Journals and Blogs

I’m a lover of life, a manifester, a writer, an artist, a picture taker, an explorer, a goal getter, a laugher, an encourager, a suggester, a never-give-upper, a never-going-to-quitter, and a bursting at the seams appreciater. I’m also a journaler. And, I believe, now, officially, I have become a word inventor—taking all these verbs and turning them into nouns!

I’ve been using a good ol’ journal—paper and pen style—for a really long time. Like, before the internet. Now, how’s that for a phrase to make a person feel old. These precious notebooks are hidden away in boxes at a secret location. They are raw and unapologetic. Messy and candid. And, incredibly honorable in their honesty. I guess it’s easy to be honest when you know no one will ever read them—at least while you’re alive. They’ve evolved from loose leaf when I was in high school, to journal and sketch book in university and post university days. And finally, journal and sketch book are all in one binding.

When I stack all of them in a room chronologically (a huge task by the way—which I do not do very often) they become a visually graph: one sad little book in my darkest times, or maybe two. Barely any words. Barely any expression.

Today I cruise through one journal a month—easily. It’s the daily ritual that I need. A quiet place to say the things I need to say, to practice my life without judgement. So many people say I wish I journaled. But, it’s not for everyone. I even knew one person who did not want to journal because she confessed that she didn’t want to look back and see how uncool she was. I remember laughing, hard and telling her “Girl, you’re not cool now.” That’s the point. We’re supposed to evolve. We’re supposed be better than we were. I am so satisfied with my evolution when I open a book from years ago, read and ROLL MY EYES! I’m supposed to roll my eyes! Or think “awe sweetheart, look what you thought about this and that and how much better it all turned out.”

Blogs are different

I am treating this WordPress blog like a bit of a journal. I do edit my thoughts much more. I am responsible for these words. This is, after all, the internet. Everything is essentially archived in one way or another. I do however share enough of myself and my thoughts that I hope you readers pick up on my authenticity. I do not edit so much that each post is perfect and without error—sorry friends.

This WordPress world is a place to stretch my story telling muscles in a different direction than the novels I write with David. It’s a great place to practice. I do try my best and I hope that my readers get something out of these words.

Still learning

When I first leaned into blogging I wasn’t sure where I was headed. All the research, articles, how tos said that I needed a specific topic. I needed a travel blog or a food blog or an art blog. Oh! I wasn’t sure what I was going to specifically blog about. So, I just started. I hoped that somehow my blog focus would shake out over time.

Well, it hasn’t really. I think this is just a blog where a middle aged lady just throws out stories and hopes that something will stick for someone. I am not unique but I love the journey of life. Maybe my spin on life is getting picked up here and there by someone.

It’s been just over two years and I’m still taking it day by day—posting what interests me. And, if it interests you too, well that’s awesome!

And always, happy reading.