When I was in the 8th grade I was given my first diary. It had a brownish cover, with gold trim around the pages and a small, gold key attached to it. In this little book, I would record the daily events of my life as a thirteen year old girl and my “first love.” I guarded that little book with my life, hiding it under my mattress so prying eyes could not find it.
When I went to high school my writings were no longer kept in a diary, but instead in black and white composition notebooks. The size of the diary I had in 8th grade was no longer sufficient to capture the emotional life of a high schooler. My writings were still simple, recording the day in the life of a teenager in exact detail, but as I moved into my senior year, they slowly started to take on a tone of introspection.
It was not until I was an adult did my journaling style change all together. Gone were the simple adolescent writings and instead what emerged were the struggles of a young woman trying to understand life, who she was and where she was going. My journals became the place where I started to process how I felt, why I felt whatever at the time I was experiencing, the choices I was making and who I was becoming. My journaling took on a deeper and more mature nature.
Journaling is my safe haven. It is the thing that makes sense to me, when life leaves me feeling confused and lost. On the blank page I can write about things that reside in the deepest parts of me. When problems arise and I am not able to find answers just by thinking it through, I can go to my journal, write and most times emerge with a solution.
My journals are not only for the struggles of life, but for the joys and triumphs too. I write about my successes and dreams. My prayers, great quotes I come across and titles of books I want to read I keep in my journals. I write down things I heard that I want to remember, ideas for things to do or places to go, my poems and doodle drawings.
Today my journaling continues to be the one thing that helps sustain me. My passion for journaling inspires me to encourage others to write too. I have shared the love of journaling with my children and others through teaching journaling writing in group settings. Journaling, I have come to believe, is the greatest gift a person can give to themselves.
Few things make my heart sing like a beautiful journal and a great writing pen. Wherever I go you are sure to find them in my bag.
Tara Pray is the owner of www.wordsbytara.com a premiere site for ideas, information and inspiration for living God inspired dreams. She is in the final stages of creating her first e-workbook for women using journaling to discover their purpose.
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