When You Can’t Go Out, You Go In
Mother Nature put a kink in my plans for a writing excursion this week, so I’ve been stuck indoors the last few days. Those darn wildfires in Canada are sure wreaking havoc for us here in the northern U.S.
So, how to make lemonade out of lemons? I decided to stay in and go in…inward to my inner self and get back to my original love, which is journaling. Actually, my return to journaling began a few weeks ago when I decided to begin a prayer journal. I had never done this before and wasn’t sure if I wanted to add yet another project to my list, but I felt divinely pulled to try, and so I did.
There are no hard and fast rules to set up this kind of journal, which gives me the freedom to create. I have a ton of yet-to-be-loved journals in my office and I chose one with a faith-based cover that spoke to me. I felt inspired to carve out a section for prayer requests, a section for prayers answered and a section for a gratitude list. Each night, I jot down a few entries in the sections. In just these few short weeks, I’m finding that I’m not as restless before bed and I have been sleeping better. Something within me is stirring, so I will continue this experiment to see what happens next.
Earlier this week, I joined the International Association of Journal Writing after attending a series of free seminars about the various impacts of the journaling experience. This was another way for me to go all in on this journaling thing. Membership benefits include access to resources that will not only help me become a better journalist but a better expert on myself. And that’s never a bad thing.
The next road I took on the journaling journey was to enroll in a free class on journaling through Journalversity, the learning arm of the Center for Journal Therapy. The center promotes the art form of journaling via free and paid classes, special trainings to become a journal group facilitator, books and more. At one point, I did consider becoming a facilitator, but have since decided to take a different road. Maybe I’ll share more about that in a future post.
So far in this class, “J is for Journal,” I’m writing entries based on unique and thought-provoking journal prompts. I’ve used prompts before but what I’m being asked of here is quite new, interesting and challenging. I am really having to dig deep to come up with something.
These journal projects have kept me going as I look out my office window at a weird, hazy-looking sky full of smoke particles and toxins. Jeez, I feel like it’s 2020 all over again. Sounds like a good journal prompt to me!
Write & Rise!
