The attached article about Personal Journaling was written in 2007 while I was working towards an Associates Degree as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). Course requirements dictated an English Composition class and the classes I had taken in college in the eighties were not sufficient to make the requirement. I didn’t mind, the instructor was a friend of mine and it was fun to participate in the class with all the younger students.
PERSONAL JOURNALING: A Beginners Guide
The soft light of mid morning sun shines into the study. A large oak desk and chair sit just beyond the windows. Under the windows sits a matching oak credenza. A thirty-something young man is sitting in the chair. His left hand is resting on the open book lying on the desk in front of him. His right hand is wiping tears from his face. A series of leather bound books are stacked neatly on the shelves inside the credenza. The spine of each book is numbered in gold. Jim Jones has just discovered a secret to one of his most pressing childhood questions. “What did Dad do while locked up in his study?” Jim Jones has found the written record of his late father’s life. A record none of his family knew he had kept. Jack Jones died six weeks ago.
Jack was a very private person. His life was that of an extremely busy man in his professional life. When he was home with his family, he found it easier to let them talk about what they had been doing and committing time to their needs. But, Jack loved to write and felt it important to leave a record of his life for his children and future generations. He put information in his journals about his family, his war-time experiences, along with his day to day experiences and his feelings about his wife and children. He made a complete story of his life for them to enjoy once he was no longer there to talk with them. His family was very humbled and grateful to have those journals. The books showed them how their father felt about them and let them see a side of him they hadn’t known.
What is journaling? Webster defines a journal as “a daily record of happenings, a diary, newspaper, a record of transactions of a legislative, committee, club, etc.; a ship’s logbook, a daily paper, etc.” Webster defines a diary as “a written record, especially of the writer’s own experiences, thoughts, etc.; a book in which such a record is kept; a daily calendar or memorandum pad. Journaling is the act of keeping a daily record.” A journalist is the writer of a journal, or diary. Now we know what a journal is, let’s discuss some of the activities that make up journaling. For the purpose of this discussion we will be talking specifically about personal journaling as opposed to the professional forms of journal keeping.
Personal Journaling is a completely subjective process. (From this point forward the expression journaling will imply Personal Journaling.) The methods used are as varying as the individual keeping the journal. What is important to one may not be important to another. Thus, the first step in journaling is determined by the purpose of the journal as visualized by the journalist.
Journaling is the act of keeping a journal. A journal or diary is a personal record of thoughts, feelings, activities, and events. For a personal journal to have meaning there must be a desire to keep it, a purpose for recording information, an intended audience and some basic tools to use.
The act of keeping a journal is an activity many people learn as children. A teacher in school, church, scouting, or parents and grandparents will encourage journaling at some point or another as part of a learning exercise. Some children take to journaling very well and it becomes a life-long passion. For others it is unimportant and mundane, finding no joy in it, they stop. Some will pick journaling up again in later life and find it rewarding. Yet, other people who have never kept a journal before will find journaling at other points in their lives. Typically, a major event will cause them to sit down to write about the experience. They will find their own meaning and purpose in the act, thus, giving them cause to continue. No matter how one comes to journaling, once rooted in one’s routine of life, it will go on until age and inability forces them to give it up. It is the individual’s desire to record what he or she thinks, feels, sees, or does that keeps them performing the act of journaling.
The decision to journal has a purpose based on the individual reason for keeping the record. The purpose is as individual as the desire that drives a person to keep the record. The primary purposes are to record feelings, thoughts, and events in ones life. Some consider notebooks of lists, phone number, and notes to themselves to be a form of journaling.
The purpose of a journal will give the keeper guidance to the audience he or she is directing their record. The audience is the person or persons to whom the recorded information is meant to be read. The record can be for anyone to read or for a specific individual or group. Knowing for whom the record is meant will help to direct the writing.
There are minimum requirements for the tools to be used. To begin one must have something to record the information on and something with which to record. Recording devices can be as simple as paper and pen or as elaborate as a computer with voice recognition software. Personal preferences will dictate the choice. Paper and pen is the most common choice. Pencil is not recommended due to the erasable nature of the medium, making it possible for anyone to edit the record. Ink is better for preserving the record as it is written. However, there are individuals who prefer to use modern electronic devices. The different devices available are too numerous to list, but include Personal Digital Assistants, computers, and cell phones.
When keeping a journal a few specific notations are necessary to lend credence to the record. From a personal perspective the following list of basic notations give an instant idea of what other events may have been affecting the writings. The first item to record on every page is the page number. Some blank books are available with the page numbers preprinted. When using a book that does not have page numbers, the individual must put them on the pages. The next items to write are the day, date, and time. These items tell the audience when it was written. Day and time are not required items; however, the inclusion of this information helps the reader to know these details. The reader won’t have to wonder what time of day or day of the week the entry was written. Another valuable piece of information is to record the place where you are writing the entry. The place is very useful when traveling.
Journal keeping is an activity one can participate in at home, at work, in the car, or in line at the grocery store. Any place or time one feels the need to make note of information is appropriate. Many people have specific times and places where they write while others do it whenever the mood or need strikes them. Some people have a journal they keep at home and carry another with them when they go out. An unlimited variety of notebooks and paper are available for either situation. What is chosen by each individual is completely up to ones own tastes, needs, and desires. Even the utensil used to record the entries is dependent on personal preferences. Some like ball-points, others gel pens, while still others prefer fountain pens. Bold, medium, fine, or extra-fine points are available in most styles of pens. What ever the writer is most comfortable writing with is the one he or she should use. Experimentation with tools one doesn’t typically use is encouraged. When, where and with what medium used is completely up to the writer.
Journaling is just like instructions for writing a paper in English class. The instructor gives the class minimum requirements to be on each page; after those requirements have been meet, the rest is up to the writer. The time, effort and energy to keep a record of ones life depends on the person. What one puts in the journal is whatever the writer wants to vent, story they want to tell, or details of the every day life. Suzanna on her website, Sing Like Me, writes: “Writing in a journal is like having a loving friend who is ready to listen whenever you want to share your thoughts. I have written in my journal in the grocery store check-out line and I've written in it at 3 a.m.”
Journaling can be a very rewarding experience for the individual as well as for those individuals who read it when the writer is no longer available or for those whom one allows to read what is written. World history is full of information gleaned from the journal writings of history’s scholars and people who considered themselves ordinary citizens of the world. Make a contribution to history starting today; begin a journal!
Starting off, my true favorites are Clairefontaine Basic Notebooks. I love the leatherette cardboard covers and am thrilled with the new colors. I started off using the black lined ones many years ago after a visit to Pendemonium in Fort Madison, Iowa. I count Sam and Frank as personal friends and they have enlightened me on many things over the years. Not the least of which is a wonderful line of French made paper.
Many of the Basic Notebooks one will find in stores or websites will be lined paper. Last year I made a trip to the campus art store at the University of Illinois and found the large brown covered one you see in this picture with blank paper. I bought four of them as I knew they were a rare commodity.
In my house there is always an assortment of Rhodia and Clairefontaine notebooks nearly anywhere you look. The dining room table, my desk, beside the bed, on the ottoman, stacked on the floor, or standing up in front of the bookshelves. Each and every one with a different use or subject. More of the spirals will start back to use very soon as I'm going to summer school this year to see if I can finally figure out how to do Algebra!
From the smallest No. 10 note pad to the giant No. 38 note pad there is always a need for paper in my life. Just can't beat the quality and consistency in these papers.
