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.

Update Why I have not been on YT, No Swaps, and Types of equipment

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

Facebook Week Part 2: Groups

Hello, and welcome to part 2 of Facebook and the ins and out of one of the world’s biggest (and sometimes the baddish) social media in the world.  It is so popular until television shows will have Facebook-type social media for their show’s platform.  For example, the soap, Young and the Restless, calls it FacePlace, because maybe they have not gotten Facebook’s permission to use the name, Facebook. Another subject for another Friday.

Anyway, last week, I introduced to some and reintroduced to others, Facebook, and gave the lowdown of the social media and how to conduct yourself on the site.  Sorry, if I stepped on some toes (maybe even broken a foot or two, LOL), but I had to say this to sort of getting it off my chest because I have seen a lot of ugly stuff lately on this site, and frankly, I am not too happy about it.

Now, today, I will be talking about groups.  I am talking about groups before pages because this is where the most interaction a person without a business is going to get, other than from friends.  Now, I am going to put this out front this disclaimer, and this is: YOU DO NOT NEED A GROUP TO INTERACT ON FACEBOOK.  You are perfectly fine with a business page and that’s it.  I will tell you later in next week’s post.  There are three things that Facebook groups are, and that is:

1. Menu 2. title to the group
(c) 2018 Facebook.com

1)      They are a community of like-minded people who like the same thing.  Say you are a crafter, and you work with a Cricut Electronic Die Cutting Machine.  You have a question about how to print then cut on the machine feature because you have been having some problems with this feature.  Now, you can ask this question on your normal newsfeed, but how many of your friends are going to know what you are talking about.  If you have friends like my Facebook friends, no one hardly crafts, and do not know what an electronic die cutting machine is, let alone know how to use one.  You can always call Cricut customer service, but who has the time to sit on the phone or in Live Chat to ask one possible, simple, little common question.  This is where a Cricut group on Facebook can help.  Some of the members are online right now to answer your questions, you can cut and paste the answer for future reference (I like to use MS Word and make a file of the answer), and you can continue with your project, some craft group member like to show off the project they have made. If you have a hobby, a business, or a lifestyle, there is a group for you  If not, you can always create one.

2)      You can make new friends.  I see what you are thinking, “Great, just what I need, more friends.”  Think back to the first one.  It is a community, and if you are in the right group, meaning that the administrator does not get flippy on you, should you decide to talk about what your two-year-old did 5 minutes before asking your question or replying to someone else’s post, you can kick off your shoes and relax.  There are some groups who are not that catty about other things besides that subject.  Follow the instructions on the group leader or owner, called an admin, and you will do fine.  Just do not post before your comment or post, “ I hope it is OK to post this here” or my personal favorite, “Admin, please delete if this is not appropriate”.

3)      They cause you to think about your hobby, business, or whatever you are into.  You are not alone in this situation.  Someone has had a similar situation like yours, and this is how they solved it.  Back to the community thing.  So, you are not getting views to a new recipe you wrote about two weeks ago.  In a blogging Facebook group (and I am on several), the administrator or another member of the group can give you pointers on how to get those numbers up and popping to where you see revenue from your blog if you want to.  So, they are also a problem solver.

Keep these things in mind if you are thumbing your nose to the idea of not joining a Facebook group.

Can I complain in a group?

The answer, my friend is simple, NO, and here is why.  Although the purpose of an administrator (or admin from now on), is to keep peace in the Middle East or to make sure everyone is happy.  Other things that an admin does are:

·         Maintain the membership

·         Invite people to the group (you do not have to accept the invite)

·         Remove ugly-acting members (keeping the trolls at bay)

·         Approve the membership (I like you to stay and play with us)

·         If they are the owner, issue rules and regs (regulations)

·         Approve other admins

·         Control the group (I threw that one in since I owned a group)

The group I had two years ago (It’s been that long-yikes), was a direct selling group.  On this group, a member could advertise their business, providing that you were a consultant for a direct selling company.  I was, of course, an Independent Longaberger Home consultant at the time, and I did not like some of the direct selling groups I was part of.  Some of the groups basically forced you to buy from each other, and if you were not interested in the company or you did not have any money to buy a product from that consultant, you were kicked out from some of these groups and considered a flaker. They came up with ladder games to get you to buy (such as the $100 group, meaning your order had to total $100 or higher before sales tax and shipping). 

Anyway, I did not like that concept.  I wanted customers who were not forced to buy a Longaberger basket or pottery.  Yes, I wanted sales, but not that bad.  I did not want someone to be stuck with a purchase they did not want to make in the first place.  This is why I created the group.  There were games, but I was only going to issue that game once a month, and it was not the basis for joining the group, either.  Stick to the end of this post to find out the problems that lead me to close this group.

This leads me to explain to you the don’ts of being a group member.  Keep this in mind as you decide if joining a Facebook group is right for you.  I have learned some things, both as a member and as an admin, and I think you will be happy when you read them.  Some of them are:

Sidebar:  1. Menu
2. Title to group
A group will have either
Closed to new members.
Secret to new Members or
Open to new members.

1.       Read all rules and regs BEFORE you join a group.  Do not let “sticker shock” hit you in the face.  Admins and owners of these groups prefer that you do not join, instead of you writing them back with the “I did not know” message, trying to get back in the group.  The little Nastygram that I was going to issue on my Facebook status back in August would have been one of those “I did not know, well guess what I really think of your so-called group” messages.  It would have kept me banned.  The best way I handled it was the “I will wait until I am able to be a willing participant in the group”.  I can always rejoin at a later time.

2.       Please be a willing participant in the group.  Even if you are replying to a post of another member, you are participating.  No question is stupid, and no answer is stupid either.  It is a matter of opinion, and as long as you exercise the right to “agree to disagree”, then there should be no problems. If there are challenges to do in the group, check to see if you have to do them in order to stay connected with the group, if you do, see if you have the time to do them.  Spending a lot of time in groups can be a time waster if you let them.  If you do not have the time, leave the group and rejoin when you have time to spend in the group.

3.       No Nastygrams in the group, and most definitely outside of the group.  I am going, to be honest with you.  No one wants to hear your beef about how the admin banned your post.  So, what? Get over it and move on.  You are lucky you were not banned from the group.  Keep the peace and you get to stay longer.

4.       If the admin says no ads, no means no.  Please, do not slip a little blurb about your once in a lifetime deal for 4 lipsticks for $1 if this is not a sales group.  However, if the admin allows ads, only put them in the group that day, that week, or only under that thread.  In other words, follow the rules.  This includes NO SPAMMING!  Post once and only once.

5.       Be mindful about your posts.  This goes back to #3 and 4.  Do not back mouth a member, call names, talk about a race, nothing.  It goes back to my post from last week.

The future of groups

I am only telling you what I heard.  It is not written in stone.  Facebook is trying out a new feature in groups where admins could make some money off members.  It is a subscription service, and it allows members to get a VIP status in the group (such as files if you are a crafter or exclusive videos).  Again, it is not written in stone, and it is just a test or a thought.  At any rate, I am not too pleased with it.  If anything comes of this new feature, you will hear about it here on this blog.

The problem with groups.

If you stuck with me this far, thank you very much. I really appreciate it.  As an admin, I had my share.  Of course, I had to approve every member, but I also had another admin, who was not good at all.  I did all the work.  First, everyone who wanted to join, and the first thing was you had to be a consultant of a direct selling company.  So, no direct-owned companies.  So, as the owner of P. Lynne Designs, I would not get approved. I really did not want a travel agent to be approved to this group, but for some reason, one snuck on, by the person who I approved as an admin.  If you sold for companies like Longaberger, Tastefully Simply, Stampin! Up, Pampered Chef, those direct companies, yes you would be approved.  Second problem:  I only wanted one from each company.  Having this rule allows a person to be exclusive and have clients, without competing against a team member.  It never worked that way.  Tip Tuesday was a problem because no one had any tips to help each other grow their business.  I did not have enough members to issue Consultant of the month, where that consultant gets all the sales for that month.  I also realized that I was doing exactly what I did not want to happen in this group, forcing people to buy if they did not like the company, the products, or had no money that month.  Finally, I did not have enough time to devote to this group.  I felt like I was forcing myself to be in this group I created.  When that happened, I shut down the group and I let the members know that I was shutting it down and thanked them for being a member of the group.  So, there are some cons to be an admin to a new or established group.

Same with being a member.  If a group wants you to connect to them once or twice a week and you do not have the time, do not join.  An admin would rather you decline the invite than have you be an inactive member of the group if participating is mandatory.  I feel like that was the reason I was released from my membership of the blogging group.  When I am ready to rejoin, I will ask again.

Nuggets of information:

I hope I gave you lots of food for thought when it comes to being a member of a Facebook Group.  Again, this is not mandatory for your membership on Facebook.  Call it an extra bonus.  You need answers to your crafting needs, advice on how to start a blog, love Disney, need a new devotion, or simply need to combat global warming (no I do not belong to a global warming group), join a Facebook group.  They are free for now (I hope forever, but knowing what Mark Z has done in the past, I would not put it past him), you can make new friends who are like-minded, talk about your topic of choice, without your friend from the 8^th grade saying, “Yuk, are you still into that Disney stuff?  That is so, 2^nd grade”.  You can get answers to your questions, that would make a 10-minute wait for customer service look like 10 seconds.  You have to be mindful when posting to groups.  Be on your best behavior (ugh, I am sounding like my mom), and do not sweat the small stuff, if you find yourself outside of the group.  Move on.

Next week, I will talk about pages and maybe hit on games on Facebook.  Until then, God Bless You. 

Types of journals and what they are best for- Day 3 (Journaling)

Welcome to day 3 of learning how to journal.  If this is your first time viewing this, please take this time to go back to day 1, which covers an introduction to journaling and day 2, which covers how to journal, where to journal, and when to journal.

Today covers what to journal and how that journaling impacts on your actual styling and so forth. 

There are so many different styles of journaling out there until I will start by saying that I will not be covering all of them, just the major ones that people tend to start.  There are journals for every mood known to mankind, and the very first thing is to figure out what your mood is and why you want to journal. 

Generalization Journaling:

If this journal is for you and you alone, find out what is it you want your future self to remember about you in the present.  Perhaps you want to grow from your situation.  Is this a teaching moment for you and your child?  What do you want the world to know about you?  These are all good journals to start, and they are a generalized journal.  The goal of this journal is to teach and learn from the past or the present in hopes for a better future for you and those who you want to teach.

The journal I write in almost every day is a generalized journal.  The end goal is for me and my child to learn and to grow from any situation that I have to throw out, including things such how I feel about my present situation, love life, having and adopting children, and financial matters.  I throw in a little spiritual because I am a Christian, and it must have that meaning for me to understand what God wants in my life.  I also throw in when I am angry because life is no bed of roses.  I want me and my future child to know that.   There was a portion of my journals where I mention my child specifically because I wanted to let her know that when she gets here, in my presence, that she was well loved before I even met her. In my last three incarnations of my journal, I am not so child-focused because I have not adopted my child yet.  Once I get the process going, I will start up again.  This is when I will have this type of journal:

Gratitude Journal

What is being grateful?  You are grateful for everything that has ever been given to you, allowed to see, and allowed to experience.  This is a daily journaling practice to show you just how lucky you truly are, no matter what you are going through.  You can combine it with Bible Journaling (description below) to get a real effect on your life.  The purpose if to find yourself in the gratefulness, and never complain.

Birth or adoption journal:

In this type of journal, it is focused on you and your child, and how you are doing before the child arrived.  It may start out with “the day I found out that I will be a mom/dad”. (yes, men, you can have this type of journal too.) It has an end date, and that end date can be anywhere from, “The day they placed you in my arms for the first time” to “The day you left for College”, “The day I gave you away in marriage”, “the day you had your first child”, or even, “the day I had to bury you” (sorry to morbid on the last title, but some parents do go through that).  The point is that it has a start date and an end date. 

This can apply to the day you decide to adopt. You can call it a life book.  This is a book that foster agencies give to kids when they move from house to house.  My foster sister had one.  It is a type of memory book, but you can easily adapt it to your birth child as well.

On my wedding Day:

You can journal about your wedding plans.  You can start with the proposal up to your wedding day.  Make this more of a creative-type of a journal.  You can place in things like a photo of your engagement ring, your china pattern, your colors for your wedding, a sample of your invitation, who you want to invite, and even receipts from the cater and other vendors.  Write about how you felt the day of your wedding and who was there to rally with your intended.  Go further to talk about your honeymoon, where was it, and how it felt to be newly wedded. Also, talk about your first place as a couple.  I am sure you have stories to tell.

Project journals:

Is there a specific project you want to work on?  Journal it.  Startup business, building a home, remodeling, even a trip all qualify as writing down how you felt when this event happened.  Write down your research if you are doing some.  Talk about the cost of the project, when you will start it, and when you plan on finishing it.  Talk about the setbacks, the problems, the headaches, and what happened when you had to start over and rethink it out. Even talk about if you had to abandon the project for some reason.

I have been planning a trip to Walt Disney World with the family for years.  I started journaling this trip because to me since we are not from Florida, but Ohio, it is no easy trip.  It takes money and time to go to Walt Disney World.  I started without journaling in 2010, and since I had so many setbacks, I decided to journal those setbacks and the “Yeah, I made the reservations”, and the “Oh, I have to cancel because of this problem and that person was pregnant, and this person did not want their child to experience Disney at this time”.  Yes, it was all there.  The “nail in the coffin” time was this year, when we had a family reunion in Orlando, and thought, “perfect timing”, but it was not for a couple of reasons, and I had to give up for a moment.  Now, I am back, journaling about this, but not in my everyday journal.  I have a new journal that I am starting and again will talk about the ups and downs of planning a trip for maybe 10-20 people (I will be asking my cousin if he and his family want to join us for 2019).

But the point I am making has this type of journal ready for anything, the good and the bad.

Food, weight, and other personal goals:

This next type of journaling determines how your health is affected.  Some doctors may ask you to keep a food journal of what you ate and how much.  This is good for weight loss, how certain foods react to your body in the case of diabetics, high blood pressure, or allergies.  You may do it yourself to figure out how much caloric intake your body needs to maintain a certain weight goal. 

While I am in the neighborhood, if you are hit with a specific diagnosis (i.e. MS, Lupus, Cancer), you may want to start a “This is how I feel today” journal.  Because you cannot predict how your day is going, you can hash it out in your journal.

A few years ago, I was going through some symptoms unknown to me and my body.  After self-diagnosing myself with an online medical guide, which I highly recommend that you do not attempt, even if you have a medical degree, I thought I had Lupus.  This was around 2003.  I talked to my doctor about it, and she determined that I might be stressed, but I before I talked to her, I documented it in my journal and my feelings on what would happen if I had the disease.  Years later, around 2013, I was sent to a kidney doctor by mine because the lab results showed that I had protein in my urine.  Another time to journal it. Then when he said one of the possibilities was Lupus, I freaked out, and again, I journaled it.  The test turned out to be negative, but each time I put it in my general journal.  No need for a special journal for it.    

Bible Journaling

The latest trend in journaling is bible journaling, or what I would like to call, “what your faith speaks to you about”.  This is a “find yourself” type journal.  This is inspirational passages, scriptures, and things you see God in.  I am covering the Christian version of this type of journaling, but I see any religious or spiritual person using this technique to get into the Koran, Torah, or any book you are studying at this time.  My suggestion is not to journal when you find yourself in a bad situation then write about it.  Do it when you are filled with joy and happiness.  Yesterday, in a group discussion after church, I told my group that I do journal when I am down, and I am not sure what to do. 

To me, journaling and when adding scripture to that journal, it helps you see things clearer, and it strengthens your faith as well.  You know what to do next because you found it through scripture.  Also, do not be afraid to mark up your bible.  Add notes to it so if you find yourself in the situation again, you know where to go, and how you got out of it.  It is the devotional you need in good times and bad.

Business Journaling

This is a specific type of journaling for your business.  It takes special care to do this type of journaling because you are documenting everything you do for your business.  If you are not planning to start a business, I would suggest that you have one for your job, or document anything that you have learned so you can get another job. 

What goes in this journal is your research for your type of industry, the start-up costs, the skills you need, the name of your business, a copy of your vendor’s license from the state and any other government documentation, such as your tax number to name a few.   You may want to put in your journal whenever you hire someone or do business with someone.   This also where you can put your ideas about a new product, service, or concept. 

My business journal is for the event that I start to hire employees and so I do not forget how I made a product. I am in the stationery design business, and my journal is one big folder on my computer on a cloud.  One day, when I have ½ of it finished, I will switch to a three-ringed binder.  For now, I am confident that my system will not go down.

Conclusion:

I know this section is long, and I have not even touched the surface of the plethora of journals a person can start.  Some are more like a list of things (bullet journaling which I have not touched on), while others are documenting lives, events, and projects, such as the examples I gave above. The constant theme I keep stressing is there is no wrong or right way of journaling.  This post if to give you ideas on what can you touch on without the journaling police coming after you.  Well, guess what, there is no journaling police to give you a written citation on the type of journal you can have.  I even heard of angry journals, where a person can journal about anything they are angry about.  I personally do not recommend it, but again, it is your journal, and if that is what you want to write about it, go ahead, but everyone needs a little happiness in their life.

If you have any questions at this point in the series, let me know by emailing me at plogan721@att.net, you can also make suggestions on what you want me to cover further. 

Next on our road to journaling:

I will cover the written journal in depth.  This is where you have to deal with your handwriting and love it or hate it, it is your handwriting.    I will also cover the types of notebooks to use, different sizes depending on what you are journaling, and even the type of pen you use makes a difference.  Until then, God bless you.

Motivational Monday Goal Setting 2018

Let me ask you a couple questions:  Are there any things or quests that you want to do in your lifetime?  Do you have a bucket list?  If this is you, stay tuned as I try to answer these questions personally.

I have visited this topic several times between two blogs, this one, and Simply Organized Crafts, which merged with Tricia’s Baskets to form a new blog called At Home with Tricia's Baskets.  One particular system that has to do with goal setting is called SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-based).  I wish I had transferred it from Simply Organized Crafts before taking the blog down last year.  It really had some good, valuable tips on how to manage your goals.

Before I dive into how to set your goals the easy way, which incorporates some of the tools from SMART, only in condensed form, I would love to give you my goals for the rest of the year.  We have 78 more days to make this the best year and to complete goals.  It is around this time when I start reflecting on my goals for 2018 and start planning for 2019.  I make three lists; one is for personal, one for financial, and one for business.  The financial goals are split between personal and business, which is another way to say this is my budget. I have failed my budget for every year including 2018, but the goal is to make and keep a 2019 personal and business budget.  I will go in depth with my budget goals on my At Home with Tricia's Baskets blog.

Personal goals

I am going to confess a little bit, I have not been very kind to myself lately.  This is entirely my fault.  I have let situations, people, and other things consume my well-being. Most of us do that.  It comes with the nature of the things around us.  As humans, we want what is best for others, but never ourselves.  We are supposed to, but we also cannot be our best selves if we do not take care of ourselves.  I do not get enough sleep, especially lately, and it comes with health issues of both my parents, who have entered the elderly stage in their life.  I also did not expect my nephew to still be living here, and sometimes it has come with some tense moments that have recently worked itself out. Also, there is a pet involved.  Do not read this into my complaints, but when you are used to your house being a certain way, and your life up to a point being a certain way, then you have to learn how to adjust accordingly, and the last 5 weeks, I have not adjusted as well as I should.

For that reason, I have one personal goal, take care of myself, while taking care of others.  Call it a timeout session.  Last week, I found a new place and a new relaxation technique, called floating.  It is supposed to be meditative, which I plan on using it for.  You get in a pod filled with water, which contains enough sodium to allow you to float.  Before I hear the naysayers, yes it is supposed to be therapeutic, you can clear your mind, and s a Christian, yes, I will be praying for guidance, and most of all, relax.  Some of you are asking, “why can’t you buy salt, put it in your bathtub, and float that way.  Two things; (1) the distraction of the things and people in the house and (2) we only have one tub, and if someone needs to use it, I may not have the time to float like they are instructing me too.  Besides that, I am not a swimmer, and there are people there who can help me.  I can close the lid if I want to, and the music is a nice touch.  The woman who I talked to last week was very helpful with my questions. 

Part of taking care of myself means also taking care of my finances.  It means also to say “no” which I have a hard time doing.  This is what I am focusing on for the rest of 2018.  

Business goals

Business goals are a lot harder.  Why?  Because you are taking care of something that is part of you, but it is a separate part of you.  I have not been kind to it either.  There are three parts of a business; (1) physical product or service (2) Finances, including taxes and (3) Customer service.  Let’s just say I have been neglectful in parts of all three.

Some goals I have are:

• Learn all I can.  This means any free or low-cost classes I can take to enhance the products and services, and financial service programs and resources that my business can take part in.
• Apply all I can.  Once I learn of these techniques, implement these services that have been detailed towards my business.  Provide the products in a new way that can best serve the customer.  Also, offer the best customer service to the customer so they will return to my business.  I do not want a revolving door business.
• Teach all I can.  This is in the form of classes, not only in my blogs, but I want to do some local classes too.  I can also educate the customer while servicing them.  I can also teach in my blog posts like I am doing now.

These are some of my goals for 2019 as well.  So, the goals I gave you as an example, which are also true to me, can be on-going as well.

Can I change goals?

Why of course you can, especially if you find that they are not working.  These are not plans.  Plans are different, from a Christian point of view, are changeable because I believe that God has a sense of humor, and God also laughs.  From that stance, he laughs every time you make plans, especially plans that are supposed to change your life, forever.

Goals can be broken

Do not be disappointed if you do not make your short-term goals.  Accomplish what you can of your long-term goals as well.  For instance, if you have a goal of a well-functioning craft room.  You have worked out all the details, except buying and getting rid of major pieces (i.e. furniture) and choosing the paint color.  You know where you are going to put items, You have a deadline, and everything is set to go.  All of a sudden, life gets in the way and your money has to go for other things, such as bills, and other expenses are more important than your craft room.  Do what you can to the room, and when it comes to buying everything, take the time to do it then.  This is what has happened to me.  Another thing in the goal setting plans was to take a trip with all family members to Walt Disney World. This goal was set to take place in 2010, and 8 years later, we have not gone.  I have taken a cruise with Carnival Cruise Lines since that time. I have learned to pick up both goals at a later time as well as being a first-time homeowner and being a mom to a daughter I have not giving birth to (adoption).

In these cases, never make anything big a short-term goal (less than 5 years).  Make them long-term goals (complete in 5 years or more).

Nuggets of information:

I love the SMART system for goal setting.  Remember to be specific about your goals.  Make them meaningful. Make sure you can attain this goal and realistic.  Finally, track your goals to see how you are coming along. Use a notebook to keep track of time. Do not get upset if you have not completed the goal but celebrate what you have done.  A tip I have is when you have complete part of the goal, turn the rest into a new goal or re-work the goal into smaller chunks.  There is a saying:  How do you eat an elephant?  One bit at a time.  Reward yourself when the whole task is completed.  Let others know about the goal and accept help when needed. 

I have one more goal that I want to mention that is personal and one that is business:  The personal one is to be more intentional with God and my faith.  The business one is to be consistent with my blogs and social media.  More on those goals in the new year, but I thought I would mention them now.

Have a blessed day, and God Bless you.

Facebook, day 1: How to conduct Yourself

(c) 2018 Facebook.com

I love doing a type of posting called Serial Posting.  Serial posting is writing a series of posts covering the same subject for a short period.  Serial posting gives the reader little bits of information that may not get covered in a normal blog.  The writer may want to introduce the new subject as a way of telling

the reader that the blog may be changing sometime shortly.  My backstory of starting serial posting is (1) I have so much to say on a regular blog post, until it has to become a serial, or you will miss all of my cute little nuggets of information on the subject.  (2) I do not want to spend a lot of time doing them because there are tons of information that you can find on the interwebs (Internet) until you can literally spend a whole month researching, just my take on the subject, and (3) You have a one-stop introduction to a series.  I started doing some serial posting about two years ago, I did an overall series on organizing your closet on my now closed Simply Organized Crafts (which is now a Facebook-only page).  The first serial posting on this blog was an intense look into social media and the basic principles on how to get started.  I had the basic points of the series, and if you want to know more about the series, I will post some links below.  The other back story is for the video series I finished in August, it is aimed towards those people who already have an account, already sharing content, but not quite sure on what is the next step, or how to maximize their time and money with social media.

I started to turn this into a serial posting for a week, and I was going through my thought process, I decided to turn this into a Friday weekly post.  So, just like the journaling weekly series on Wednesdays, you will get an introduction to each social media platform, then when that part is over, I will have some weekly tips each Friday (hopefully) on the subject. 

For this round, I will focus on Facebook.  Humm, what to do on Facebook?  Well, you can post events, respond to other people’s posts, play games, post, including pictures, conduct business, and congratulate people. Even create or join a group.  That is about the size of it.  I will hit on each one of these topics as we go along.

What you cannot do (my opinion) is to curse (people do), belittle people (It happens), Spam (a big no-no for me and Facebook), and my personal favorite, trolling and threaten people.  Today’s topic will may hit someone in the gut, including mine.

Why go there?

Back in August, I found out on messenger, while looking at a friend’s message, that I was unsubbed from a blogging group without warning.  Maybe, it was I had not contacted anyone through Messenger that I was still part of the group.   I had so many things to do that week, such as find out when the funeral of a beloved church member and learning how to work the business end of P. Lynne Designs.  She had started group convos, which I could not keep up, as well as many other members, who were also booted from the group.  Was she being a little too snobbish?  Maybe, but my way of thinking was how in the heck am I supposed to do all the things that I am supposed to do for my business, not to mention, my family and friends when I am always answering group questions in messenger?  I started to write this nastygram about this group, and I stopped to think about what would happen if she read the message from my regular newsfeed, and told me to back the F---- off, I was not getting back in, and that was that?  I always have to keep my temper in check, and this is what I mean about trolls.  More about trolls in a minute.

Anyway, I erased what I was to say about this group, and I thought, “when I have the time, I can always ask to rejoin the group”.  Both tempers in check and she gets her way by removing the non-participates.  After all, it was her group, not mine.  I had one, and believe me, it is not easy to run one.

So, what is the proper way to deal with Facebook?

Simply answer:  be yourself, but not in such a way that if you have a nasty attitude, it comes off on your posts, your responses to your friend’s post and other things on Facebook.  You may share, and share often, but not in a way that lands you in Facebook Jail or having people unfriend you.  I might mumble and grumble while I am posting something that I may disagree with (not clicking the like button), but nicely put things, so that your friends see your POV (Point of View), and not come back with something nasty as well.   I will address this on Twitter, Instagram, and even LinkedIn.

So, now that we got of that out of the way, let’s talk about the elephant in the room, Trolls

I have talked about trolls until I am blue in the face, but it bears repeating:  If you disagree with something, do not like it and do not make a comment, in fact, just don’t.  Actually, I am now seeing more trolls on YouTube than any other social media platform. People are getting better about it, but I am still seeing some posts on Facebook, where people are posting (or reposting) cursing and basically belittling a post.  I usually exercise this basic rule:  If I do not like what is being said, delete it, shut the person up for 30 days (meaning you do not see their posts for a while), or unfriend them.  You do not have to explain, just get them off your newsfeed.  They do not have to unfriend you, and if they find out through a mutual friend, they do have the right to ask you (In-person) why?  Simply tell them.  Do not berate them, give a simple explanation.  If they explain that they are in a bad place in their life, tell them that you can be supportive outside of Facebook and that you are willing to listen.  At that time, you can simply explain to them your friend's situation, like why you unfriended them in the first place.  For me personally, I am a sensitive person and my father reads what I put on Facebook, and often questions my posts.  I am also friends with several former pastors.  Besides, you have to break away from Facebook (and any other media) because face to face contact is better anyway.

How would you like to play a game? (a quote from War Games (1983))

As a general rule, I do not play games until all of my work for the day is done.  Every once in a while, I may play one during the day, if I am waiting on something.  I do not allow people to invite me to a game, and I don’t invite my friends.  It is not important to play a game.  I also do not spend money on games.  If I run out of a move, need more virtual coins or points, the credit or debit card does not come out.  Why?  Because it is a waste of your money.  If you are on a budget (and most people should be raising their hand on this comment), or you need to pay for a bill, which is the last thing you need to run out of real money for because you need virtual money to build a building on SimCity BuildIt.  Not worth it.  Games are a time-waster as well.  So why do I play a game?  To blow off steam or to wind down.  I do not have any games promoting violence.  Why?  Because it can get into my psyche and make me think bad thoughts.  This is just me.  I do have to warn you, I do play a lot of eating games (Candy Crush, Cookie Jam Blast, or kitchen games where you have customers you need to feed and make money from).  Maybe this is the reason why I am always hungry, LOL.

Invites and Force Joins

Sometimes, when one of my friends has a new group, I do not mind receiving an invite.  It is to help out a friend or more importantly to support them.  I received two recently.  One from a close friend and a friend I barely know.  Both made me a member of their group.  As a general rule, I do not want to get an invite, and before I have a chance to look at your group, I am a member.  I decided to stay in both groups, but the one that I am not friends with in person, it was not supported for her, it was a support for all things business, and I was not very happy.  I may drop it at some point, especially since she is spamming my newsfeed all over the place.  Now, the other friend sort of did the same thing, but the difference is I know her in person, I know what her struggles have been through in the last few months with her health, and we talk a lot.  It makes a big difference to me.

Until we meet again….

So, with that being said, please do not force a person to join your group.  Yes, after you send the invite, it might sound good to that person to join, but let them join on their own.  I realize that I have 10 groups where the invite was sent, but I never joined. 

I will speak more on this and other topics while I am focusing on Facebook and other social media platforms.  In the meantime, I hope you have learned something a little more about Facebook in this post.   I will also cover Facebook Live, which for some reason morphed into Facebook Watch, sending messages through Messenger, and Facebook for Business, which is something I am learning myself since I recently joined it.  I will also touch on pages, personal and business, and spamming (the hacking and posting a post over and over again about a topic-trust me it is not pretty for neither one).  These are little nuggets of advice I want to give to you each Friday.

Next Friday, God bless you.

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.