Journal Power: Growing

Is there something you want to grow? 

Your generosity, maybe, or your income, or your faith?

There are parts of us we want to minimize, but there are also parts we’d like to enlarge. 

Ask your journal: 

• What are the best parts of me? What do I offer that I’m proud of?
• What are daily lifestyle habits that I'm glad I have, or what habits do I want to start?
• What in my life is growing and what is stagnating?
• What dreams do I have and how do I need to grow in order to make them come true?
• If I want to grow in some particular area, what are the first few steps towards that? 

Think about growing a plant. There’s really nothing more satisfying than watching a plant grow to ripeness. 

I cultivate roses. To me, the glory of a single blossom is worth so much! And what does it take? Focus, care, attention, fertilizer. 

And being there. 

Journal writing is how you can fulfill the immense task of being there, so your projects can grow. 

It is the way you pay attention, monitoring the growth, recording what you learn and observe. Journaling your growth projects is how you

• Remember the precise sequence of events
• Create an operating procedure for future projects
• Enlarge on the experience with your added thoughts, musings, and research. 

Because nurturing requires a caregiver. If growth is going to happen, someone has to watch over the progress, guiding it and evaluating its results. 

Think about actually making a planting of some kind and then journaling its growth. This could be anything from a simple houseplant to a full vegetable garden. Use your journal to get organized and to deepen the experience. 

• What will you plant?
• How will you prepare the bed?
• How will it look when fully grown?
• What do you need to do to encourage growth?
• Write about your relationship with the thing that is growing. Make that tie, in your imagination, as real, personal, and powerful as you can. 

And then, while the miracle of growth unveils itself every day, keep careful records in your journal: 

• What is the same today as yesterday for my plant, my garden, my growth project?
• What is different?
• How does it look, exactly?
• What is my dream for it today?
• What is my feeling about it? What emotions come up when I think of it right now? 

The power of growing things lies in its ability to create a life for us. When you grow things, you invest time. Over time, you develop habits, create bonds. It’s easy to fall in love with growing. 

With your journal, it’s even easier.

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One thing I love growing is my involvement with music! Here's a page with a bunch of my musical recordings.  What is your favorite growth project these days? Let me know in the comments!