Day Two--An Organized Journal

One of the things I've decided to do in keeping with 365 days of organization is to devote a part of my Sundays to non-household organizational tasks. One of those I feel is important is journaling. Since writing is my biggest passion, I have always been a diligent journal-keeper. I have a box full of journals from my youth upstairs in my closet--some are school notebooks, others fancy themes like Ramona Quimby and Laura Ingalls. When on an 18-month mission I kept not one, but three rather large volumes full of journaling. I just love the process of finding precisely the right words to describe a moment, of accurately articulating a feeling, so that later, when I reread an entry, I can experience the sensation all over again. And yet, the more kids I have had, the less time and energy I have in a day, and journaling has quickly fell by the wayside. It is something I have a longing for. It is something I know will bring me some needed fulfillment and, well, bliss... It is time to organize myself to include the art of journaling once again.

Before choosing a method of journaling, the first step is to identify the purpose behind journaling. Journals have played many roles for me over the past thirty years. They have been a place to record special moments and feelings, so as not to forget them. They have been a place to unload my mind of ideas, tasks, stories, and worries--thus capturing them in a concrete form while clearing up my mind for more ideas, tasks, stories, and worries. They have been a place to vent frustrations and even great anger (oh, how well I know that sensation), enabling me to sort out my emotions and keep me from injuring my loved ones with unnecessary explosions of anger and resentment. But if I had to name the single most important purpose behind journal-writing, I would say that it is to create a record of one's life--a written history, whether for future generations or for your own personal reference. Those other aspects are important and often necessary, but the older I get, the more I find that I want to keep a solid, running history of my life. Something that will keep me alive and immortal for many years to come.

As I decided on a method of writing, I decided that I need something different than my standard notebook and pen. As much as I love the art of writing, there have been too many times when I have left it behind on a trip, misplaced it, or been too lazy to go retrieve it when I had something to write about. And since I will be transcribing my journals on the computer anyway, it seems a more logical form in the long-run. I thought about just writing it in Word on my computer--something I have tried before--but being limited to accessing my journal on one computer has it's own set of hindrances, and where there are hindrances, there are often excuses and things left undone.

I have decided to try an online diary this year, so that I can access it wherever I am, especially on trips, and hopefully on my phone, if I upgrade to the Pro version. The website I have decided on is Penzu. com. They are completely private and have a lot of capabilities, such as picture uploading, that I would not be able to do with a written journal. I'm all signed up. It will even email me weekly reminders, so that I can write in my journal each and every Sunday this year. Plus if I sign up for the Pro version, not only can I access it using my mobile and write in it anytime, anywhere, I can add multiple journals to my account, making journals for each of my kids or creating an Ideas Journal or a Frustrations Journal, keeping unnecessary things out of my personal history. And when the year's all up, I can print it and store it away somewhere for future generations. My online journal is up and running. I'm feeling ready for a guilt-free, inspired, blissful year of journal-writing.