KEEPING A JOURNAL
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I began keeping a journal thirty-five years ago during high school.  Over the years I've recorded my life on lined pads, scraps of paper, leather-bound notebooks, and in a huge ledger I found in an attic in Mabou, Nova Scotia.  Today my journal lives inside a computer, though I print the pages and place them in a special blue notebook.  The notebook is bursting with letters, clippings, photographs, and other memorabilia connected to the journal entries.

Occasionally I flip through old journals looking for ideas to use in my writing.  Some of the entries are embarrassing, like the aborted attempts at writing erotica, and some are sad or funny -- but never boring.  Many of us don't write about ourselves because we think our lives hold no interest.  We don't appreciate the fabric of our own life, the details of living each day.  We don't understand that our experience as ordinary human beings is valuable.  We forget that just be being ourselves we are unique.

A journal is written exploration of life.  It's a book where YOU make the rules and no one can argue with your unique view of the world.  In fact, you don't even have to tell the truth.  There's space for all your fantasies, dreams, and wishes inside the covers of a journal

"I am nothing but a miserable crushed worm, whom no one wants, whom to one loves, a useless creature with a big belly, two rotten teeth, and a bad temper, a battered sense of dignity, and a love which no one wants and which nearly drives me insane."

Another type of journal writing is reflective writing, where you evaluate your own life.  In her published diary, Measure of My Days, Florida Scott Maxwell reflects on growing older:

"Age puzzles me.  I thought it was a quite time.  My seventies were interesting and fairly serene, but my eighties are passionate.  I grow more intense as I age.  To my own surprise, I burst with hot conviction."

The journal is also a fine place to record your dreams.  Poet Bonnie Fisher recorded this in her journal:

"I dream my sister Peggy is coming to see me, and I think I should make her pea soup and clean up my house.  But I don't.  When she comes, things will be just like this, and I will be as I am, and we will rummage together through the refrigerator if we get hungry."

It's fun to write your dreams in a vivid color, like magenta, to make the entries stand out.  Don't feel obligated to analyze the dreams you add to your journal.  Combine your dreams with the period of life you're writing about and the truths they reveal come out later.

Although some journalists set aside time to write each day, you don't have to write every day or even every week.  Write when you feel like writing.  The journal is your tool, and there are no rules.  If you decide to skip three years and then begin writing again -- so what?

Whether you record your thoughts feelings and experiences to inspire your children, to polish your writing skills, for spiritual growth, or for other reasons, the benefits of journaling are immeasurable.  As one writer says,

"Writing down my thoughts on paper made me more organized and focused.  I began to figure out who I really was, because writing clarified my opinions, feelings, beliefs and desires.  I felt like I was starting to live life more deeply and fully as I recorded my experiences and perceptions in detail... For the first time in more than a decade, I began to see the light at the end of the tunnel."

Keeping a journal is cheaper than therapy, and a lot more fun.  As you fill your journal with snapshots, drawings, letters, clippings, and artwork, it becomes a time capsule and a reflection of your soul.  So what are you waiting for?

Sammie Justesen