Put it together: Conclusion to Journaling

So, now we are at the end of this series, but there is so much to cover and so much more to learn.  To recap, let’s go over some ground rules:

There are no ground rules

Photo By P.Lynne Designs
(c) 2018

You can write or produce anything, and it is your journal.  There is no journaling police, even though there are some people who claim that there are.  I often answer questions on a website called Quora, and in the past couple of days, I have been taunted by a couple of people who basically said to stop writing and live.  To those who think that journaling is wrong, you need to get a life yourself.  I live my life and at the end of the day (before I go to bed), I recap my day.  This how I choose to live my life, and if you do not like it, though. I am living it for me, not you.  you have a right to your opinion, and so with that being said, please live your life and I will do the same.

(sorry for the little rant, let’s carry on)

Journaling is only a little capture of this big thing called life.

Please recap your life.  This is an advise I share with all.  Yes, write it down, but as I said in the “There are no ground rules” section, I recap my day, good or bad.  The good ones are days of rejoicing that things, ideas you had, or experiences you had were wonderful, the heavens opened up, and God himself said: “yes, I approve”.  The bad ones are the days, where the dog bit the cat, The cat messed up the floor, and the mop was so dirty, until you had to buy a new one, only to find out that when you tried to buy a new mop, the store ran out or you had no money in the bank.  God could only say, “I got your back, lesson learned.”

Make any kind of journaling

You can do the following with a journal:

• Write one
• Draw in one
• Do mixed media in one (crafters know what I mean on this task)
• Be grateful in one
• Be soulful in one
• Track your health in one
• Turn it into a planner
• Track your baby’s growth in one
• Business plan in one
• Party plan in one
• Track inventory in one
• Track your spending in one
• Track your projects in one
• Handcraft one
• Travel with one
• Plan teacher lessons in one
• Go on a spiritual journey with one

And the list goes on and on….

There are all sorts of tools out there for Journals

From the type of book, you want to use (notebooks to hardcover types), to the type pens, embellishments, and other do-dads you can find.  You can also do it online with a program such as MS. Word to Journaling online for the world to see (or you can keep it private).  Many scrapbooking, planner, and card making supplies can go into a journal, generalization stickers as well.  If you find them a little pricey, you can always make them yourself or hire someone who has an Etsy shop. 

Gone are the days of Dear Diary….

Children start with “Dear Diary, I had a bad day” or “Diary, guess what?  I finally got the part in the school play, and I will have a few scene with Mitch, my Mitch, and he is dreamy” (or whatever they describe a hot boy today). As adults, we have more sophisticated ways of starting out an entry.  Use that.  I will not judge. (See There are no Ground Rules).  Make it as plain as you want or dress it up.  Put the entries in a book, binder, or online.  Give it whatever name you choose (my latest title is My Next Journey).  Add paint, glitter, or anything.  This is your book, your journal.  It is as private as you want it to be or as public.  It could be about you, your spirituality, your health, your children’s health, your dreams, your ambitions, Your hopes, your travels, and your business.  This is a record of what is going on in your life and no one has a life like yours.

This is the conclusion of this series, but the beginning of something new.  At the end of the first journaling post, introducing journaling to you, I explained that this will be a new section for Wednesdays.  Most bloggers have wordless Wednesday, but I cannot keep up with that, so I have to do something that speaks to me, and hopefully to you too.  At first, I thought of having you submit something, but I forgot this first rule that journaling needs to be very private if you want it to be.  I am not proud of my latest entries to My Next Journey, they are lessons learned.  Maybe one day, when my father will not be reading (he has a Facebook account, and got on me for posting something that I did not post and warned me about the idiots out there).  For now, I will keep it private. 

In the meantime, enjoy Writing Prompt Wednesdays on My Ambiance Life.  Your first one starts next Wednesday.

More on the written journal, tools to use, and other goodies Day 4

Please Note:  Patricia is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. I will refer to some products in this post and many of these products contain links to companies that I may or may not receive a commission on.  You are not obligated to make a purchase of these products, and these products are only a suggestion.

Welcome back to day 4 of Journaling.   If this is your first time viewing this post or you are starting to journal, may I suggest you read the first three in the series before reading this post?

-          Day 1 is an introduction to journaling and how you may go about journaling.

-          Day 2 talks about where and when to journal.

-          Day 3 talks about the different types of journaling

Today’s topic is about the tools of the trade for a written journal.  I may touch briefly on digital journaling since so many people use their phones, laptops, and tablets in 2018.

Getting started with the right tools

Since I was 12, I always loved stationery products.  Maybe this is one of the reasons why I started a scrapbook company that later turned that into a stationery design company.  I still do scrapbooking, but times have changed and with the digital age, I am afraid that not too many people like the traditional method of scrapbooking as much as they did in the 1990s to early 2000s.  Maybe this is the reason why the store and company I used to work for from 2005 to 2010 closed the brick and mortar stores in 2014, and the online website shut down in 2017.  So, a switch was needed.  This does not mean that I still do not make books.

What does this have to do with journaling?  Part of scrapbooking a page is to journal, even If it means one little sentence about the event, and who is in the picture.  So, for you scrapbookers, who are reading this right now, you can easily transform your albums into a journal, add pictures as needed, and write a complete story around that picture or several pictures.  Not too many or it will be more like a scrapbook album than a journal.  Who am I to judge and besides that, you are in control of your journal.

Start with a good base….

You need to find yourself a good base to start journaling.  It could be pieces of paper, but where to put that piece of paper when you stop writing.  For a business journal, I use the Linen Notes Spiral Journal Book by Recollections, which is Michael’s brand.  In this journal, I can write down key notes of things I did, purchases I made, and payments made. The pages have a worn look to them, and it feels like I am writing in an old ledger.   The other feature (which many people do not notice) about the journal is the paper is thick, about a 110lb paper, but slightly less than that. (thicker than 80lb).  If I feel like writing with a marker, which I very rarely do, it does not bleed through.

You can use a planner.  I use them for notes of things I did on the date.  Those of you who have been with me for a while know that I use the Erin Condren Life Planner and have been since 2015.  I like this planner for things such as writing down dates to documenting what I did that day.  I use two of them.  One Life Planner is for personal and business (Although I will be getting a separate one for my business next year, increasing to three), the other is to write down when I do projects, blog posts, and videos, who these projects are for, and when is the due date.  I know that what I use may not to your taste, but there are several other companies that you may find better to your liking.

Notebooks/composition notebook

Some people write in a spiral notebook or a composition notebook.  The difference between the one I refer to and a plain, ordinary notebook is the price.  The one that I write in is $9.99 (Clearance price is $2.99) and has two hardcovers with the word “Notes” on it.  One to 5 subject notebooks and composition notebooks can go for as cheaply as $1 at Dollar Tree.  You can also get Journal notebooks at Dollar Tree as well.

That’s it for the paper, let’s move on to your writing instruments.

Pens

For pens, I use the PaperMate InkJoy Gel Pens.  They are a fine point.  I have also used any type of pen with a medium point, in a pinch.  I keep my pens in pencil holders from Dollar Tree. They are just as good as the $5 plus holders you can find at Staples and other places. 

What I like about the InkJoy Gel pens is they glide through any type of paper, so I use them in both the business journal, as well as the Erin Condren Journals.  In addition to the InkJoys that use in my Erin Condren, I do use her Fine Tip Wet Erase Set for the Whiteboards on the inside of covers for quick notes and reminders.

Pencils and color pencils

I do not recommend unless you are drawing something in your entry.  You want to use a pen for something that is more permanent, and you can go back years later to read.  Pencils smear a lot, which is why teachers recommend that children use pencils in their school work.  If you do use one in your journal, make sure you use a mechanical pencil.

As for color pencils, use them only for drawing or typography.

Other products…

I have a saying, which I kind of adopted from Chef Carla Hall of The Chew fame, and that saying is, “let your freak fly throughout the cosmos”.  What does that mean?  You can decorate however with whatever your heart desires.  The only thing that I ask you not to do is go overboard because if your intent is not to make your writing journal into a creative journal, you have a problem when you decide to write something in it.  You will not have any room to write.  So, for my crafters out there, you can use your medium gels and other “artsy” products, just tone it down a little.  I will discuss art journals at another time in my other blog, P. Lynne Designs.

In the meantime, you can use:

-          Stickers

-          Paint

-          Sayings and write what this saying means to you (hint, hint)

-          Little Buttons

-          Stamp on it

-          Die cut shape and talk about it. Oops, write about it

-          Use gel Mediums, but not too much.  Again, this is a writing journal, not a creative, art journal.

And so much more.  Use different color pens that you do no write with.  One final thought on pens, make sure they do not bleed through the next page, you want to be able to read what you wrote.  Test several pens out.

Entering the digital age….

I know that there is a generation out there who shun the old ways of writing.  If you are of that generation or not, this section is for you.

(raises hand), I keep a digital journal and have been for several years.  This is how I actually got started.  The only thing I advise you to do is to get a good program for either your computer (I use Ms. Word).  The disadvantage is you cannot decorate your pages if you decide to get creative.  This is one of the reasons why I started documenting in an actual journal for my business.  I do have parts of my journal in digital form, but not all of it.  If I am drawing something for a new line, I cannot turn to it (or maybe I can), but it is starting to feel natural to me to pick up a pencil and start drawing my ideas.   I will see with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.

Anyway, I will discuss digital journaling at another time.

(fluffs pillow)—It is time for me to turn in, and I hope that you do explore the many types of tools you can use in your journaling.  Remember my motto: Let your freak fly throughout the cosmos, meaning you can use anything in your journaling.  Just remember that you have to be able to function in that journal and read it years down the road.

For day 5: We are going to put it together and I will give you my final thoughts on the subject of starting and writing in a journal.  This is where the fun begins.  If you have started keeping one, congrats, if not, you get to go shopping after this last post.  If after you read the final post on the subject of journaling, and you find that this is not something you are interested in right this moment, or not at all, that’s OK too. At least you know what it is and how to get started.   I will also give you some hard truths on what I have found out, and that is not every entry you make is going to be sunshine and lollipops. 

I may have a little announcement at the end of this final post as well.

In the meantime, If you have any questions about this post or any of the previous posts, comment below or shoot me an email at plogan721@att.net.  

God Bless

How to journal (or at least how I journal) and included are some topics that might interest you in getting started.

Hello, and welcome back to Day 2 in my Journaling 101 series.  Yesterday was an introduction into the world of journaling and how writing in diaries differ from journaling.  We looked into the definition of the word journaling from two different sources, and I hope you will check them out.  What I failed to mention is a series on journaling by Lisa Shea, whose first book, titled Journaling Basis-Journal Writing for Beginners, talks about how you should journal, different techniques, and using tools on journaling.  I have not listened to it for a while on Audible, but I highly recommend this book and any of Ms. Shea’s other books in this 9-book series.  It is also available as an E-book and in paperback.

Today, We are continuing the series by talking about how to journal.  I know I explained in yesterday’s post that you can journal any way you want, but what I do not want to do is to have you fail at this.  Journaling anyway you want does not really promote self-love, which is the theme I am seeing lately.  Today, there are too many people hate on themselves and on each other.  So, with that being said, if you want to write a fun-loving journal that promotes happiness, go ahead and do it.  No one is stopping you, but I have to ask you, what happens when you are faced with a problem?  You can dance around the situation, but what is your reaction to that situation?  I will get into the types of journals you can have in the next post.  Let’s get started.

First things-Preparation:

If you have never journaled before, I suggest that you get a notebook with lines.  This is how I started out and you can transfer over to a more permanent notebook (with or without line), a binder, or online later.  Now is the time to get supplies while they are on sale for Back to School.  There are journaling books that you can buy as well.  Get a well-made book, and I have some at Dollar Tree for $1.  I have mentioned the advantages and disadvantages of written and online in the introduction, but I will go more into detail of each later.

Where to write:

Next, find a comfy spot.  This is your area for you and you alone.  No spouse, no children, and no pets.  It can be a corner, at the kitchen table, your craft room, or She Shed/man cave. (yes, guys, if you can have a man cave, she can have a She Shed.  It is the latest thing for women.)  Place anything in that space that will make you comfortable:  your favorite mug, blanket, pillow, a pot of coffee, even wine, but not too much wine, you want to be able to read this entry in your 80’s.  I have two spaces; my computer desk and my bed.  I can access my journal in either location, depending on my mood.  Put on a little mood music if you need to.  Hey, it is your space and your world. 

When to write:

Anytime is the right time to write but be consistent.  Do not write when you feel like it.  Morning, noon, nighttime. I have been known to write at 4 AM when my mind is racing.  I founded out from Lisa Shea that you cannot write like that unless you are writing in a creative journal.  (more on that in the next post).  For grateful, daily, and other ‘finding yourself” type journals, it is best to be quiet, be still, and write.  4 AM is for sleeping, getting up to go to work, or in my case, that last round of Cookie Jam Blast.  Hey, I cannot say that I am perfect.  I do have a few flaws.  Only God is perfect, LOL. 

How often you write is also up to you.  I recommend at least once a day, or in the case of a creative journal, whenever an idea springs up.  Again, no matter how you do it, please be consistent in your timing.  You can write as long as you want to but do not make it an all-day event.  You have places to go, people to see and take care of.  In the case of a creative journal, carry a small notebook with you. When an idea comes up, write down in your notebook and transfer it to your journal later. You can start and stop your journaling anytime you want.  Perhaps this is a special journal where you journal about your pregnancy, and what you what your child to know about.  This is a 9-month journal that has a start date and an end date.  It may end on the day you give birth to him/her or it may end one year after the birth.  You may have a 5-year journal.  Again, it has a start date and an end date.

I will cover what types of journal books work with your style of writing at a later time under the tools of the trade.

Conclusion:

Well, this is the end of day 2 and what translates to a day where it does not matter what type of notebook you have for journaling, if you do it on a computer, online or offline, or in your handwriting, what time of day, or where to write, as long as you are satisfied with the results of your journaling.  Remember, if you have any questions about your journaling process, please send them to plogan721@att.net, and I will try to get back to you.  Thank you for following along. 

If there is a specific question you feel would benefit my readers, you can send them to the address mentioned, and I will try to address that topic in another post.

In the meantime, on day 3, where I will discuss what types of journaling can you start and what purpose can you get out of them.  Until then, God bless you.

Journaling 101 day 1: an introduction

Lately, I have been in sort of a funk and thinking back, I should have really gotten into my journaling and really explore my feelings on this funk.  I am through it now, but there were times when I just wish that I had written about this emotion and that emotion.  This is one of the disadvantages of having an online journal.

“What, you do not journal?”  Are you even aware of the potentials that journaling can have on you as a person?  Journaling helps a person sort things out.  It does not have to be during the times where you are having problems in your life.  That is only one type of journal.  There are all kinds of journals for a person to write.   

For now, I want to focus on journaling.

What is Journaling?

OMG, where do I begin?  Let’s start with your plain ordinary dictionary version of the word.  According to the Sharecare website, it has to say this about journaling:

Journaling is a vehicle of emotional exploration, a way to channel difficult feelings into healthy and creative outcomes. It is a form of free self-expression that leads to exploration and personal growth. ... You have to listen rather than run away from your feelings.

You can really expand with this definition because this comes from a health website, who specializes in using journaling for therapeutic purposes.  This is perfect for someone who is embarrassed in going to a therapist.  For that, I recommend you seek help before diving into self-help.  I am no expert in psychology.

Creative Writing now, another website, describes journaling this way:

A journal is a written record of your thoughts, experiences, and observations.

This is the definition I want to focus on for now because journaling is more than “I feel this way” or “I feel that way”. It is a series of thought processes and putting it in written form and how you are processing those thought processes, observations and ideas running around in that head we all have.

A brief thought on diaries 

This applies more to women than men but think back to when you were a child and you wanted to talk about your day.  Children will automatically talk about their day.  They may take longer to explain it because to a little child, it is harder to formulate and place descriptive words into an adult’s head.  Sometimes a parent or other adults have said things like, “and what happened next”.  When we are teens, we do not want to talk about our day, at least I did not.  I wanted to keep things in the secret, among my friends, who knew all about it.  No parent needs to know about it.  “We can solve it ourselves” is every teen girl’s motto.  Writing about it helps with the feelings.  Things like “Today was the worse day of my short life.  Mrs. Logan embarrassed me by calling on me in math class.  Calling me out because I forgot my homework.  Why do I bother in this class?  Then, there was a cute boy I saw while walking to choir rehearsal.  I am not going to do it, but maybe I should ask Tricia if she has him in any of her classes.  I almost did not get off at my bus stop because I was so tired.  Mom was mad at me because she thought I needed to make my bed before I go to school.  Who does that? Let’s not talk about my part-time job.  On second, let’s not talk about my PT job because I do not want to go.  BTW, I need off next week because of prom.  I wonder who is going to ask me?  P.S.  It’s that time of the month again.  I am blotted, moody, and I need Chocolate.  I hope my little brother, Seth the bad breath does not find you again.  I will be modified if he gives it to mom to read.  I really think she works too much at that job of hers.”

You get the drift of that entry.  This is called journaling, but it is more of a diary. 

So, am I saying that a diary is a journal?  Yes and no, and many famous people, dead and alive have one.  Anne Frank, Helen Keller, Lewis Carroll, Harry S. Truman, Virginia Woolf, and many others.  According to Quora, the difference between a diary and a journal is feelings, emotions, problems, and reflections.  A journal adds experiences to the mix.  Both are used to evaluate one’s life and reaction to that feeling or experience. In fact, a person could intertwine the two, and still have a book they can read for years to come.

What a journal is not:

I will have to say that there is nothing much you cannot use a journal for.  I have used my journal as a sounding board, rant session, crying session, and planning session, to name a few.  In fact, I research using the words, “what you cannot journal”, and they are all for what you can journal.  So, journal until your heart is content.

Different ways of journaling.

Written:

Get yourself a notebook.  A blank notebook.  Start writing something, even if you say, “The grass is blue-green with yellow polka dots”.  You just made your first entry. With that entry, expand it.  You can say, “and when I walk on it with my bare feet, it feels squishy and wet.  It must have rained today.”  Talk about how the rain made you feel.  Was it cold?  Warm to the touch?  Tastes like chocolate? (hmm, I must be in a chocolate mood today).  What color is the rain?  Clear?  Blue like the ocean.  Brown?  (Ok, there goes that chocolate reference again, someone get me a candy bar, LOL).  Whatever you put in that blank book is your thoughts, your observations, and your ideas on the grass and the rain.  No one else. They may think the same thing, put in their journal, but it is their thoughts, their observations, and their ideas on the grass and the rain. There also may have a different way of describing that observation.

Online:

Some people like to type on their computer.  It feels good to them.  For online journals, you can use whatever software you use to create documents.  I use Microsoft Word and have successful created 5 journals (working on #6) from that software, with no reason to change.  I love this software for reasons, such as it is easy, if you already know how to use it, it becomes second nature to you when you start a journal, and you can take it offline (which how I use it).  I can type in my journal from this desktop, my Ipad, and my mobile phone. I have no plans to do this, but since I know my password, I can go to any public library, college campus, or work computer, and if their server allows it, I can go to Office 365.com, go to my account, pull up my journal and start typing.  When I get back to my home computer, it will automatically update when I pull it from the cloud because I can sync with it.  That is the beauty of this software, it so versatile.  Also, it does not cost much to have a monthly subscription ($7.99).  You can go with an older version of MS Word but be warned.  I read last month that they are or have already done away with support for the older Office suites.  If you are tight on money and your budget does not allow it, any free word processing software (including WordPad for Windows and Pages for IOS) can do the job.

For those who want to know, I will link up with this article, that talks about the websites that allow online journaling.  Because I do not use this method of putting down my innermost thoughts, I cannot say which one I recommend over another.    The only thing I can say about this method is to make sure you research before committing to this type of online journaling.  If what you have to write is way too personal, I suggest you go my route.  Also, some of these websites may not be free.  Update your virus software, before you start typing anything.  Make sure you read the fine print.

Well, I hope I have given you some insight on what to expect when you start journaling.  The topics I plan on covering with this series are:

1. How to journal (or at least how I journal) and included are some topics that might interest you in getting started.
2. Types of journals and what they are best for.  I have already given you one type already.
3. More on the written journal, tools to use, and other goodies.  You can really get creative with the written one.
4. Finally putting it all together.  How you can have one cohesive-looking journal, and what to do if you decide to publish it in the form of a blog.

Conclusion:

Until the next time, if you are interested in following along with me in a free exercise.  You will need by the time you read my next post:

• A notebook or your computer
• Your favorite pen for now.  I will tell you what I use for pens when we get to the tools of the trade.
• The willingness to learn about how you write. I have only one rule, and that is to have fun. I am not going to ask you to submit something.  I do not have the website to do that.  If you want me to critic on your writing, my address is plogan721@att.net, but I am only going to tell you, about your style of writing and spelling.  I am not an English teacher, nor I never had the desire to be one.  I had too many nightmares of red marks in my day, so, I commend anyone who wants to be one.  I used to be a preschool teacher if that helps any, and I would go back to get my license in Elementary Education, but that’s it.  If I do critic your work, it is only for you to learn.   

Again, until the next post, God bless you.

Confession is good for the Soul: not when it comes to habits…

(Warning:  Affiliate links ahead) 

(c) unknown source

Confession time:  Hi my name is Patricia (Hi Patricia), and I am a tool, junkie.   It all started when I was taking dance lessons:  ballet, jazz, and tap.   I was 10 when I felt the urge to have every kind of dance shoe known to mankind.  If it allowed me to go on full pointe, demi-pointe, flick my feet, flap, shuffle, paradiddle, whatever, I wanted to look good when I did it.  The only people to stop me in getting every type of dance shoe were my parents.   That same love went for leotards and leg warmers.  If it came in pink, that was great. 

My next big love came with journaling and paper.  It still is, and I had to learn how to restrain myself from little notepads, notecards, colorful index cards, journaling books, and the like.  OK, there is a bit of love for office supplies too, but if it was cute, it was in my cart and in my home.  I lived with my parents until I was 34, so I sometimes snuck it in.  This is where my love for scrapbooking came in.  I will get back to it in a moment.

I am also a musician, a keyboardist, and I am working on getting keyboard #10. I currently have keyboard #9, which is about 13 years old, and seeing its last days.  The keyboards I had in the past were either sold or have seen their last days too, and you should have seen what my father did to my organ when it seen its last days.  Not pretty at all, LOL.  Let’s just say that it fit into one neat little garbage can.  But the keyboard I want is no small price.  Most good quality keyboards today come between the average price tag of $2,000-$4,000, and this one I want is $1,699.00 (Street Price).  This is compared to the current one of $200.00, but the current keyboard was bought in 1999, and the new one was made in 2014.  Huge difference in quality and the current one is a Casio CTS 630 and the new one is a Yamaha Motif MOXF8 (the 8 stands for 88-keys).  It is cheaper than its big brother, the Yamaha Motif XF8, which runs a street price of $3,600.  One thing you can say about my tools of the trade is I have a budget on how much I want to spend on that item.

Back to scrapbooking tools….

I have in my possession three Cricut Electronic die cutting machines.  One is called an Expression 2, 5^th anniversary edition, which I used until I bought the second one, an Explore, which is the main one I use for all my die cutting needs (well almost all).  The E25E is now a backup machine in case the Explore needs repairs or I have a huge project.   I also have a Cricut Imagine, which I only used a handful of times, because that thing is too big to be lugging up and down the stairs, so it just sits in my second bedroom.  I almost considered buying a Silhouette Cameo, and may still do so, now that I am on their small business affiliate program.  I also have two manual die cutting machines, a Cuttlebug, by the same people who make the Cricut and a We R Memory Keepers Evolution.  I started using it yesterday, even though I had it for just 8 months.

Another We R Memory Keepers product that I have not used yet is a new tool called a Fuse.  It fuses page protectors and creates pockets to hold little trinkets and keepsakes in an album.  I bought it 4 months ago.  Please let’s not talk about my papers.  

A Tisket, a Tasket, look its

a basket.

Finally, we get to my baskets.  I am an Independent Home Consultant for The Longaberger Company, and I have talked about it many times.  When you have been selling for 14 years, you tend to keep and use your samples.  That is another subject for a different day.

So yes, I have made my confession and I am not here to brag about the stuff I have.  I use most of my stuff, even though I heard Peter Walsh (the organizing and declutter guy) say on the Rachael Ray Show that the average person only uses 60% of their stuff.  I would say I use 85% of my stuff.   I am also saying that I am in the process of decluttering and have put myself on a buying diet.  I cannot buy until I all of my consumable items.  Much of my stuff I use for my business, P.Lynne Designs.

So here’s to confession that is good for the soul, and much lighter on the wallet.