Can you answer yes to any of these questions? Funny, I can say “YES” to all of them!
Not a personal blogger?
Are you grammatically incompetent?
Have little time?
Do you hate scrapbooking or find it overwhelming?
Do your photographs stay in your computer?
We are in the digital age of sharing, blog-bragging and posting information about ourselves on the web. I believe it is always easier to journal information when you envision someone reading your entries.I have to be honest; I am not an personal blogger. I find it difficult to post anything personal on the web about myself. My sister is a fantastic blogger and I enjoy reading her posts, I still can not bring myself to it. That being said, I find social networking on the internet, a vital form of marketing, so I keep a blog.
What about my personal thoughts and life happenings?
I am more of a personal, paper-writing, journal-keeping, kind of gal. Something about paper and an inky pen feels more tangible. When I was 14 years old, I might have been mortified if someone would have looked through my journal and read it. Now days, I keep my journal personal, yet open for readership. I keep in mind that my great-grandchildren might be perusing though my thoughts one day.
Here are some ideas I practice, that have helped me work past the hurdles:
SIDE NOTE: Please feel free to throw out the ideas that you don’t like. I understand everyone has thier own style. Perhaps there is something in this list that might help you out.
Details, details, but not every detail. Write the details important to you. Focus on the basic details about the people you love the most. You will not regret it.
I don’t have a lot of time. I do not update my journal every time I have not written for some time. If I feel passionate about catching up, I leave myself a few pages to accomplish this, but do not finish all at once. I sometimes continue writing about the present and take a moment or two to catch up here and there with my blank pages I left.
I take my journal with me to church or places I will be sitting and listening. I write small quotations from the speaker, make references to scripture and then write my thoughts or experiences about these particular ideas.
I keep sticky pads at my desk to write down thoughts or quotes to put in my journal and eventually write in my journal.
Grammar is my weakness. It always has been. I do not let this stop me. I write regardless, and I hope my readers will understand. The funny thing about writing on a regular basis, you get better with practice. I heard someone say once, “If life was easy, then it wouldn’t be hard.” I have found pleasure in looking back and seeing my progress through the years.
There are times I write down my prayers. It helps me stay focused on the prayer and I tend to write things down that are very dear to my heart.
I write one liners. Funny things my son said, funny things my husband said, etc.
I write my personal research or brain storm sessions. Later it gives me the opportunity to expound or explain what I was doing.
I write down my dreams, sometimes, even the strange ones (sometimes).
Print copies of emails or letters and paste them in your journal (even form letters).
Dedicate your journal; to a child, an unborn baby, someone you care deeply for or for your posterity (it is easier to write to someone). I took small excerpts from a journal I dedicated to my unborn and then newborn son. I put these quotes in his baby book.
Write down creative ideas. There are times I have a business idea or an idea for an art project. I write it down to reference later.
I do not ramp-and-rave in my record journals (any more). I keep a separate complain book, or “free journal” for my emotional days (if I am feeling negative). This is something I do to vent in a very healthy way. It helps me organize my thoughts and come back to cognitive, objective thinking. Then, if I feel the need, I have no problem burning the pages that were only there for me to let out some steam.
AMENDING: That being said, I have some very emotional journals from my earlier years that have some unsettling ideas. I wish I could say that I was more of a level headed teenager, but I was not. I DO NOT DESTROY THESE ENTRIES. I amend my journals. Let me repeat, I do not erase older, original entries. I simply write a new journal entry that refers to that “old entry.” I talk about what I learned from that time, I sometimes apologize for my behavior, or I talk about the things I have learned since.
Buy a nice pen and use it to scribble out mistakes and start again. YOUR JOURNAL IS NOT A FINAL DRAFT. Hire a technical writer for that.
Buy a nice journal to write in. I have found the 8 ½ x 11 books are good for me (I do not enjoy writing at the bottom of the book and the longer it takes to get to the bottom, the better). I also find a book that bends easily at the spine of the book. I like lined paper for a cleaner look.
There is nothing wrong with a digital journal. Make a habit of printing it out on a regular basis.
The more you force yourself to write, the more it becomes a habit.
You’re not a scrap-booker? Neither am I. I have tried. I have friends who are beautiful scrap-bookers, I think of them as mixed-media artists. I just don’t do it. I have found that I can make a digital coffee table book easier than I can make a scrap book. Blurb is my preferred way of going, but there are many options out there. Heritage Makers, Costco, Iphoto and the list goes on. I tend to make a yearly book for the family where I put small notes and dates on the pages of when I took the photos. I get the dates from the properties of the jpgs I take (right click on your jpg). Here is a link to one of my books on Blurb.
My images tend to stay in the computer. I highly recommend an external hard to archive your images and DVD's for very important events. Again I say, print your images in books and bring them to life! Here is a little encouragment to a few of you insecure, picture takers who feel like your images hold no value because they are not “professional looking." Your personal book is for you, not a contest.
Please take time to write your ideas, thoughts and experiances down. Remember that your life has value, your experiences are not entirely your own, others will learn from you. Write them down, even if your entries are rough and unrefined.
I am going to take a step into the “personal blogging world" for a bit. My father died when I was five years old, (I was later adopted by a wonderful couple). I also had two brothers pass away 15 years ago. Anything these loved ones wrote down, I cherish.
Perhaps this is one reason I keep a journal semi/faithfully.
I heard a talk when I was about 21 years old, while in the Mission Training Center for the LDS Church. One of the things Sister Grant, (the MTC President's Wife) said “To be remembered; become famous, so you’re written about, or write about yourself to be remembered.”
I decided at the time, since fame wasn't apparent, I would have to write. But honestly, I would like people to know me from my perspective, even if I have a few hundred grammatical errors. Wouldn’t you?
