I’ve been sort of lying low on the internet for a while now. My blog posts have become much more random and infrequent, I rarely post on Twitter, and while I do keep up on Facebook most of the time, I don’t post nearly as often as I used to. I’m still reading though. I try to keep up with what my friends are doing. I check in on Twitter a few times a day (usually) and what I don’t catch there, I get on Facebook. My Google Reader, however, is overflowing with unread posts. I tend to read posts that are linked on Twitter and Facebook more often and this one about journaling really caught my attention.
You see, I have this slight obsession with paper products and pens and I really have a weakness for pretty leather-bound journals and notepads. Just before 2010 started, I purchased a pretty lime green covered journal and promised myself that I was going to use it. I also selected a pack of multi-colored pens that were to be used specifically in that journal. I made a total of one entry in that journal, which listed my one goal for 2010 – to complete the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. I never added anything else. The blank pages intimidated me. As with every other journal I’ve ever had, I didn’t want to mess up the perfection of the book before me.
After reading Karen’s post, however, I have a completely different outlook on what a journal can – or should – be. It doesn’t have to be elaborate or deeply introspective. It can simply be a list of to-do’s or what you did that day, a favorite photo or quote that you came across, a picture drawn by a child. The everyday things that make life what it is are probably much more worth remembering in years to come than a perfectly thought out rant about the state of the world today. And really? The messier the better. Why not scribble that design that has been playing around up in my head? Why not write down that funny comment that my daughter made last night?
I couldn’t wait to get home, pull out that pretty, practically brand new, green-covered journal and start writing. I took it to bed with me last night and, before I turned out the lights, started writing. My first entry was a list of accomplishments for 2010. I had two pages filled in no time. Next, I wrote a list of things I would like to do in 2011 – not goals or resolutions, but just things I would like to do. By the time I stopped, I had filled four pages of that perfect little book.
And the best part? I went to bed feeling peaceful, instead of lying awake with a million thoughts swirling through my head. I slept well, and woke up feeling refreshed this morning instead of tossing and turning all night. Maybe it was a fluke, but if a few minutes of writing is all I need to do to get a good night’s sleep, I’d say it is well worth it. Who knows, maybe it will help me get back to blogging on a regular basis. I already have a couple of post ideas from things I scribbled out last night.
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