If You Want To Write: Journal

By K Wordbird Bate  Expert Writing Coach

     When you journal, you put into written words your ideas, feelings or experiences, for your private use. A journal is a daily record of things you feel, think or experience.  It is a diary, or log.

     The word journey – to travel or pass through one place or stage to another—the journey of travel, the journey of ageing, the journey of spiritual or emotional growth—

is like the word journal. People taking journeys, such as explorers, sailors, scientists, farmers planting new crops or young people growing up, log or diary their daily observations and experiences.  

     You remember James T Kirk. He made a regular log entry about the Star Ship Enterprise. What was so fascinating about that? It was fascinating, come on. The year, the day, a Captain alone in his cabin. What would he say? He did not log so he could write a book some day. He logged the condition of the Enterprise, the health of the crew, or an urgent and eerie radio emission he felt duty-bound to follow. He set down the Star Ship’s regular journey. He was talking to himself, primarily. He was taking stock of his situation. That’s fascinating stuff.

     I made a back packing trip to Europe years ago, and I kept a journal. I wrote down what I bought, the prices I paid, where I went, what books I read on the train, the fact that I was deathly sick for a week, how it was to see more cats in Italy than one would think possible. I kept a “log,” like Captain Kirk, of my journey.  Each year that diary becomes more and more precious to me, as diaries often do.

     Your daily journal is an act of transformation and self-discovery. We literally give ourselves a voice. We discover what we really think, we create a historical record, we vanquish demons, we lament losses, and we sketch out dreams. Maybe Bobby was the farthest thing from your mind, and then you find yourself writing, “I think I’m in love with Bobby.” What? Really? When we set thought into word, we sometime discover who we are, how we feel, what and whom we value.  Even the choice of topic is telling. Look how interesting it is, to think you’re in love with Bobby. That means you are not sure. You have not told him. You don’t know if he loves you. A diary is written today, but suggests a future.

     So, we can use a diary for private expression. Or, like Captain Kirk, to document daily events or decisions. A blog then, is a new hybrid. We might blog personally, like a private diary, yet our words may go around the world. Most of us are just beginning to decide for ourselves, and our children and families, how the private diary, and the worldwide blog, should be different.  I recommend that your Blogs be on any subject you like, but always treat it as a public topic. For instance, in a private diary you may write, “I stole my sister’s Heroes DVD this morning. I’m mad at her, anyway.” Or, “I just lost half my net worth in stock.” That’s personal journaling that helps you process through your situation and experiences. On line, though, stick with things of interest to many people. Like your favorite Heroes episode, or the Wall Street stock concerns. Online is not the place to reveal personal secrets or information. Though we can be inspired, uplifted, informed and supported in new and exciting ways, on line, by networking communities.

It is no small truth: A journal can revolutionize your life. Here’s some ways to use it:  

--“Free” write. Dump everything from your head onto the paper. Dump your feelings, your worries, your inner screams and doubts. Dump things you felt, and noticed. This can really clear that stuff out of you. Just keep writing, writing, writing until it begins to clear.

--“Log” your life or progress. Applying to college? About to lose weight, start biking everyday, ask that incredible woman to go out with you again, or try a new flower in your garden? Diary every day how it goes. Or, blog it in a supportive community.

--Create rough draft notes to turn into memoir. For instance, my trip to Europe.  I might have journaled about people I met, cultural events, or special out-of-the-way sites. Then I could pull out the less personal notes later, to write up as an article or a book.

Let Yourself Bloom

© by K Wordbird Bate