Welcome to a new blog post series, which is actually a journal entry series.
Let me give you an introduction and explain the ins and outs:
Note: There are 2 parts to
this blog post and journal entry. The first is the unspiritual and the second
is the spiritual.
AN INTRODUCTION (A TEASER)
Good day. I hope you are well
and had a nice Thanksgiving (if you live in the US).
Are you a journal keeper or do
you want to become one?
Are you interested in
journaling?
Are you interested in reading
stories about people’s lives?
Do you want to learn more
about journaling and/or the life of being a journal keeper?
Do you want to keep a journal?
Are you already a journal
keeper and want to learn more about journaling or gain new inspiration for
journaling?
Do you want to learn how to
capture your life, or someone else’s on the page?
Do you want to be inspired to
live the best life today?
I am beginning a blog post
series right now called:
A NEW BLOG POST SERIES: A LOVE
OF JOURNALING: A MEMOIR
Hence, this series is about my
life as a journal keeper (that’s the memoir part). However, it’s more than
that. This blog post series is meant to address everything I just listed.
Expect to hear my daily
stories as a journal keeper, stories from my past as one, and I hope to teach
and inspire you to keep a journal of your own. After all, I do not believe that
apart from having a life of faith, there is nothing more important or valuable
to life as journaling.
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THIS SERIES
I will post a new journal
entry here on this blog every Monday and Wednesday at 11:59 p.m. MST for the
twice weekly editions.
Then, on Fridays at 5:00 p.m.
MST, I will post the weekend edition. It will be published at this time so you
can read it, think on it, and do the suggestions, exercises, questions, or
prompts over the weekend. The time gives you some time to ponder it for a few
hours before the weekend officially begins. It can be simmering in the
background until you have time to sit down with your journal.
The three weekly journal
entries posted will be my present stories, my past stories, journaling how-to,
journaling questions or prompts, and inspiration to help you live a better
quality of life through journal keeping.
The truth is the journal
entries will differ in length from day to day, week by week. Sometimes, it
might be short and sweet, other times, it might be the size of an old telephone
book. It depends on what moves me that week and what I feel compelled to share.
WHY READ THIS BLOG AND THIS BLOG POST SERIES?
I think I have answered this
question already.
WHO IS THE PERSON KEEPING THIS JOURNAL (THIS
BLOG)
My name is Stacy, and I am a
journal keeper of more than 40 years.
I am married to my best friend
(whom I call ‘B’) with children. Only, my kiddos are of the four-legged
variety. We have two cats and two aquatic turtles.
B and I are crazy about critters,
and we also have a bird feeder and feed four neighborhood feral cats (that we
know of at this point). I am very well trained by bossy blue jays and feed them
their peanuts when they demand me to do so. (That’s a story I will share
later.)
We live in Colorado, and I am
a third generation Colorado native. Moreover, my family came to the United
States back in 1607 through Jamestown, Virginia. I can also trace my family
tree to Joseph of Arimathea. Every war the US has had, we have had someone
fight, and every generation has had at least one of faith.
I love to read, and I haven’t
watched television since 2019. I enjoy coffee, tea, eating at mom-and-pop
restaurants, and going for a drive.
Also, I prefer the simple
things. I rarely wear makeup and my definition of dress up is a pair of jeans
that isn’t too faded.
It takes quite a bit to upset
me or rattle me. I take things in stride and tend to be patient. I don’t hold
grudges. I tell it like it is. I prefer the quiet and being alone, with the
exception being my husband and I can be with him all the time and be quite
content.
I journal mainly as a means to
be with my God. This is the main reason I journal.
It’s rare to see me without my
journal or a way for me to journal. In fact, even in my house, I carry my
journal with me everywhere I go. I also am known to journal in the middle of
the night and wake up extremely early so I can have some alone time to journal.
This is how much I value journaling.
AN INTERACTIVE SERIES
I welcome your questions and
personal journal stories. Ask me anything about journaling or make suggestions
on what you would like to hear more about regarding journaling. I would enjoy
getting to know the other journal keepers out there and would love for us to
chat about everything journaling.
Therefore, add a comment at
the end of any blog post at:
Or email me at: JournalKeeperSD@duck.com. If you
send me an email, please add to the subject line, “Attn. JKSD.” That description will help me make your email a priority.
UNSPIRITUAL VS. SPIRITUAL
Each of the journal entries
(blog posts) of this series will have two parts: The Unspiritual and the
Spiritual.
The unspiritual part will be
mostly mainstream and not talk too much about faith and I will try to keep
things vague if I do.
The spiritual part is Christian-based.
Therefore, if the spiritual
part is offensive to you, I ask that you do not stop following this blog. I
just ask you not to read the spiritual part. Ignore it. It’s really that
simple. This is the reason why it is the second part of the journal entries of
this series and is not the first.
THE MOST HELPFUL
JOURNALING LINKS:
Please read each of these.
They are the most important links to help you begin, and even continue, your
journaling.
~ https://www.journalkeepersd.com/2022/11/how-do-you-begin-to-journal-introduction.html
**** (This is the introduction to journaling.)
~ https://www.journalkeepersd.com/2020/08/10-minute-soc-journaling-stream-of.html
**** (This is by far the most important tool in the toolbox of journaling.)
~ https://www.journalkeepersd.com/2022/04/a-new-daily-journaling-template.html
**** (An idea of things to journal each day.)
JOURNAL PROMPTS OR
QUESTIONS: CREATING A BASELINE
Do you have a journal? If so,
that’s great. Use it as you read these journal entries. If not, figure out what
type of journaling you want to do: paper and pen or digital. Then, start to
journal.
Journal your thoughts on what
you have read.
Answer these questions in your
journal:
Do you want to journal? Why or
why not?
Do you journal? Why or why
not?
What type(s) of journaling do
you do?
How often do you journal?
When you journal, how long do
you journal?
Why do you journal?
What do you journal?
Do you do theme journaling
(for example, gratitude journaling, nature journaling, memory keeper
journaling, writing notebook, healing journaling, Bible journaling, prayer
journaling, pros-cons journaling, dream/goal journaling, planner journaling,
etc.)? Or do you do a combination of all the above?
What do you want to get from
your journaling?
Would you call yourself a
journal keeper or a dabbler? Explain.
How do you define being a
journal keeper?
Have you journaled for a
decade? More?
What do you imagine being in
your journal by the end of the year?
Next year?
5 years from now?
10 years from now?
20 years from now?
25 years from now?
30 years from now?
40 years from now?
50 years from now? (Etc.)
Journal your thoughts and
anything that comes to mind.
JOURNAL PROMPTS OR
QUESTIONS: THANKSGIVING 2022
How was your Thanksgiving?
Do a 10-minute SOC about your
Thanksgiving. (To learn how to do a SOC, go here: https://www.journalkeepersd.com/2020/08/10-minute-soc-journaling-stream-of.html).
List at least 3 memories from
Thanksgiving.
Take one of those memories and
write a SOC of it.
PART 2: THE SPIRITUAL
The main reason why I journal
is to be with God and spend time with Him. It’s how I pray and communicate most
with Him.
I journal to pray and think
through the Bible.
Journaling with God is my
focus.
In the future journaling
entries, I will share more about my faith and journaling.
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