I'd like to encourage those who've never even wanted to journal to give it a try, but mostly I'd like to encourage those who feel like journaling failures. That is the way I felt for many years.
I've started several journals throughout the years that only have the first few pages completed. I noticed when I went through my Mom's things after she passed away that she had a few similar journaling attempts (the one journal she kept successfully was our trailer journal - which was really more of a logbook of places we camped). I wish she would have had the breakthrough that I did. I think it would have been a blessing to her, and I would have loved to have those journals to look at now.
Anyhow, to illustrate how things have changed for me - here is one little quiet time journal that covers January 2002-May 2008, It is the first one I ever filled:
And here are my quiet time journals from May 2008-February 2019:
I went from taking 6 years to complete the pages in a single journal to going through more than one journal a year! These journals have been the absolute anchor of my spiritual growth for the last 10+ years (a time period that covered a job loss, a major move, and the death of both of my parents). I've discovered that writing down what I'm learning actually helps me REMEMBER what I learn! As I look back, I see God working in my life and answered prayer. I see patterns and themes repeating that I don't think I'd ever notice otherwise. A friend recently asked me why I journaled, and I said mainly because I find that I am less deceived by my own heart this way. It can also be cathartic to share my feelings with my future self (which is pretty much the voice I write in).
So those are the spiritual reasons WHY I journal. But I will also share some practical things that really helped me get in the habit. Perhaps some of them will help you.
(1) Choose your journal type wisely. I absolutely have to have a spiral bound hardback journal. I usually journal on my lap. I don't want a double page spread or something that doesn't fold back on itself easily. And a regular spiral notebook isn't stiff enough for me.
(2) Choose your pen wisely. I have some favorite pens (Pilot G2). I make sure I always have one of those handy.
(3) Think about your type of writing. Since engineering school, I had switched to printing and never looked back. I realized I was losing my ability to write well in cursive. So I decided to try journaling in cursive, and I found myself writing way more!
(4) Find your voice. For years, I had tried to write as if I was writing to God or writing prayers. It was just not my thing. When I started writing mostly to my future self, it got much easier. You also probably want to decide if you want to make your journal ultra-private or not. If you do, you're going to have to come up with a disposal plan for when you die! I decided I did not want to keep them that personal (which means I sometimes dial back a little on details). Then Rebecca asked me one day if she could inherit all my journals. I said yes (sorry boys, but she's the one who asked!). So in addition to writing to my future self, in the back of my mind I'm writing somewhat to her, too.
(5) Don't just write your thoughts - copy scriptures, quotes from devotional books, etc. I remember so much more from books I read now. Sometimes my posts get a little diary-ish. I don't worry too much about that. I also keep a thankfulness list starting in the back of my journal going forward and sometimes keep a prayer list there as well (though I now mostly use a prayer app on my phone). I would not want to have a separate journal for all of these things.
(6) Lighten up. Don't worry about punctuation, changing voice or tense or anything else that brings out your inner grammar Nazi. You have no need to impress yourself.
(7) Review your journal(s) often (there will soon be more than one!). If you're writing to your future self, your current self needs to read what your past self wrote. You will be surprised how much you glean from this.
This year, I'm getting the treat of participating in a journaling group with my old church in Johnson City. I'm hoping this post will encourage some journaling newbies from that group!
My new journal!
