Journaling - A Mirror for the Soul

The practice of journaling can be a spiritual one.

“A journal is a tool for self-discovery, an aid to concentration, a mirror for the soul, a place to generate and capture ideas, a safety valve for the emotions, a training ground for the writer, and a good friend and confident.”

Ron Klug

While you might use journaling for any number of purposes, some people keep a separate journal for each different purpose, and some use one journal with different sections in which they write about specific things. They have a section for personal reflection, another for ideas related to their work, another may consist of a collection of special words and phrases they come across and might later want to use in their writing.

Among other things, my journal contains quotes from a number of books I have read that, at the time, I thought were particularly worth noting or remembering for their own sake, but also for possible use in some later writing or editing project.

Similarly, when I’m editing someone else’s writing and something occurs to me that might be useful in some other project, it goes into my journal.

If you want to keep a journal with the notion of one day turning it’s contents into a book, that’s a very specific purpose and you might want to develop some general guidelines for yourself. For example, if you have at least a loose outline of a planned book, you might categorize sections in your “book journal” accordingly and write down pertinent thoughts, quotes from other sources, or just ideas.

Chronicling every day’s activities is diary keeping, not journal writing. Yet, writing in your journal on a regular basis is a good idea. The process should, however, not be so structured and scheduled that the commitment creates pressure. Journal writing is more like free writing than record keeping.

I like to keep my journal with me always and enjoy the process of writing in quaint little cafes and out-of-the-way, tranquil spots in parks, shopping malls, or wherever I am when the mood strikes me (except while driving). Whether I have five minutes or five hours, I indulge myself.

At the end of the day, avoid a lot of rules around your journal writing. The only guidelines you really need to heed should be to do with your personal reasons for keeping a journal(s) in the first place, then get started. Grab your journal and:

• Reflect on events and ideas you’ve recently had and explore your feelings about them.
• Clear your mind through writing and, while doing so, deepen your understanding of yourself.
• Heal yourself.
• Search for spiritual or religious clarity in your life.
• Have a conversation with God.
• Indulge in a little poetry or creative writing about life whenever the notion strikes you.
• Look at the events of your life differently and possibly improve the way you react to them.
• Let your journal writing be your writing practice.

For more on writing:

Skills
Grammar
Journaling can lead to memoirs
Spelling
Ghost writers
Time to consult an editor?