| Keeping
A Journal. - Part 1
Journaling
or diary keeping goes back to as far as I can remember it and
even further. Look at all the men and women who kept journals
throughout the war, men would write in it each day so that if
they should pass others could read what happened to them. Explorers
kept diaries or journals ensuring that what they did went down
in history and many journals are part of history and part of us.
We can look
in bookstores, the local library or places like Amazon online
and you will find many books on journaling. Many people have documented
their lives for us…
Ok so many
of you are going to say, why should I keep a diary or a journal?
I had often wondered that myself and on the odd occasion when
I was having a bad time or something wasn't going right in my
life I would make notes. Sometimes those notes made no sense but
today when I sit back and read some of them I realised that I
was crying out for help but the only person I could open up to
was my journal.
In the 2000
I attended a conference for those affected by adoption. The many
speakers were very good, some a little boring but that happens
everywhere, but one lady stick in my mind… Nancy Mac Isaac...
I remember
sitting and listening to everything she said. Her words rang out
around me as I let it all sink in. I admired her for what she
had been through and survived and you guessed it… Nancy survived
because she not only had the strength in her heart to do so but
she kept a journal.
Her journal
was her friend. She would write all the good things and the bad
things in it. Nancy's ups and downs documented in a way that was
her, her expressions, her sadness, her happiness… everything
that Nancy felt was documented in her journal.
Nancy shared
with us her book titled, Healing the Hole in A Heart: One Birthmother's
Journey into the Adoption Triangle….
If you have
ever been affected by adoption in any way this book has been written
around Nancy and her struggle to be who she is, her sadness, her
joys of finding her daughter and making it to where she is today.
Without writing in her special journal something may have been
missed…
A journal
is away of opening up. Opening your heart, letting your feelings
whether they be good or bad flow onto paper or perhaps if you
feel comfortable there are software pages available where you
can journal online.
With journaling
comes release….
Who can benefit
from journaling?
You.
Me.
People who have or who suffer from phobias such as agoraphobia.
People who are happy or sad, depressed, anxious…
The list goes
on and on… Anyone who needs to or wants to keep a journal
or a diary of what is happening to them, what has happened to
them and how they are coping or feeling can use a journal to let
the emotions flow.
I could go
on about journaling forever now that I have seen how it help me
and has helped others, but for this week I will leave you with
a question for which only you can answer…
Do you feel
a keeping a journal help you?
Each week
I will share with you stories on journaling, personal experiences
and how to start a journal….
All you need
is coloured pens, a journal or software to begin your journey
after all that is what a journal is for.
While I think
of it, for that matter a blog or weblog as some call it would
be perfect for journaling online, however this doesn't leave your
thoughts, your secrets or your emotions private… so think
carefully before choosing this option as a journal for private
thoughts.
~Toni~
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