Your journal prompts this week:
When did I begin journaling, and what inspired me to start?
How has my practice changed since I first started? What does my practice look like now?
How does my current journaling practice compare to my ideal practice or to what others would consider a formal journaling practice?
What do I love about my journaling practice as it is now?
I realized one thing I haven't written about much yet for this podcast is the actual practice of journaling, which is at the heart of why we're gathered here together. This is something I want to explore more with you all, especially since our journaling practices likely all look a little different and even change over time.
My niece asked me last week if I kept a diary growing up, and that question made me smile. Diaries and journaling are so timeless! I told my niece that yes, I did have a diary growing up and that I journaled a lot even into high school, and she asked what I wrote about. That led me to reflect on how my own journaling practice has evolved over the years, all the way up to leading me to create this newsletter and then podcast.
And the funny thing is that, on paper, I might not be considered a very good or consistent journaler, at least not beyond high school. But that's because I made the practice my own, rather than trying to follow what others might say is a "good practice." It's similar to meditation in this way—for many, they'd define a good meditation practice as someone sitting in silence every day for a certain amount of time. But for others, meditating every day could mean going for a walk or even making daily activities like doing the dishes meditative.
Journaling doesn't need to be sitting in silence every day with a pretty, bound journal, writing for a certain amount of time in beautiful handwriting and colorful pens. It can also be scribbling thoughts really fast onto a post-it or typing them into the Notes app on your phone. Sure, traditional journalers might say this doesn't count, but for those who can't seem to find those slivers of time to sit in silence, this is the continuation of the practice. In this case, it is better for the practice to be imperfect rather than completely absent.
And my journaling practice has been one that's evolved from daily writing in pretty journals to quickly scribbled notes.
For me, it all began around first grade with a diary. It was a traditional little girl diary, small and pink, with ballet shoes on the cover, and it came complete with a lock and key. I wish I could remember for certain, but I think I got it as a birthday present. I wrote in it regularly, mostly about grade school friends and crushes.
Then I read Harriet the Spy. Oh, how I loved that book! My sister passed on her old tattered copy to me, and I read it multiple times. I had my mom buy me composition notebooks that I decorated with stickers, and I declared myself a spy. I still journaled about what happened at school, but then I would wander around the apartment complex we lived in, writing about the people I saw and what they were doing. I'd go to the pool and clubhouse where all the people were, and I'd observe. Nothing noteworthy really happened, except that I once met a child beauty pageant queen. She was younger than me and her parents were taking fancy photos of her in the clubhouse. They gave me her photograph, and I taped it into my notebook as evidence and mused on what it must be like to be a child in a beauty pageant.
Eventually my Harriet the Spy phase ended, and I moved back to bound journals. My true consistent practice began in the 6th grade, when I became obsessed with logging everything that happened in my life. I would come home from school every day and write what happened as if it were a story or novel, even writing out the dialogue as I remembered it. I loved to write until I got to that pivotal moment, the epiphany or lesson or realization of the day. I'd usually get it down to one bold sentence that I thought was profound or life-changing. (I was quite dramatic.)
I started to number my journals as volumes, and I was always excited to buy my next one, looking for the flashiest or coolest cover. I would get them at Limited Too or at Barnes & Noble during my regular trips for books with my dad. Oh, my dad spent so much money on flashy journals! Some had glittery covers, some had velvet covers, very well-aligned with the 90s trends.
My practice slowed once I reached high school, and then it became more weekly, then maybe monthly, then just when I felt upset or stressed. That continued into college and beyond, and my practice of writing in just one journal or notebook fell away. I wrote wherever and whenever I felt I needed to, including on my computer, which admittedly began to feel easier than finding a notebook.
Oddly enough, when I went to grad school for writing, I formally journaled less, in favor mostly of writing for class or working on my novel (which I never did finish, and I actually don't feel bad about that).
My more traditional practice didn't return until my 30s when I started taking yoga & journaling classes with Amber Green at Room to Breathe in Chicago. I was reminded of how much I loved having a more formal practice, and it inspired me a few years later to become trained as a yoga teacher so I could teach yoga & journaling myself.
Also in my 30s, I began journaling again in the morning while meditating, sometimes only writing down a few words or insights that came to me. Then I joined Katie Dalebout's group for creatives and wrote more formally with prompts. I also tried morning pages, as outlined in The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. Eventually this evolved into me pulling Orace and/or Tarot cards every morning and writing whatever came to me from that message, then writing journal prompts I could share with others so they could explore the meaning of the message. I have several notebooks full of those (many with prompts and messages still unshared). These slowed once I became pregnant and was too nauseous or tired in the morning to keep up with the practice. Then, of course, I had a baby.
Now with a little one who dictates my daily schedule, journaling has become the notes I jot into my Notes app on my iphone or into the Evernote app, and there are many, many musings that came in the middle of the night while breastfeeding. While this is far from the daily, formal journaling practice I had as a child, it is my new way and a way that works for me. I really wonder, exactly what would be the difference between me writing these in a notebook vs on an app? I suppose that it might seem more like a beautiful ritual if I was able to set aside the quiet time to use a notebook and pen, but that's just not the season of life I am in, and that's okay. The important thing is that my practice continues, even if the formality can't.
And honestly, writing these essays for the Soul Journaling Sessions feels like part of my practice. I don't write them with intense formality, and I'm not writing them for an employer or boss or client. These are purely my musings, spilled onto the screen, and in this case, in my Evernote app which currently houses the drafts of all of my podcasts and essays.
My practice has certainly evolved in regards to formality and frequency, but its intention has also evolved, and that's why this is called the "Soul Journaling Sessions." What was once my daily musings about things happening in my life and at school is now my opportunity to tap into and connect with my higher self, with my soul, and to understand what it is I am here to share in this lifetime. This is why I share these journal prompts, too—I want to help you do the same, whatever your practice looks like, formal or informal.
I want you to know it is okay for your practice to change. It is okay for your practice to be irregular or imperfect. It is okay to make your practice work for you.
Join me in exploring how your practice has evolved with the prompts above, and please feel free to share any insights in the comments below! And if you’d like, I will pull an Oracle or Tarot card to offer you additional insight, just let me know you’d like to receive a message in your comment.
With much love and gratitude,
Marcy
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