Journaling

weighted

I suppose arts and writings is the place for this, but it could also be considered a habit.

In several threads recently, I've seen several people mention keeping journals.

Do you keep a journal?
What do you record in it?
Is it related to your practice or is it just a catalog of daily activities?

Do you have a set time each time, similar to meditating, when you write in your journal?
Or do you only write when inspiration strikes?

I used to journal daily: sometimes recording what I did, but mostly my emotional state of mind (often with bad poetry!). I think that perhaps beginning to journal again would help me now, so I'd like to ask the wise people here at NB what journaling does for them, how they journal, what they write about, and why they continue to do it.

:om:

AMH

I used to be much better, mostly when I didn't work full time. I really like The Artists Way process. It is freehand 3 pages just anything that comes to your head. It clears out the cobwebs for other writing. Sometimes I would get a nugget of a character and/or a story and I saved those, pretty much threw the rest away.

I think that regular time/place works best. You can jot notes but the discipline is good. Plus writerly stuff seems to like order on the outside to express creative on the inside.

I have been trying to get my baby computer to work because I have a writing peice I wanted to post, guess I will check my old emails next.

Lady_Alison

Good thread, darling. I do keep a journal but only use it when I am trying to figure out some problem I'm having, bad poetry as well, some inspiration...although I will read you a current entry :

Lady Alison is a character I'm working on, she is everything I am not. Powerful, intelligent, beautiful, reckless...

Eggs, milk, butter, Kitty litter.

(Sigh)

AMH

I always want to make my characters have much better hair than I have, the most current one is turning out to have nothing compelling about her hair.

Lady_Alison

My to do list ends up there too.

Oh, I also burn them after I fill one. It's like saying goodbye to a stranger because you are no longer the same and are constantly changing.

No past.

Lady_Alison

You should pick it up op. I bet since you are at a difficult point in your life, it will probably resurect the muses...and help you. I think suffering does that to artistic people. I think the artist soul is a bit somber.

AMH

Really really check out The Artists Way, I recommend it all the time and people don't listen (yeah poor me)

So here is my argument, you can read all these self help books and they will give you lovely exercises on building self esteem or getting over loss or whatever. Now TAW will do similar exercises but the process is to open your creativity in whatever mode you express it. So not only is it more fun than dredging up pain but you also have the chance to have a poem or painting or musical piece by the end.

Lady_Alison

What about the artist way at work by Julia Cameron. I need to return books at library, it looks like that's the only one they have available

AMH

Yes Julia Cameron is the right one. She has a few books, any one of them are good and will teach you the process. If you like it great, if you don't then leave it.

ThailandTom

When I first enetered this kingdom around 2 years ago, from the very first day I started a journal. I soon realized that I was writing in such detail that it would be near impossible to keep such a journal and after around 10 days or so I aborted. I had to actually try and keep up, writing about what I did 3 days ago and trying to remember things I had done inbetween. Each day was at least a thousand words in length and I could manage to write things in a more simple manner.