Friday, January 8, 2010

Journaling: Getting Started

When I was in eight grade, my teacher Mrs. Smith would hand us a folder and a piece of composition paper for the first ten minutes of my english class every morning.  At first, I'd sit at my desk and stare at a blank page.  I'd look over my shoulder and see my classmates either slumped and staring too, or those who were scribbling away at their pages.

Eventually, I began to write on those blank pages, maybe it was about last night's basketball game, or just a few sentences on how bored I was.  Then one day, I started writing a story, and for ten minutes every day, I'd continue the story.  Sometimes I'd draw a picture and illustarte what I was writing. 

I knew the only person who was reading my journal was Mrs. Smith.  As long as I had something on the page she gave me a grade.

I began looking forward to those ten minutes a day, and when eight grade english was over, I started journaling and writing in my notebooks.  Those stories eventually got passed around to my classmates who were amused about the futuristic scences I'd put them in and couldn't wait to find out what happened next.

Yet, none of those stories would have ever began without that first intial blank page from english class.

It's getting past that first initial blank page that enables us to start our journals.  So, if it helps, open up your journal and rip out that first page.  Yep, rip it out.

This does two things: One the journal isn't new anymore because you've ripped out the page, and second it's not as intimatidating now because the first page is gone.

A journal is anything you want it to be.  It's your creation, reference, and sometimes best friend.  It's a book reflecting you in a period of your life. 

So what are you waiting for, push past page one and get started!

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