How to Start a Journal

Have you had that moment in your life when you are loaded with so much emotions to share, yet all your friends are nowhere to be found? If you nodded, then having a journal may just be as useful to you as it has been to me.

A journal is where you are free to write anything you want. Be this your daily activities, your goals, dreams that you have achieved including you bucket list or what have you. Again, there are no universal DON'T's in keeping one since this is your personal possession, unless you decide to set your own rules in what to and not to write.

There are two ways on how to start and keep a journal nowadays. We have the online journal and the conventional one, where you need to have a notebook with you, more like a hard copy.

Here are some practical things that I can share with you if you want to start your own. This worked for me. Again, you make your own rules.

1. Invest in a good quality notebook or as it is called- a journal! This is not only to inspire you more to write on it, but you will be giving this to your posterity, so you might as well buy something that can stand the test of time. Check the pages, if you decide to write on both side of each page, then they should be thicker than the regular pages. The right pen always helps, too! I love pens with thick ink. If you like purple, then use a purple pen! I love red!

2. Some people name their journals! Some use their favorite cartoon character, use their best friend's name, their children's names, or a place that you are just dying to go to. I named my 5th journal 'Maui', since that time I would always dream of seeing, of course, Maui Beach. But I stopped with one journal, the rest don't have names. I suggested this because I know a friend whose journals are named after her childhood crush. She would always start her entries by "Dear Kevin" (oops!) and she'd be more motivated to share her feelings, both good and bad, because it's as if she's talking to her Kevin every time. The HBO part there is, she eventually married Kevin. Imagine how he had felt when he found out all her 25 journals have his name written all over them.

3. Don't try to go back remembering things, as far as your childhood memories, just to start a journal, because that would be too much work. ( unless you want to!) You may start with what you did today, how did you feel today, what lesson/s have you learned today? You may want to include a scriptural verse, or anything that you saw on the streets that caught your attention. You're not even obliged to write an introduction of who you are, it will all be spontaneous as you go along. There will be days when you'll feel uninspired to write anything, it happens. But still, continue to write- start it with how you feel insipid and why. Good grammar is great, of course, but don't be so fussy about it. Write as you feel. Create your own journal terminology!

4. Customize! Paint your journal, if you are the 'lacey' type, then go and use lace plus buttons and yes- those colorful band-aides that are so 'in' now, use them! Include photos of people and places, magazine clippings, recipes, dried flowers, candy and chocolate wrappers, receipts and my favorite- movie tickets! These things will help you remember everything, even the same intensity of feelings that you have felt ten or twenty years ago!

5. Take care of it!- It is better if your journals are hard bound and always make sure it's safe from any liquid. Put it in a plastic envelope even if it's inside your bag. If you are done with one, keep it in a box. Try your best not to lose a journal because we're talking about your effort and memories there!

I hope this will help you get started. Having a journal is therapeutic, it's your friend with whom you can tell all, and won't judge you. I try to read back old ones, as far as ten years ago, and they always surprise me a lot, how I have changed my stand on some things and have kept loving the rest. They help me remember what I usually forget about life.

Start practicing online journals.