Journaling

Journaling is a wonderful practice. I have been keeping journals for years. Some advocate getting up each morning and journaling daily pages. Others use journaling to record daily events, or reflect on the day. Other uses of journaling are to clarify one’s thinking or to process experiences. While some people keep a dream journal to record their dreams, I use journaling to record visions that I sometimes receive. An evening practice can be used to record gratitudes in a gratitude journal. When I journal, I usually start with a period of silent meditation, followed by a prayer of intention. This can lead to journal entries that come from somewhere beyond, with words that are not necessarily my own. Journaling is also a method for working on poetry or phrasing of words, trying to convey mystical experiences, and often with metaphors or images.

Recently, I have been going through my past journals, picking out the juicy parts, and posting them at Lola’s Online Journal. I’ve done this for a couple of reasons. The primary reason is that Viv Hawkins and I (see attached photo of Viv journaling near our camper van) have been traveling around the US and Canada. With my online journal, I can have all of the journal entries I want to retain at my fingertips, without lugging around the actual journals. The second, and perhaps more important reason, is that when I find myself doom scrolling too long, I can re-visit my journal entries. There I often find inspiration, comfort, or reminders that can help me navigate these challenging times. Finally, I have thoroughly enjoyed pairing my journal entries with photographs I took, or art work I made, combining various forms of expression in one place. What fun!