Tuesday, April 12, 2016

J ~ Journals

I kept a journal from the time I could write a string of words to form sentences, until a few weeks before our wedding. Somehow during those first years of married life I didn't get a whole lot of journaling done, which I have really regretted.

Among the Amish, journaling was basically the lazy person's diary. Something a person did who wanted to keep a diary, but couldn't commit to writing everyday.

In the past couple years I have discovered that journaling can be so much more, and I have been enjoying it a lot.

The options for journals are nearly endless. In fact there are so many different types of journals that I could have focused the entire A-Z challenge on all the different types of journals you can have.

The always fun art journal where you draw, doodle, and simply free your creative side.

I have found I really like Bible journaling where I jot down a few verses from my Bible reading and add some of my own thoughts as well as a doodle or two.

A currently journal where once a week I answer the same handful of questions about what I am currently liking or doing.

A food or menu journal is a nice way to keep track of the new recipes we try and how we liked them.

A gratitude journal, joy journal, delight journal, happy thoughts journal, inspirational journal, love journal, blessing journal are all great to do. They require you to focus on good things, and I firmly believe the things you focus on have a huge impact on your overall happiness.


I hadn't realized how many journals I keep until I went to gather them together to take a picture. There are twenty-seven of them here, and that's not even all of them.

15 comments:

  1. I prefer a journal to a diary too. I write in mine maybe once or twice a week. You can usually judge how my life is going by how often I write in my journal. :-)

    Carol

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    1. Some of mine only get a few entries per month. I found I really like having journals with specific topics. My daily life journal also depends a lot on what's happening. :)

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  2. I keep a journal too and just had it out a few minutes ago. I love to write! Enjoy your day sweet lady. Hugs, Diane

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    1. I find writing in journals to be relaxing and enjoyable.

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  3. I have been a journal keeper since I was 10. I will be 52 this June. I think my daughters and my grandchildren will someday enjoy reading about my journey through this life and my joys and sorrows... my love for God and people and animals. It's something we do for ourselves in the here and now and our family in the future.

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    1. I'm sure your family will treasure your journals.

      The thought of being able to leave a little something behind for my family has been a motivator in my journaling as well.

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  4. I love journaling! I have one where I write down favorite quotations that I come across.

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  5. I have tried so many different times to journal, but unfortunately, I haven't remained disciplined and steadfast in it. Right now the closest thing to journaling that I'm doing is writing out the Psalms by hand. I find it helps me absorb the words more when I write them.
    Your amount of journals is quite impressive.
    Blessings,
    Betsy

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    1. When it comes to writing out scriptures, I find the same to be true. I am currently doing Matthew.

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  6. I wrote about journals, too! I love how colorful yours are.

    I'm blogging about productivity for creative people this month. Happy A to Zing!
    Yvonne

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  7. I have so many journals from childhood, it's crazy! And of course I'm sentimental about them too. What if I want to pass them to my children when I get older? What if I want to remember that one time when…? And so I keep them taking up space in boxes and in my life. At some point I really need to decide what to do with them.

    What do you do with all of your journals? Store them on a bookshelf? Hide them in a closet? … How long do you keep them and do you toss certain ones that aren't of any use to you anymore?

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Thank you so much for taking time to comment. I love hearing your thoughts.