Journaling

I've been thinking a lot about Kyle Lake and his family this morning.  My heart goes out to his family and church right now.  For those of you who don't know, about a year ago my father (who was also the pastor of the church that I now pastor...) passed away very suddenly and unexpectedly.  So, in a way, we can all relate (to some degree) to what UBC is going through right now. 

So all of this got me thinking about journaling - which is a discipline that I've recently begun with greater consistency.  My dad left several years worth of journals behind - which are worth more than silver and gold to us.  That is part of the reason I've decided to focus in more on journaling. 

Don't get me wrong, I don't write anything profound or earth shattering - just what I feel like God is saying to me right now in my life, events going on and then of course, things that I can't necessarily blog about.

Probably more than anything, it's a great way for me to look back and realize that God is indeed at work in my life.  In fact, just recently, I pulled out a journal from a few years ago and I was amazed at how many of the "concepts" and ideas have become a reality in my life since then.  Things that were blurry and not too clear back then are now a part of my life.  It blows my mind.  I'm thankful.

So.......here is a picture of the journal I now use.  It's a Moleskine journal which interestingly enough was recently written up in Fast Company magazine as being the "new" PDA.  Anyway, it's a great journal and one that I would recommend.  It's slim and not to big - so I can carry it with me in my backpack or laptop bag. 

One of the things that I stay very intentional about is not pressuring myself to journal everyday or when I DO journal, I constantly remind myself that I don't have to write a novel.  There are days that I write down a quick prayer or just a couple of thoughts. 

Do you journal?  What have you learned by doing it?

Comments

[patrick murphy]

I kept a journal my first year away at college. Katie and I were reading it last night. It was amazing how just picking out a few random days triggered a bunch of memories I hadn't thought of in years. Good luck with yours! I have an uncle who's been journaling every day since the seventies.

[Rachel]

I used to journal years ago and then picked it up again after I lost my mom. It really helped me piece my thoughts together. I haven't journaled at all recently but I really want to. Even though I did not know Klye Lake I have been really affected by his death. While I know this hasn't de-throned God I fail to understand how this could be part of His perfect plan. There are 3 precious children who will barely know or remember their father. How can that be? I recognize as humans we can never understand and we cannot ask WHY? Still, the pain I feel for this family is overwhelming. I have never experienced this for someone I never even had heard of before.

[Amy Dusek]

Moleskine rocks!!! I do all my sketches and thumbnails for design in a moleskine sketch book...I love it.

I have been thinking about journaling...a lot. So, I should just start doing it. It seems like a great way to vent and organize your thoughts.

[rick]

i've kept journals since highschool - my blog is now what those notebooks were then, but i still have a paper wirebound for those times i just need to use a pen (

[rick]

doh - i hate html - http://gottabuzz.blogspot.com/2005/11/journal.html

[Dave - The Cubiclereverend]

I tried the moleskin, but found they fall apart too easy. Do yourself a favor. The old composition books. Cheap and hold up really well. I've been keeping a journal since I was a kid and they are the ones I always go back to.

[Paul Swansen]

Scott: You can find out more about the moleskin's and other analog PDA's at
http://www.43folders.com/

[Jason Simmons]

Scott, thanks for the heads up on Moleskine. I bought my first one last night. I have about 50 different jounals full of empty pages. However, this one is already filling up. Maybe it is the mystic of Hemmingway or Van Gogh or the other who used this product. Anyway, keep up the great work!

[kate]

I always want to journal, but never do it. The last time I really tried journaling was 4 years ago (2001)- to document my first year of teaching. I only journaled for a few months because I got so busy - but I'm so glad I did. Not only because I journaled some interesting things about my teaching experience, but because I have part of history on paper as I described my personal experience on 9/11 as a teacher in Manhattan.
You have motivated me to get back into journaling - hopefully, this time I'll stick to it.

[matt]

I used to journal regualrly, then I got into blogging and quit journaling. Then, like you I started journaling what I couldn't blog. Now there seems to be so much of that stuff that I just block it all out. You call it denial, I call it writers block.

[sandy]

I journaled about my two sons... up to the age of 18. I then gave the books to them.I think it is a very special unique gift. I also have journals of our many travels and am soooo glad I did that. So many details would have been forgotten otherwise.

[Tim]

we just did a whole service on journaling a couple of weeks ago and gave everyone in the congregation a journal (a cheap sprial notebook actually), but it was awesome. just blogged about some feedback we got from it!

[randy bohlender]

Scott...funny, I was a horrible journaler for years. I bet I have a dozen journals with the first three pages scribbled in them. Then early this year I was speaking at a conference where every registrant received a small Moleskine and decent pen in their registration packet. Before the weekend was over, I was hooked. It was some intoxicating combination of the feel of the pen, the way the journal lays flat, and the satisfaction of snapping that stupid black elastic over the front when I'm done. I still blog, but it's vastly different than what I write in the Moleskine.