This post is part of a series on this blog called “Guys and Journaling” which will profile several men for whom journaling plays an important role in their lives.
I began to journal in 1974, in college. I was studying psychology, and had read about Progroff's Journal Workshop. Being a fan of self help, I wanted to see how many of my issues I could work out by journaling.
For about 30 years, I used 6x9 inch, spiral bound notebooks. I have 50-75 of them, although I never reread them. Few years ago, I started using 8x10 inch, spiral bound, the size I had used for writing articles. I date every post like this: 2009.11.24 9p. Sometimes scratch notes to self in the margins.
For many years, I journaled almost daily, writing up to 20 pages a day. In recent years, I use it as inspired, which of late has been maybe once or twice a week. I have gone weeks and even months between entries, but the journal is always handy. The format I use now comes from (Julia Cameron’s) The Artist's Way, a style called "morning pages." The intent of that is a fast brain dump, to clear your head.
However, I have slowly returned to my more contemplative style, trying to clarify the forces in my life. Over the years, I have used different journals for business ideas, inventions, my songs, dreams and even one for fictionalized reality. In the latter, I learned to write fiction, based on painting the scenes of my life in great detail. I have done little to develop my fiction work since, other than the 25 pages towards a novel. All the articles I write now are non-fiction.
I write mostly in the morning, in a chair, with feet up, in quiet. I never did much like music while I journaled or worked.
These days my content usually goes to documenting the forces in my life. For example, in the last few weeks, more than half of my long-held, weekly rituals have been threatened or discontinued, and that has impacted me, things like where I go to church, support calls I make, consulting gigs. I used to write up psychological constructs and design processes. I would figure things out, sometimes getting into cosmology and psychology, or even metaphysics. Sometimes I will sketch out a business idea or website.
In the past, I'd write about conflicts I had with people in order to better understand what happened. These days, I use it more for the focused intent of prayer. I may end a post with a spiritual affirmation of what I want to be conscious of.
I've worked through a lot in my journal, sometimes reading its content to a friend to help me finish processing. I've moved to many new cities, been hired for great jobs, fired from others, got the beautiful girl to go out with me and got my heart broken numerous times. All that went into it. I have used it to try to understand my troubled childhood, and my current state of consciousness. And I've written about the trials of writing.
What to say to guys who think journaling is just for women? Nothing. They are clueless, bigoted and running scared. On the other hand, I'd tell women to beware of the men who might utter such nonsense.
While I don't journal nearly as much as I have in the past, I know it has contributed greatly to the way that I think and act. I simply cannot imagine how my life would have been different without journaling.
Steve LeBlanc http://sleve.wordpress.com/twitter-landing-page/ wears many hats: speaker, trainer, coach, writer, holistic healer….and journaler. Based in northern Arkansas, he does “rapid holistic healing of old, stubborn emotions for those people who say, ‘I've tried everything!’”
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Guys: If you'd like to be interviewed or want to post a guest article about you and your Journaling, please leave a comment!
I began to journal in 1974, in college. I was studying psychology, and had read about Progroff's Journal Workshop. Being a fan of self help, I wanted to see how many of my issues I could work out by journaling.
For about 30 years, I used 6x9 inch, spiral bound notebooks. I have 50-75 of them, although I never reread them. Few years ago, I started using 8x10 inch, spiral bound, the size I had used for writing articles. I date every post like this: 2009.11.24 9p. Sometimes scratch notes to self in the margins.
For many years, I journaled almost daily, writing up to 20 pages a day. In recent years, I use it as inspired, which of late has been maybe once or twice a week. I have gone weeks and even months between entries, but the journal is always handy. The format I use now comes from (Julia Cameron’s) The Artist's Way, a style called "morning pages." The intent of that is a fast brain dump, to clear your head.
However, I have slowly returned to my more contemplative style, trying to clarify the forces in my life. Over the years, I have used different journals for business ideas, inventions, my songs, dreams and even one for fictionalized reality. In the latter, I learned to write fiction, based on painting the scenes of my life in great detail. I have done little to develop my fiction work since, other than the 25 pages towards a novel. All the articles I write now are non-fiction.
I write mostly in the morning, in a chair, with feet up, in quiet. I never did much like music while I journaled or worked.
These days my content usually goes to documenting the forces in my life. For example, in the last few weeks, more than half of my long-held, weekly rituals have been threatened or discontinued, and that has impacted me, things like where I go to church, support calls I make, consulting gigs. I used to write up psychological constructs and design processes. I would figure things out, sometimes getting into cosmology and psychology, or even metaphysics. Sometimes I will sketch out a business idea or website.
In the past, I'd write about conflicts I had with people in order to better understand what happened. These days, I use it more for the focused intent of prayer. I may end a post with a spiritual affirmation of what I want to be conscious of.
I've worked through a lot in my journal, sometimes reading its content to a friend to help me finish processing. I've moved to many new cities, been hired for great jobs, fired from others, got the beautiful girl to go out with me and got my heart broken numerous times. All that went into it. I have used it to try to understand my troubled childhood, and my current state of consciousness. And I've written about the trials of writing.
What to say to guys who think journaling is just for women? Nothing. They are clueless, bigoted and running scared. On the other hand, I'd tell women to beware of the men who might utter such nonsense.
While I don't journal nearly as much as I have in the past, I know it has contributed greatly to the way that I think and act. I simply cannot imagine how my life would have been different without journaling.
Steve LeBlanc http://sleve.wordpress.com/twitter-landing-page/ wears many hats: speaker, trainer, coach, writer, holistic healer….and journaler. Based in northern Arkansas, he does “rapid holistic healing of old, stubborn emotions for those people who say, ‘I've tried everything!’”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Guys: If you'd like to be interviewed or want to post a guest article about you and your Journaling, please leave a comment!
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