from lovely Quesara's blog

That was the hazy, damp sunrise after the loud, frightening storm.

Until next time,