Journals and Papers

Writing in a journal through illness is a great way to relieve stress and release the silent voice that screams to be heard, but wishes to scream in silence. Mostly, we don’t want to burden our family members with true feelings of the illness we are suffering, especially if the illness is terminal.

I recently lost an aunt to brain and lung cancer. She kept journals for most of her adult life. Several hardbound journals lined her bookshelves as her life experiences unfolded over the years as stories within these journals. When I heard about her illness, I thought that she might want to describe her feelings as she fought the cancer, so I sent her a “Her Life” journal. I thought as we prayed for a healthy outcome, she might like to write about her journey of the battle she was having with her health. When she was well she could look back over those pages, or place it on her bookshelf with all the others.

Sadly, with chemo treatments and radiation, she was only able to write a small bit before she had trouble seeing and writing. She did continue drawing and “doodling” (she laughed when she told me that) inside that journal. She lost the fight against cancer a few months after she received the journal. I hope that by jotting down a few things, my aunt was able to find some peace from the pain that engulfed her. Now her journals are being passed onto her children so they will come to know the strong woman behind the words.

You don’t have to be a writer to keep a journal; in fact journaling has a variety of benefits and advantages for everyone. Keeping a journal allows a person to track their thoughts and feelings and retains them for future reference. Everyone has said at some time “what was I thinking?” People who record their feelings in a journal can look back on their entries to better understand themselves.

Journaling is a proven stress reducer. Once you write something down it’s not as likely to bother you anymore. Keeping a personal journal is a great tool for goal setting. By writing down your goals you can actually see and better understand what’s important to you. Organization is also a benefit of journaling. Cataloguing what you want to accomplish each day is a great tool to help you get those things done.

Journals are also a wonderful gift for friends or family members.

Finding and applying for a new job can be challenging, especially when the economy is bad. But a new career can be the start of an innovative and fresh beginning. After finding several jobs to apply for it’s important to have a good resume and cover letter.

A resume is a short description of your past jobs, educational history and skills. Resumes allow employers to get a sense of your experience. Cover letters should accompany resumes and are addressed to a specific employer for a specific job.

To get started writing your resume it’s necessary to include the following:
• Name, address, phone number and email address.
• Work history (past jobs/positions/duties).
• Educational history.
• Awards and certificates.
• Special skills that might interest an employer.

When writing a cover letter make sure to include the following:
• Tailor your cover letter to the job/company you’re applying for.
• Highlight skills and experience that make you a great fit for the position.
• Keep it short, about three or four paragraphs are fine, but no longer than a page.
Before sending your cover letter and resume make sure your have it printed on high-quality resume paper. Resume paper is thicker than normal printing paper and comes in a variety of colors. Stick with creams, whites, and pale grays.

It seems every time a new season approaches, I feel the urge to open a new journal. Maybe that’s why I have so many. It is like a renewing of the inner spirit. New seasons bring about a sense of calm or excitement depending on the time of year.

As this nice fall we have been having at home turns into a chillier one, and Halloween comes with leaves blowing about and the darkness shortens the day, I feel a sense of slowing. The urge to nest and sit with my legs curled under a blanket with either a great book, or a new journal is quite appealing.

I’ve heard of a lot of authors who derive some of their best works from journal entries and ideas. I am a writer and I have a complete journal dedicated to ideas, comments, quotes, newspaper clippings, and articles that aid me when I am looking for material to write about.

Both my children’s books, Little Blue Penguin, and my recent release of McKenzie’s Frosty Surprise, started with ideas written into a simple notebook journal that I keep in my purse. With the story, Little Blue Penguin, we were out walking at a local park when my daughter, who was a toddler at the time, lost her new stuffed toy, a little blue penguin. I got to thinking that it could be a cute story, and didn’t want to loose the idea, so I wrote down a few ideas in the journal I had with me.

McKenzie’s Frosty Surprise came about when out for a daily walk. We live in the country and I was walking by one of our local wetland marshes. There was a nest of ducks and their ducklings. It was so cute to watch them playing and in and out of the marsh. I had my journal with me, so I found a rock to sit on some distance away and just started writing, keeping an eye on the feathered family as I did so. The ideas flowed from me as I felt I was in the groove. I am not sure if that I hadn’t been carrying a journal, whether the ideas might have disappeared before I was able to jot them down.

Handy journals come in so many sizes now; it’s easy to find one to store in a pocket, purse or back pack. You never know when a story idea or even the story itself might nudge you to do some writing.

Patricia L. Atchison is the author of 2 children’s books, Little Blue Penguin and McKenzie’s Frosty Surprise, available through Wood Lily Publishers and Wood Lily Books.

Ben Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States is known as a copious note taker.  He wrote journals throughout his life accumulating many volumes throughout the time when he was alive.  He said that a lot of his best ideas were writing in his journals and actually retrieved later when that concept would be connected with other concepts that learned later.
 
 At his death he had over a hundred journals that he filled.  Benjamin Franklin is arguably the most important figure of the American Revolutionary War because of his role in convincing France to take our side and provide more troops for our forces to use in the war.

The ancient art of journal writing has come back into vogue this last decade.  People are reconnecting with this pastime in a big way.  And with good reason too.  In our fast paced world, it is hard to keep things straight.

 Journal Writing has affect of a meditation.  It keeps us focused and organized.  It gives us that time to reflect and think about our lives in a direct way.  Personal journal writing is an affective way to concentrate on what is going on with our lives.

It’s not an uncommon fact that many teens keep a journal. When it’s difficult to talk about problems with a parent, sibling or councilor, turning to a writing journal is the next best thing. It may seem strange to get started if you’ve never written in a journal before, but it’s so easy to do.

You don’t need anything fancy, use a simple scribbler, or if you want to keep a small notebook in your purse or backpack, that’s a great idea too. Small notebooks are discreet and if you feel a little foolish bringing out a huge scribbler (someone might think you are doing homework – Yuk), then that’s your best bet.

Not sure what to write about? No worries. Try something which is called freefall writing. But first, never start writing on the first page of your new journal. It’s way too intimidating. Not to mention if you catch someone taking a quick peek at your journal, they usually begin on the first page. Writing a few pages in gives you a chance to catch the culprit and grab the journal before they get too in-depth into it.

Back to free fall writing. This is a method of writing where you let the pen go as fast as your wrist can keep up to jot down whatever your mind is telling you. You’ll be writing using the right side of your brain, which is the creative, intuitive side, or the heart part of your brain. That ‘romantic, don’t care how messy I am’ side of yourself. For once, forget about grammar, punctuation and form. Just write like crazy – don’t censor your thoughts, don’t prompt your brain for new ideas, and don’t even worry if what you are writing is good or not. Just write. Write from your heart.

Are you worried nothing will come? Don’t worry, it will. If it isn’t, then quit censoring yourself. Just let it be and let go. Keep a journal when talking won’t help. Once your thoughts are off your chest, you might feel a little drained, but you will also feel lighter somehow.

Go for it and let us know how it works for you, by replying to this post.

Writing a personal history is a daunting task for many of us. Where do I start? What things should I include? What’s so interesting about my life anyway?

Your personal history, however, is a very important part of your family history, and no one will be able to tell your story better than you. You can start off small, by keeping a personal journal. Or, you can capture your entire personal history by working through the questions in this great tutorial for writing your personal family history from arduous research. If you really can’t face writing about yourself, then a family newsletter may offer an interesting alternative. It’s a fun way to capture some of your family’s personal history for future generations.

What comes to mind when you think of a writing journal? Do you see a hardbound book? A password protected file saved on your computer’s desktop? A sketch pad? A three-ring binder with pages that can be moved around? The fact is, there are as many types of journals as there are people who write in them.

Despite the variety, all journals fill one important need – they serve as safe harbors where one can write without censorship, exploring new ideas, trying out different personalities, and clarifying values. To begin a journal, or continue one, is to embark on an inward voyage that has outward implications. Great writing is not required, only a desire to discover who you are at your core.