Mastering Your Personal Art of the Journal
How’d you like to implement or improve a single habit that could empower you, bring you more peace and joy, help you master your time, improve your creativity, and help you know and fulfill the purpose of your life?
Like a domino, journaling can be the one piece in the game of life that makes the difference in whether the rest of the pieces fall in order! One size doesn’t fit all; there are many ways to make this habit personal. But for me to start the day without journaling would be far worse than a coffee drinker starting the morning without a cup of brew. Everything would be harder, take longer, and have a fuzzy focus.
Whether primarily handwritten, dictated, handwritten, typed, or drawn, doodled, or collaged, journaling promises benefits of transformation as you:
- dump and process,
- explore and create,
- purge and receive,
- record and retrieve, and
- tune up and dial in.
When I read The Artist’s Way in 1992 and began writing “Morning Pages,” I aimed for quantity (3 pages) rather than quality. Often the first two pages were inconsequential but by the third page, I’d find new insights, deep feelings, or really useful ideas emerging. Over the years, I kept Gratitude and Prayer Journals, Art Journals, Travel Journals, and Dream Journals. Sometimes I’d include notes from workshops or days of reflection in my regular journal; other times I’d maintain a separate journal for them.
God, of course, has always blessed and used my journaling practice! I often write a question in my journal and then sit in silence until I receive the answer, which seems to just come from the still small voice within that I start to write out before I even know how the end of the sentence will finish. Yes, sometimes my own thoughts or wishes or feelings get mixed in with what I’m receiving from God, but when I stick with it and keep writing, the source usually gets clarified (if not in that sitting, then in one of the next few).
When I read Scripture or inspirational spiritual books, I have my journal open to write down the salient verses or lesson or insights of the day. When I’m reading through the Bible (a chapter or so a day), what I’ve just read generally sheds needed light on a particular current issue in my life. My practice is to highlight in yellow everything I feel came from God rather than from me, and I re-read these entries more than anything else.
I also ask for spiritual guidance to help schedule my days and my life. My tendency is to plan too much for a given day, week, or month. So I often bring my Planner Pad (calendar and lists) to my journaling time and ask God to let me know which events or tasks are top priority and reasonable to try to accomplish. With my To Do’s thus having God’s blessing, and my prayers asking for divine assistance, things go more smoothly!
Yes, other dominoes also affect the flow of my life—like getting enough sleep, silent meditation or centering prayer, not saying “yes” when I want to say “no,” and using effective productivity systems—but the domino of journaling is sacred. It encourages me to catch my dreams (God’s night school) the moment I’m aware I’ve remembered one, whether a snippet or a long, involved dream. (I record dreams in half-page columns so I have room later for dream analysis and so they stand out from the rest of my journaling.)
The content of journaling can vary greatly. I work out feelings, identify emotional triggers, and go through a multi-step forgiveness process in my writings. I journal solutions or ideas I awake with (often in answer to a question I asked the night before, since I prefer to journal first thing in the morning). I take notes during particularly good talks. I sketch quilts and other art or decorating ideas and write or doodle creative solutions. I even let the Holy Spirit help me compose blog posts in my journal!
The benefits can be tremendous, besides hearing God speak to your heart in holy whispers! Having dumped thoughts or feelings onto the pages, or even recorded tasks or reminders, your brain is free to move on. (I indicate the need to take action by drawing a little empty cirle in the margin, and later I put a line through the cirlce to signal that I’ve completed or calendared the item.) Memories are stored should you later want to review what was going on during an earlier time or what God told you on a particular topic. And journals are great if you’re looking back for transformation, repetition, or earlier insights. As a writer, I find rich material in my old journals. In my work and ministry, I see how God led me to know my sacred calling, to overcome certain resistance or blocks, and to grow in knowledge, wisdom, holy boldness, or creativity.
God didn’t design the human brain to figure out the future, and journaling is a way of being in the present, with the capacity to experience and enjoy engaging in two-way communications with God, whose Spirit fills us with life and peace. We get to ask, believe, and wait expectantly for our prayers to be answered and our steps to be guided, knowing God is our strength (empowerment) and our song (joy). I often praise God in my journal, too, and I certainly express thanks. The alternative to worry is to give all our concerns to the Almighty, and journaling’s great for that.
I’ve been journaling for the better part of 23 years, so I have much more I’d love to share on this topic. If you’d be interested in learning more or discussing it with me and others in a teleclass or in private coaching, please leave me a comment or send me an email.
To make it to the meeting on time, I called my latte “breakfast,” had to skip a quilt guild meeting, and drove the winding coastal highway assertively, with no rest stop, and no lunch. When I arrived, it turns out she’d gotten there early, inspected the damaged cabinets, and left already. And via email afterwards, she said she didn’t even accomplish what she’d gone there for because it “wasn’t the best day for it.”