Responsive Writing
I know it's a little weird but I have about four different notebooks that could be called journals. It used to be one, then two. Now, I just keep them separate to categorize everything. It's a carefully honed system.
I started a journal in seventh grade at the ripe old age of thirteen when I had a crush on a boy and I wanted to write about him at camp. I would just kind of write through what happened in my days and then I wouldn't think about it anymore.
Through high school it was a lot of the same, but I started writing out some prayers also. But they seemed to sacred to put in there with my deep high school thoughts, so I started a separate notebook for those.
Then in college I wanted one to keep my sermon notes in and keep with my Bible. That one ended up also hosting thoughtful poems or verses that I liked.
Then there were three. I stopped writing in the diary-like one for quite a few years, but have slowly gotten back into the habit of doing it regularly as an exercise of sanity. But I needed another place to write the verses and things I'm studying and take notes on that.
So now there are four notebooks.
One that's a diary of my life and thoughts.
One that holds written prayers.
One for Bible notes
One for poetry, beautiful quotes and notes from things I read.
It's probably more complicated than it needs to be, but it's nice to have various notebooks to change it up sometimes. Also I can burn some of them and not lose the ones that I want to keep.
I was talking to a friend about how girly it sounds to keep a journal, and I told him that it's actually a great spiritual discipline. We decided it should be called "responsive writing" rather than journaling and then maybe it would come back en vogue. Who knows? What do you like to write down? Is writing a lost art for you? Do you think it should come back?
I started a journal in seventh grade at the ripe old age of thirteen when I had a crush on a boy and I wanted to write about him at camp. I would just kind of write through what happened in my days and then I wouldn't think about it anymore.
Through high school it was a lot of the same, but I started writing out some prayers also. But they seemed to sacred to put in there with my deep high school thoughts, so I started a separate notebook for those.
Then in college I wanted one to keep my sermon notes in and keep with my Bible. That one ended up also hosting thoughtful poems or verses that I liked.
Then there were three. I stopped writing in the diary-like one for quite a few years, but have slowly gotten back into the habit of doing it regularly as an exercise of sanity. But I needed another place to write the verses and things I'm studying and take notes on that.
So now there are four notebooks.
One that's a diary of my life and thoughts.
One that holds written prayers.
One for Bible notes
One for poetry, beautiful quotes and notes from things I read.
It's probably more complicated than it needs to be, but it's nice to have various notebooks to change it up sometimes. Also I can burn some of them and not lose the ones that I want to keep.
I was talking to a friend about how girly it sounds to keep a journal, and I told him that it's actually a great spiritual discipline. We decided it should be called "responsive writing" rather than journaling and then maybe it would come back en vogue. Who knows? What do you like to write down? Is writing a lost art for you? Do you think it should come back?
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