Exciting (and scary) News

I have been talking about potential new journaling venture here for a while, and have asked for your feedback. Several of you have provided that valuable feedback, and I thank you for it.
Time for revelation. 

My new blog which will replace Journal Addict will be launching soon. You can sign up to make sure that you are the first to know about any important updates, and the launch. 
www.kaizenjournaling.com 

I am really excited about this. For years, I have thought about doing something more with my journaling. After this blog, and especially emails I received from people with questions or just feedback, I knew there was more I could do to offer my help. 

So as I said before, Journal Addict was about me. Kaizen Journaling is about you. I hope that I can provide content that will be add some value to my readers' life. I hope that together, we all grow because of our shared knowledge and shared community. I would love to see you over there. 

I haven't finalised what I will do with Journal Addict, but I think I will probably leave it as it is because there are so many wonderful guest posts, comments, and discussions on here. 

Don't forget to sign up for the launch announcement. 

Check out the cool launch page. www.kaizenjournaling.com 

Meet A Journal Keeper: Lynn Fisher

I start most of my days with writing. When I was young I made brief attempts at keeping a journal, starting here, and ending there. I always thought if I found just the right journal…or just the right pen, it would all gel and I would be writer. At the time I never thought of combining my love for art with my love of writing in one journal, (I wrote entirely in spiral notebooks) but once I did, and abandoned the idea of writing on straight lines, it all came alive for me. Journaling has become a habit, one journal at a time. Not journaling now, is just NOT possible; I feel incomplete, as if I went to work without combing my hair.

Our personal stories are worth recording. As a writer and an artist, I can find no better way to begin than just beginning…put pen to the paper and start, and once I read Natalie Goldberg’s, Writing Down the Bones, I felt completely validated. I write every thought that I have, completely emptying my brain, letting it flood down my arms, through my fingers and pen. If I journal before beginning another writing task, I find that I have an easier time getting down the information. It’s as if I moved a giant road block that stands between me and the blank page.

I’ve used my journal to not only record my day, but to work on a novel, write poetry, or work out some issues with an article I’m writing…sometimes to write the entire article.

My journal is my cheerleader, my Mom, and the tiny, and the otherwise unnamed voices in my head. Also, I’ve developed a great fondness for “found poetry.” Found Poetry is poetry written with any group of words at hand; a single page from a magazine, or combination of two or three pages. I set my own “rules” and very often limit myself (for best results in the least amount of time) to a single ad, mixing up only the words found there, and gluing them down on a painted background, letting the words be what they want to be.

I have now amassed what most people would regard as a fire hazard of journals in a variety of sizes, shapes, handmade, or store bought. All reflect the joy and heartache of the examined life in a way that most precisely mirrors what and who I am as a person right now.



Lynn Fisher

http://onandoffthepage.blogspot.com

Be The Best You

I'm working on a new, super-exciting journaling project, and for that, I could really use your help. I'm trying to gauge what would my readers find most useful. If the below concept appeals to you and it's something that might be of use to you, I would really appreciate it if you could participate in a little questionnaire for me. Either over skype, or by email would be great. It should take no more than 20 minutes.

Thank you in advance, from the bottom of my heart!! And even if you don't want to participate, thank you for being my reader :-) I appreciate you being here.

If you would like to participate, please send me an email at journaladdict [at] hotmail [dot] co.uk

• It's about helping you to find the strength to be who you are, regardless of what the world (or your mom, or spouse, or children)want you to be.
• It's about learning to have the courage to live by your own rules, whether or not it conforms with what you "should" do.
• It's about being the best you can be, and changing your world one page at a time.
All through Journaling. Whether you keep a journal and want to optimise it, or if you have never kept a journal (or never managed to make it regular), as long as you have the longing to be you, this is for you.

Journal Writing Prompt 39 - Planning for Dreams

Dreams and Planning - they don't really go together, do they? Dreaming is such a spontaneous, no restrictions thing, and planning is all about order and boundaries. But they in fact go together perfectly. First you dream, and then you plan to make those dreams come true.

That's where your journal can help you. Record your dreams. Unabashedly. Freely. Be outrageous. Be true to yourself. Dream.

Then plan.

Decide. Brainstorm. How exactly are you going to make those dreams come true? Go...because the world is yours to take!