Journaling, Memoir Writing: the Private Art (1 Viewer)

[Krena]

Why this Thread: Many years ago, I taught a course on the art of autobiography, and it was fun, creative and healing for the students. I have too much to say about this, which acted to delay the start of this thread, but I wanted to open the topic now.

I just encountered the article below on a Facebook feed for writers. It was within an article that promoted journal writing for health. This is a good start, I thought.

https://www.fastcompany.com/3041487/body-week/8-tips-to-more-effective-journaling-for-health


What I Would Like to See: I invite you to please participate in this thread. Please help contribute ideas, resources, writing or samples of a journal entry if you want to make it public. However, I see this thread as a creative enabling exercise. If it inspires you at all, I will have accomplished my job.


Possible Topics: your experience of journaling (or what keeps you from doing this); photographs of your journals; books that promote the creativity of writing; writing prompts (topics that will inspire journal writing), and journal excerpts if you dare reveal something about yourself in a story or form that we will appreciate.


Kinds of Journals: There are diaries of dreams, art, synchronicities, wishes come true, special times in your life, journals of discovery, travel, your children, your love(s). The kinds of journals are only limited by your imagination.


My Experience: I have a box of journals. None of them have daily entries. Most pages are filled with something I thought memorable at the time. I have journals filled with movies I have seen, snippets of dialogue I want to use, character names I want to use in future projects, quotes, dreams and nightmares, incidents, lessons, rants, doodles, snapshots, images torn from magazines: in other words, I kept what moved me. I recorded what I didn't want to forget. Trust me. I would have forgotten.




...

Holiday Gift Suggestion for You: buy yourself a beautiful journal and writing instrument.

See what happens. Make it fun, not a chore. No rules.

 

[Stargazer]

Some of my most treasured keepsakes are books (usually metaphysics-related) that my paternal grandmother once owned. While they might not classify as memoirs per se, they're the only things I have left of her besides my memories. In her books, she often left personal notes in the margins, underlined important passages, and left dates (usually jotted down on the title page when she received the book). These gave me a great deal of insight into her thoughts as she read these books. I've been quite disappointed that she passed away many years before I embarked on my own quest for metaphysical knowledge...and I've been unable to sit down and talk with her about all the wonderful things I'm learning and experiencing. But, these wonderful, spontaneous markings of hers give me a wonderful way of feeling connected with her nonetheless.

I've left much more in the way of personal writings for my son and any other descendants who may someday be interested, and I hope that these mean as much to them one day as my grandma's books do to me. My blog began as a way of passing on my thoughts and discoveries, and I have a growing stack of notebooks that I typically make notes and personal observations in as I research or read. I also note occasional dreams or spiritually-oriented topics.

Finally, I have a couple of book ideas in mind that may one day be helpful in "connecting" future generations of my family with my life here in what will be their past. Once I retire, completing and/or publishing these will be one of my biggest and most anticipated projects.

I think it's very important for us to leave things of value for future generations--and documenting our lives and experiences is a wonderful way to do that!

 

[Vickie]

I started journaling my dreams recently and it's been very interesting. At first I could only remember a few details but as I've continued, and gotten into a routine, I've begun to remember much more. Sometimes I draw images from my dreams so the journal has become fun to look at and read my past entries. Some of my dreams are funny and some are prophetic.

It's become a fun routine for me. I wake up in the morning and keep my eyes closed while I think about my dream and all the details I can remember. Then I start a pot of strong coffee and while it's brewing I write down my waking dream.

My journal isn't fancy because I didn't think I would enjoy journaling when I bought it. I just wanted to give it a try. When this one is filled my next one will be much prettier. You can bet on that!

 

[KarlaSM]

I have been keeping a private journal in my computer since 2012. That year I began having some spiritual experiences, but also, I began using that diary to record lots of feelings and other daily experiences.

There is a component that I use in my diary for dowsing, using applied kinesiology sometimes I ask questions, although this part I have been using it less over time.

It has been of immense help during my healing journey and some day I want to read everything all over again, perhaps delete some stuff to cleanse and classify information, mostly dreams and things that I see in meditation.

The best part is that it is something completely private so I do not upload it and only I have access to it. At this point I already have 5 very long files with written experiences, thoughts and feelings.

From some of the things that I write down, then I am able to write them in other files that I can share online. Soon I will organize many things, including some of the posts in here into a new blog that can be useful to others.

This is a great idea Krena!! Thanks for sharing.