Elizabeth in the News!
Ashley Miller is a delightful young journalist who came to visit me at Riverwood recently with a very specific inquiry on her mind. She wanted to know about journaling, and someone told her to come talk to me. If she was taken aback by the piles and variety of journal books I showed her or the many different types of pens I use, she was too gracious to show it. She asked wonderful questions, and we had a lively and far-ranging conversation. Her article was published in both the Northern Virginia Daily and the Daily News Record. I hope you can read at least one of them without being blocked by a paywall.
Journaling as a connection tool
I was a journaler long before I considered myself a writer. In retrospect, journaling gave me important writing practice in a non-threatening environment and I recommend it highly as a powerful connection tool for strengthening any or all of the four essential connections:
- A spiritual or prayer journal explores your relationship with God.
- A diary, free-thought journal, or food journal helps you sort through thoughts, emotions, and habits to know yourself better.
- A reading, correspondence, or Bullet journal documents your relationship with others (real and fictional).
- A nature journal makes you more observant of the natural world around you.
I’ve used them all at one time or another throughout my life. I’ve written here before about some of my journaling experience:
- 10 Great Reasons to Keep a Reading Journal
- 13 Great Reasons to Keep a Nature Journal
- Journaling for Caregivers, a guest blog by Lynn Goodwin
The hardest thing about journaling is choosing between the wonderful selection of journal books available. Check out these beauties on Amazon Right now, one of my journals is a “five-year” or “one line a day” journal. Each page represents one day of the year and has just three or four lines for each year. It’s fun to look back and see what you were doing on the same day in previous years.
I’ve used everything from leatherbound journals to inexpensive spiral notebooks, and I’ve loved them all. Here’s a photo of one of the journals my grandfather gave me as a young girl — leatherbound and engraved with my name on the cover!
I’d love to hear about your own journaling adventures in the comments below.
PHOTO CREDIT: My dear husband, John A. Cottrell, Jr., M.D.
“5 Notebooks Better Than Moleskine (Especially for Fountain Pens)”
Enjoy this fun review of five journals that this reviewer, Brian Wallace, likes better than Moleskine, including my own favorite, the Leuchtturm1917. I’ve listed the five below with links to get more info or purchase.
NOTE: When you make a purchase from my Amazon affiliate links in this post, you pay no more but I receive a small affiliate fee that helps support my writing.
- Midori MD: More Info
- Clairefontaine 1951 Clothbound: More Info
- Rhodia Webnotebook: More Info
- Endless Recorder: More Info
- Leuchtturm1917: More Info
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Congrats on the interview, Elizabeth! I’ve never been one for journaling though I did have an easter egg blue little diary when I was growing up, complete with lock and key. And actually as I write this, I did keep a journal for 6 months in 1979 when I was traveling around the world at age 19. I tracked where I was, who I was with and how much I spent every day. Thanks for that memory!
Thanks so much for reading and commenting, Denise. Journaling is certainly not for everyone, and I’ve been on again and off again in the past, though pretty consistent in recent years. I know lots of people who ONLY journal when they take trips. You might find it easier to dictate and then transcribe it later
I have the best intentions to journal consistantly. I know better than to expect me to do it every day, I even journal about that. I try to make my journal about me and how I feel about certain things, what happens during the day and not about other people. I don’t want someone who might find my journal and open it up and read something that I’ve written that was bad about them. I don’t want that. I just don’t do it on a regular basis and that bothers me. I am busy but I’m not too busy to write. Any ideas?
Mary, thank you SO much for reading and sharing this. You are absolutely NOT alone, and even veteran journalers have had seasons in their lives when journaling wasn’t possible or at least less often.
Try not to be hard on yourself and create your own rhythm that allows you to journal without stress and pressure. There’s nothing magic about writing daily. Or if you do, just write one or two things that you’d tell someone if they wanted to know what were the highlights of your day. The journals that are already dated can be restrictive if you find you don’t want to write daily or sometimes you write a lot and sometimes just a little. I usually use all-purpose lined or dotted pages and add the date, day of the week, time, and temperature (the latter being totally unnecessary but I just like to look back and see it).
If you like the idea of just one to three sentences a day, look for “five year journals” or “one-line-journals” on Amazon or elsewhere.
Another way to “prime the pump” and get back in the habit is to commit to journaling for a specific period of time — like for a vacation or holiday or event or anything you want to remember that takes place over a short period of time. When the time is up, you’ll have a better idea for whether you want to continue or what might be a better rhythm for you.
And for those who find it easier to dictate than to write, it’s pretty easy to find programs now that will transcribe audio files into Word documents.
I’ve rambled enough. Let me know what you learn. My email is ElizabethC (at) heartspoken (dot) com.
Oh, and I agree about being careful with words that other people can read. On the other hand, I’m sure a historian would encourage you to be as honest as possible and to name names and say what their relationship is to you. Such is the fodder for future historians to get a handle on what people were doing and thinking back in 2024! This is one reason I encourage people to write letters, because otherwise how can historians possibly wade through our emails to figure things out?