The Journal Habit

If you are dealing with doubt, fear, worry, loss of sleep, any sort of stress, unresolved feelings, anxiety, or mental disturbance, I recommend journal writing. When we journal, it is a form of personal therapy as well as creative expression. It can be highly effective and most inexpensive. There is no need for referrals and insurance approval.

When we work in journals, there are no rules. We bring whatever manifests in our attention to the page. It is beneficial if there is excessive turmoil in life to do a brain dump where all the negativity is lanced and released. A twenty-minute session of free writing with the option to go longer is often helpful.

Beyond the initial purge, a journal can be a proving ground for ideas and other types of creative expression. A journal is simple; we bring who we are to it. We may choose to share or make it a very private space. We use journals to cover seasons of our lives like school, college, jobs, relocating, love affairs, marriage, pregnancy, a new baby, journeys, and everything else. We can claim journals for any time, occasion, event, place, or emotion.

When we read old journals, we progressions and can congratulate ourselves on how we evolved and what we achieved. We find we have many victories. A journal is there as needed. It does not have to capture writing every day, though it can as required.

Journals are like friends who take your thoughts and allow you to explore and reflect on them without judgment, solutions, or criticism. We are allowed space to develop our own best conclusions. This is the beauty of a journal. It can be anything we need and morph into something else as required. We give it value as we choose to use it, and it becomes a reflection of ourselves.

I recommend everyone journal as they will.

This was handwritten in my journal. I encouraged someone with sleep issues to journal and see if it helped. Journal writing is one of the ways I care for myself, I have done it since childhood with long skips at times. I see the website and my previous blog as extensions of my journal, where I choose to share. Creativity and living more comfortably in the world with love are my hopes for my readers.

Creative Encouragement

I would tell you the creative gig is not for everyone, but I would be lying, and I make no habit of it.

Creativity is the birthright of every person. We cannot engage fully with life and love unless we are actively creative. This means using our minds as imagination engines. Applying knowledge in innovative ways in all spheres of living.

It is important to note that “liberal arts” are not the exclusive domain of creation. Almost every aspect of working, parenting, relationship, home-making, teaching, communication, recreation, planning, cooking, mechanics, and the list continues, is under the direct influence of our creativity.

The more we recognize and incorporate our creative genius in all our ways, every day, the happier and more fully realized our lives become.

Some ways to assimilate creativity in daily living: write by hand, read extensively, study situations and tasks seeking new more efficient ways of dealing with them, making room for fun in our lives, listening to music, singing, playing instruments, spend time with children or read to them, draw, color, practice an art or craft, encourage others, build something, attend exhibits, help others, pick any of these or make up your own.

Please do not neglect your creativity. Your abilities, gifts, skills, and talent are unique. Part of your purpose is using them. You are the only one who can bring your remarkable blend of brilliance to the world. People need every individual striving to add creativity, love, and value to living each day.

Prompt: Pick up a book or magazine. Turn randomly and pick a sentence. Either use the sentence or a word it contains to spark your thoughts. After consideration and allowing your imagination free reign, create something, or let it inspire you to act in your environment.

I encourage you to journal or at least keep a datebook with notes on your activities. A review of these can often facilitate insight into our lives otherwise missing.

We survived February, you and I. I hope that you accomplished more than you expected and enjoyed life as thoroughly as possible. It has been a whirlwind here. Of course, as the new month comes, all the regular suspects make their appearance. Bills, you know, bills. Paying bills though it may be a hassle, shows we are alive and that we are making a way in the world. Having money to meet our obligations is a blessing.

I hope you find special graces in the coming month and can achieve that you most desire.

More Reading

I finished one book that I have been nursing for a while and three others that I more recently started.

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy, I read in hardcover, with 453 pages. This is a novel of India with a diverse cast. It is filled with surprises and perceptions of people who though broken, have chosen love. I did not expect it. I highly recommend it and rate it a five. This is the one I carried a while. It seems paper books are a bit more demanding.

Merlin’s Booke by Jane Yolen, was on Kindle, with 176 pages. I am a Merlin fanatic. I will read anything with Merlin. I am not sure I did not read this before, in the eighties. Matters not; joyfully read it. Jane Yolen is an author who weaves stories so spectacularly one gets tangled in the threads. This is one of those tens, I must give a five, because of the current rating scales en vogue.

The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan, I read on Kindle, with 277 pages. I cannot express how good this novel is, everything about it is exceptional. The characters are so well described, the situations are so well written, the feeling one comes away with like a precious hug. This one is 100% delight, I highly recommend it and give it a way better than five.

Reader, Come Home by Maryanne Wolf, I read on Kindle, with 277 pages. This is non-fiction, see I do read it, it is about research on print and digital media. Our brains are being restructured with our use of screens. If you have children, this might be extremely informative for you. I have felt that there were changes in attention and concentration as I have become part of the digital world. I think this an important subject and the book very well done. I recommend it. Five stars seem inadequate.

When I do these reviews, I am not sure you know, I include the Amazon links in the titles.

No link to this because I am not reviewing it. My current read is Harlot’s Ghost by Norman Mailer, which I have been saving (LOL) since 1991. This one will take a bit as it is in hardcover and over 1300 pages. I knew it would exceed expectations, and I am not disappointed.

I hope you had a fulfilling week and wish you an enjoyable weekend. This is post 56 for the month, and it is not over yet. I have done some other writing today, so I may be back later.

Blessings be upon you, yours, and all you endeavor to accomplish.

Recent Reading

The Binder of Lost Stories by Cristina Caboni is available through Kindle Unlimited. The book is 261 pages, but it reads quickly. Threads from the present and past are expertly woven in this tale of book romance. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and highly recommend it. Were ten on the rating scale, it would easily earn it, as is it is a glorious five.

The Whisper Man by Alex North was read on Kindle and is 350 pages of consummate storytelling with spellbinding horror. Children are our future, but no future should be like this. It reads quickly because the writing is exquisite, but it might chill your blood to the bone. Excellently told, another I would award a ten, but our scales like to end at five, so be it.

The Hellfire Club by Jake Tapper is one of those Kindle books I was not quite prepared for and was taken out beyond the breakers. It came in at 344 pages, but it is so much more than that indicates. You may be aware I shy from politics, this book goes right to the heart of the beast, and what we do not know, well, it is revealing. It is a reasonably fast read, but the taste will stay with you a while. Another one which should be a ten, but it is a racy five.

The Killing Fog by Jeff Wheeler is a First Read on Kindle this month coming in at 404 pages. I think had I realized it fell into YA, I might have taken a pass. That said, the story is enchanting and heroic, classic good against evil. Swords, magic, dragons, villains, a female protagonist. It gets a five.

You may find I often rate fives, the reason being I almost always pick books I know I will enjoy. When purchased books disappoint me, I am usually surprised.

I seem to be on a Kindle kick. I read faster on a device. It is probably because I do my steps while reading, and the screen is illuminated, whereas the shadows affect my vision when I read hardcovers.

Whatever you do, read. It helps a person in so many ways. Also, instill the love of reading in everyone you can.

Short – Shorts

Doubt, fear, those lies do not master us, we are overcomers, made to renew and begin again.

1
The ravens of doubt
Peck our garments of courage,
Rain finds every hole.

2
Voices say we are
Worthless, unreliable,
Some trust still remains.

3
Lying on the floor
The others are tall, strong, more,
Stomach acid boils.

4
A quick glimpse beyond,
We are brave enough to stand,
Race encroaching night.

5
The rain stopped its pour
While the sun rose to its place;
Broad smiles graced each face.

6
Pain reminds again
There is no power within,
Gives self-destruction.

7
Heroes break apart,
Lose ourselves inside the dark,
But life recalls us,
The fighting starts, we join in,
Forsaking all fears, to win.

The gremlins are overactive. I am wrestling on multiple fronts with technology, and the body has its own ideas. Still, it is right; I am here.

All the best to each of you. Find reasons to believe and keep on going. Life rewards those who continue, the alternative is untenable.