pen to paper

In this electronic world, it's easy to see how the practice of sitting down to write, pen in hand, is fast becoming  a lost art.  But an art it still is.  In the paper arts community, however, we are encouraged to journal, artistically and/or practically.  And thank goodness for that.

I love that feeling...pen scratching across paper.  What is it about journaling that clears the mind and refreshes the spirit?  Plus that 'i have a diary!' sort of feeling, clandestine thoughts and ideas now on a riskier level because they have been transferred from mind to matter, to paper.  Is it not fun to add a little mystery and adventure to our lives?  To keep secrets and dreams if only with ourselves?

Well, I'm all for journaling, but you already know that about me.  And finishing up this batch of journal orders has my mind aflutter and lecturing me because I've neglected my journaling for longer than you'd expect I would.

So I will purpose to be more faithful to my random writing...who's with me?

Comments

[joyce]

Does an everyday journal count? One that has pretty much every little detail about my life in it. SO glad to have you back doing your posts -yummy and yummy I say.

[paige]

i regret that i didn't journal when my first husband was dx with cancer. but honestly i just couldn't, i couldn't rewrite the overwhelming sadness, i couldn't rewrite my thoughts-just living through them was hard enough. i wish i had though. i wish i could have had the presence of mind to write during that time. i have a few, very few pages i did attempt during that time. i have always found it much easier to journal when "all is well" vs the hard times....spiritually speaking i need to write out the hard days so i'm more likely to praise him not only on the other side but also during the storm.
on a p.s.---i am a much better journal keeper now a days....old age makes us much wiser doesn't it?
xo
ps-glad i'm one of the lucky few about to receive my rs journal!

[mommi]

Oh yes....i believe in your way-of-thinking.
journaling is so much important, it's so much part of scrapbooking.And...I really began to think so when I bought your book...two or three years ago.
You really were one of my preferred and inspiring scrappers, especially for your approach.
so, thanks for sharing your thoughts in your posts.
hugs, mommi from Italy

[Lynne]

For years I would start journals, go a few months writing in them, and then leave them by the wayside. So caught up in the notion that they had to be "perfect". That if I had a crummy day, or my handwriting was off, or I missed too many days in a row, that all of a sudden invalidated the entire journal. And I would stop. Then a couple of years ago, I did the best thing I could have ever done for myself. I got a basic kraft colored cardboard 3-ring binder at Target, filled it with notebook paper, and decided that it would be my journal. No pressure to be perfect. The ability to include printed out computer journaling, if that's what got me writing that day. The ability to easily include bits and pieces of things I think are interesting -- not necessarily things that would go in an art journal (although maybe), but just little trinkets that related to where I was at that particular day. Maybe a horoscope from the newspaper, or a book recommendation I'd read and didn't want to forget, or a quote or an affirmation that resonated with me... whatever.

And you know what? I've been more faithful about keeping up with that journal than I have ever been otherwise. I think that it's so simple that it completely takes away all the pressure. And I love that. Someday when I am old and grey, I think I will enjoy looking back on all of this - all of the little bits and pieces that were a part of my life. Things that were important or inspiring to me.

I am glad that I have gone this route... definitely freeing.

[carrie]

I am all about pen to paper. I am not very good at it on a daily basis but I feel so much better when I do it. I love the idea of someone years from now seeing my handwriting like i long to see my grandmothers and maybe cherishing it the way I do :)
Computers have nothing on the handwritten.

[caz]

I am journalling this year, two fold :) One is an A-Z art journal about me, and the other is an art journal that I hope to fill with all sorts of things.
My mum had loads of journals, just for her, and I had always hoped that one day I would be able to read them to get a better look into her life. Possibly even years after she had gone. Alas not too long ago she burnt them all :( Expecting house guests that were of the nosey kind, she decided to get rid of them, rather than lock them away.
It makes me sad that I will never know what insight those pages held.
Perhaps I will convince her to journal once again some day.

[The Parkers]

Been reading a few great books to/with my students this quarter-Freedom Writer's Diary: a life-changing (MUST read and/or watch movie) example of the therapy writing can foster and Anne Frank's Diary: the ultimate picture of the power of the pen.

I miss you terribly!

[Rebecca]

I agree - time to put those things down, at least for memory's sake as we grow older. My mother passed away at 57, and had kept a journal faithfully from the time she was 22. My family's life, and her own quiet thoughts rest in volumes that are wonderful things to visit now and then, the beautiful and the sad.

[Kas]

I've kept a journal in one way, shape or form since I was 7 years old. The funny thing about me is, once the journal is filled I tear it up and throw it away. Odd, I know, but that's what I've always done.
I made a new journal just as 2007 was ending the possiblity of 2008 was swirling in the air all around me. I'm writing in it now and have promised myself not to pitch it once it is full. A new challenge for the new year.

[Wendy Stuart]

I'm with you. I ran across an old journal from when my kids were real little. I didn't remember doing the things I wrote. It was so fun to read.

[Alicia Sharp]

I am so with you on the journaling! I have really slacked in that department even on my LO's! Hope you have a great weekend!

[Adrienne]

I keep a journal of funny, crazy, and meaningful things my kids do and say. They love to get it out from time to time and hear about the things they did "when they were little." It always makes me tear up a bit because of those moments that are no more. But, it's a precious reminder.

[Gigi]

I'm with you. Journaling is probably my most favorite part of scrapbooking.

[Jennifer Wallace]

I am. Love that feel of writing. Every so often, while writing in my journal, I write that particular entry to my daughter who maybe reading it years later, perhaps when I am no longer with her. I tell her how much I love her and maybe some sage wisdom.
Somehow, it makes me feel connected to her even more.

[Susan Gilman]

oohhh...I love the line of thinking here. My hubby surprised me with a beautiful hardbound calendar - I've been journaling faithfully since the 31st!! And I cannot WAIT TO get my monogrammed Rebecca Sower original!! Lucky lucky me!

PS Your photos are GLORIOUS...love love your blog and your life and art philosophy! (tho' I worry about that empty etsy shop! selfish me!)

[Marcy]

A post after my own heart! I took a good bit of teasing in undergrad and graduate school because I wrote all of my papers out by hand then typed them. I think my writing is much more thoughtful and more connected somehow, when my words come out on paper rather than the monitor. I also have fond childhood memories of watching my mum write out her newspaper articles on yellow legal steno pads. She would sometimes pay me a small amount to type it for her. Must be genetic!

[Tammy]

i've neglected my own journalling, too, and am eager to put the pen to the paper! it's like exercise...easy to put off, but feels oh-so-good to have done it. clears the cobwebs, feeds the soul. love your resolutions, too. best of everything to you in 2008. hope our paths will cross again. cheers...tammy

[Sweet Remembrance]

Aw...thanks for the reminder!
I will write in my journal
I will write in my journal
Priscilla

[Catherine M. Scanlon]

I LOVE your new banner...so very pretty! I have tried so many times to keep a real journal....and I just don't stick with it - like maybe 2 weeks at the most. I'm happy that I have been so faithful with my blog...

Have a great weekend!

[Joy]

I hear you on the journaling...I am usually pretty devoted to my journal, but lately it's really fallen by the wayside. Thank you for the reminder to visit it again! Lately, about all I have had time for is a bit on my blog and a bit in the art journal. I've been struggling with some of the pages(scrapbook) I've done lately because I can't remember it exactly, and I usually have it all written down in my journal to remind me. I've also started a blessings/gratitude journal, and that really inspires me... Love your new banner! :D

[Pearl Maple]

An important part of my day is when I journal all that I am grateful for. Somedays it is big things and somedays it is little things like reading a fun or inspirational post on your blog.

New blog header is really cool.

[Chrys]

yup, really need to journal more for me...not just for the boys albums....but for me. great therapy.

[Sharon F]

I hear ya sister! I am with you all the way and endeavor to try myself to get back to this lost art. I so enjoy and need to see it written down. There is something about using more than one sense to capture a thought - the visual, the auditory (saying it in my head as I write) and the tactile (using my hand). I am a fiend for handwork. Find it very theraputic, yet have I sat down to write a letter or something more than lists for myself? No. For shame....ok, off I go from this computer to my desk for some letters to friends and family - not because its the holidays, but just because!
Thanks Rebecca!~

[Jodi Buckmister]

ahh yes. I have never been much of an every day journaler, just random thought when the mood strikes me but, I have decided to dedicate myself to write something everyday. Here's hoping we all journal MORE!!

[Vickie]

I'm a sporadic journaler but I love it!