The Journal Page

Everyday is a journal page
Every man holds a quill and ink
And there’s plenty of room for writing in
All we do and believe and think
So will you compose a curse
Or will today bring the blessings
Fill the page with rhyming verse
Or some random sketchings
Teach us to count the days
Teach us to make the days count
Lead us in better ways
Somehow our souls forgot
Life means so much
Life means so much
Life means so much

(Chris Rice, from his song Life Means So Much)

 

I’ve got a box full of diaries and journals stashed away in a corner of my closet.  Some are fancy diaries with locks, some are basic school notebooks, some are hardcover, some are pretty, but most are quite plain.  I probably started keeping a diary, however simple and sparse, when I was a preteen. Then I moved on to journals in my late teens and early twenties. Unfortunately I’m a little ADD when it comes to choosing what to write in, as well as choosing what to write about (as my blog can attest).

Blogging about my inner world, I mean the deep thoughts, probably aren’t going to show up on the world wide web. It might make for better reading, but it will always be a tug of war. What and what not to post.  

Hence, private journals.  I have a mish mash of places to hold my thoughts. Sort of like a dog who has a yard full of buried bones. One for every occasion. Mine are about as scattered, too!

online journal (Penzu)

book journal

blog

devotional journal

personal growth focus (for books I’m studying or ‘courses’ I’m taking)

Morning Pages (freewriting )

No, I don’t write in them religiously, but when the spirit moves, there is one for every occasion.  I tend to write when I’m struggling, rather than when things are peachy.

Journaling really helps me organize my thoughts and helps to clear the clutter that goes on inside my head. Often I will write my prayers out to God.  I just wish I was more deliberate about spending time doing so. 

Some would say they are very uncomfortable with leaving journals behind after they leave this world. I have considered that, too. What will my family think about what I’ve written? I go back and forth on that one. I suppose I could let them know that they are free to burn them after I’m gone. And whatever they think , well, they’ll have to wait till they get to heaven to take it up with me. ;) Not that there would be any big surprises…

Do you see value in journaling? One book  or many?