Letter

I did several pages for this prompt. A personal letter, as well as a copy of one of my favourite letters ever, from Persuasion. Then the pasted page is from that day's Metro's letter page, which had a topic I felt inclined to comment on, and so scribbled all over it.

Historical & Fictional People I want to Meet

On left page I did a WORDLE, and on right page, simply a long list of names.

FJC Day 28 - Knowledge

Today is the last day of February Journaling Challenge. Karin and I want to thank all of you who have participated with us, and joined us in this wonderful journaling experience. 

I hope you enjoyed it, and hopefully it enriched your life a little through your journals. 

So we close today with a very end appropriate prompt : KNOWLEDGE 

Happy Journaling

P.S. - If you would like to have these amazing prompts that Karin used to make our Prompt Images, please contact her HERE 

Journal Writing Prompt 1

Look around the room. Pick an object, any object that instantly appeals to you.
- Did you buy it or someone gave it to you?
- Do you remember what you felt when you first got it?
- How do you feel about it now?
- Is it something you would ever want to part with?
- Does your feelings or lack of them for this object tell you something about your current state of emotions, your life?
- Does it make you feel good in any way?
- Does it give you negative feelings?

It may seem like a trivial thing, but it is through parting the trivial that we reach deeper dimension of our selves. Try it, and see what it tells you.

Journaling to Unearth Your Memories - Prompt 3

Places We are very much a product of our environment. The place where you grew up, places you visited as a child, places you wished you could go, they all contribute to who you are today. Make a quick list of places you remember as a child. It could be anything: name of your hometown, favourite playground, a park, beach, school, friend's house - anything. Don't think too much. Write by instinct. Once you have this list, then go through each item, and again just by using your instinct do a quick brain storm. Write down words and phrases that immediately come to mind. Once those immediate associations and memories are written down, then you are ready to dig a bit deeper. Now go through each item carefully. Think about what kind of memories that place invokes in you? Happy? Sad? Angry? Frustrated? When were you at that place last? Would you like to visit it again? Do you get to see it as much as you would like? Would you rather not see it at all? Why? Do you miss that place? What do you miss about it? With each of the questions you answer, you should have a better understanding of the importance a particular place holds in your life.

Journaling to Unearth Your Memories - Prompt 2

The things we fear tell us far more about ourselves than we realize. Not all reasons are deep, but many have layers that we hardly ever peel. So today, think about fears. What did you fear as a child? Fear of the dark? A monster under your bed? Or perhaps you feared a grizzly uncle or even an older sibling or one of your parent? Make a list of all the things and/or people you remember being afraid of. Don’t think about it. Just make a quick list of anything that comes to mind, even if the fear was short lived. Keep going until you can’t think of nothing else. Once you have your list, go through each item one by one, and in detail first write what you remember. For example, you remember being afraid of your great aunt Nelly. When was this? Do you know why you were afraid? Did you do something wrong and were trying to hide it, or was it simply the way Nelly was that made you afraid? Or maybe she was drunk, and you were always afraid of her when she was drunk? Write all you remember about feeling that fear. Now try you think of it from an adult perspective. Do you realize now why you were so afraid? Is the reason quite different from what you remember as a child? What does it tell you? Does it tell you that you have changed, or is it simply your perspective that has changed? Now go through the list again, and again in as much detail as possible, write down if you conquered that particular fear, or is it still there? If you did conquer it, how did you do it? If those fears still exist, dig deeper. What exactly are you afraid of? Is there any way you can overcome them? Do you want to overcome them? This prompt could be used on ongoing basis. As you grow and change, so will yours fears. Good luck, facing them.

Journaling to Unearth Your Memories

Even though I seem to have very good memory, I don’t have a lot of vivid memories of my childhood. I have lots of pictures though, so often I get confused wondering if I remember something because I have seen it in a photo, or is it an actual memory. It’s most strange and often frustrating, and as much as I regret not keeping diaries as a child, there is nothing I can do about it now. So I am always on the lookout for ways to dig deeper into my memories. Photos are good, but if you have as vivid imagination as I do, it’s far too easy to make up your own memories. All a photo tells you is where you were, who you were with, and maybe what you were doing. It doesn’t really tell you what was going on at the time. It probably doesn’t tell you how you were feeling, or what you were thinking, so as much as I love photos, they are not completely reliable source of memories. But they can be tools, as can many other things – tools to be used while journaling to dig deeper into your memories. For the next few days, I will post a detailed prompt to help you on your way to uncover your past. I suggest you print them or write them down on an index card and keep them. Use these prompts, and then re-use them again after a few months, without looking at your old entries. It is often surprising how many different things you will learn from the same prompt. So get that journal ready, pick your favourite pen, and let’s start digging. Here is your first prompt: Photos as tools – pick a picture, any picture from your childhood. Either at random, or by looking through and taking one that appeals to you, or makes you wonder what was going on at the time. Place that photo in front of you where you can easily see it, and just start writing in your journal. Write what you see in it. Write what you remember. As you start doing that, more thoughts will come. Some random associations might also come flowing through your pen, but that’s okay. One memory often leads to another. Keep writing until you have said all that came into your head. This is an endless exercise, since you can use every photo you have, and you can also use them more than once to learn if you remember anything different the second or third time around.

Keeping a Journal

"When a person dies, a library is burned" - Edmund White

You just read the above quote. Now read it again out loud. Repeat is slowly, with your eyes closed. Do those words create a picture in your mind?

In my mind, they create an extraordinarily vivid picture. In my mind’s eye I see a face; I see human eyes, and as I gaze into them, I get a glimpse inside the mind. A mind full of memories, shelves and shelves stacked with archives of that person’s life; all the joys, sorrows, achievements, regrets - all chaotically piled. From the mind, my gaze slides further down to the heart and there I see more shelves. These shelves are full of love given and received, emotions expressed and stifled, words not spoken, wasted time on hate and anger. Then, even deeper, I get a glimpse of the soul. The rows and rows full of books are endless…there is so much here.

Everything this person has ever experienced in their life, every being they have ever encountered and all the things that have effected this person - it is all listed in this library. All the knowledge that if that person had a chance to sort through it, they would be closer to their true SELF then they could have ever thought possible. Even as I am looking, in the distance I see the flames. They are expanding, eating up the shelves at a steady but fast pace; parchments burn, shelves crumble and books fall in a heap on the floor before they too are consumed by the relentless fire. Within moments all that remains are charred crumbs of what used to be a human being with a unique place in the universe.

Each of us has a unique place in this universe. We may not be important enough to show up on TV or write about in Newspapers, but we are important nonetheless. We have our own purpose to find, our own destiny to fulfil. Journals are a way to record this journey - a unique perspective, a unique story that can only be told by the one person who is living it. A journal has a purpose as unique as the person who is keeping it. It can be a very private place to record all your thoughts and your views; something you may not want to be read by any but your own eyes. Or it can be a legacy you can leave to your descendants; something that may give them a glimpse of their own unique heritage. A journal could be anything you want it to be - a simple notebook, or a creative artistic project. The possibilities are endless.

A journal is not a diary. Christina Baldwin gave these definitions of journals and diaries in her book, “One to One: Self-Understanding through Journal Writing”: “…traditionally, diary connotes a more formal pattern of daily entries, serving primarily to record the writer’s activities, experiences and observations. A diary tends to be outwardly focused.”

“The Word journal is loosely defined as an intermittent record of the inner life, written consistently, but not necessarily on a daily basis. A journal often provides a place for writers to explore the more subterranean aspects of themselves; those things which are the hardest to share with others, and often the hardest to understand even in our own minds.”

My own journal is a combination of diary and a journal. I like to record events and things that happen in my life - outward focus - but I also like to delve deeper into my consciousness to seek the answers that lie hidden. Over the years, my journals have grown with me. I started off, recording daily happenings in monotonous way…then looking back at one of the old journals I thought it looked a bit boring. So I started researching techniques of journal writing, and was amazed to find vast amount of resources available on the Internet. Through my research and experimenting within my own journals, I have come to believe that a journal is a place for complete self-expression. Write, draw, doodle, paste photos….do whatever you want. A journal is your place - your world - seen from your own perspective. It can be as colourful or as grim as you deem it to be.

If you are unsure about how to start your own journal, here are some free resources to get you going:

• Finding yourself through autobiography
• Journal writing resources
• Famous Journal Keepers
• Journal writing articles, prompts, tips
• Powerful writing prompts, and more links to journaling articles
• Random Inspiration
• Journaling Prompts