I have a lot in common with some famous people. Ever heard of Frank Warren, the Freedom Writers, Anne Frank or Samuel Pepys? If you have, then you'll know they're all journal keepers in their own special ways. If you haven't heard of them, listen up!
It's hard to define exactly what Frank Warren does. He's more of a compiler of journal entries than a journaler himself. You see, Warren created PostSecret, "an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a postcard." I believe that each post card sent in represents a journal entry: someone is writing something down about their life. Warren has taken many of these post cards and compiled them in books with his own comentary interspersed.
Want to get a feel for what he's doing? Go to the PostSecret blog: http://postsecret.blogspot.com/. So you see, journaling can take many forms; even decorated postcards can be journals.
The Freedom Writers run along the same lines as Warren. This is a collection of journal entries from a group of teenagers put together by their teacher. In her English class, Erin Gruwell taught her students to write by making them keep journals. These weren't any ordinary kids, though. They lived in a neighborhood where gang violence, eviction and poverty were prevalent and being studious was looked down on. The entries can be pretty graphic, but you can tell as time progresses, the writing becomes more understandable and the teenagers learn to work through their problems. Again, a journal doesn't have to be a collection of one person's thoughts and work; it can be a collection of many people's.
Imagine playing hide-and-seek for a couple of years in a small set of rooms with your whole family and then some. Welcome to the world of 10-year-old Anne Frank. When the Nazis invaded, Frank's childhood was cut short. Not only was it scary being chased by people who wanted to hurt you, it was boring not being able to go to school or play with friends. So what did Frank do to pass time? She wrote letters in her diary to a make-believe friend named Kitty. She also wrote poems and short stories, practicing for when she grew up and became an author. Just goes to show you that letters can be considered journalistic material, too.
So you may have never heard of Samuel Pepys, but this guy was awesome. Back in the 17th century in England, he was there for it all! He saw Oliver Cromwell come to power and die and then the ensuing struggle for the throne. He wrote about the Great Fire of London and even saw the king's reaction to it firsthand. Oh, and did I mention he talks about everyday life in England in a way that no one else can? That's right, he tells us what he had for breakfast and what time he went to bed and the construction of this building and what the bakery was making. Want a snippet? One of his entries are published daily at this site: www.pepysdiary.com.
The moral of this story is the point I hope you've learned: there's no one way to journal. You can compile quotes, write letters, draw pictures. And as an added bonus, you'll also have something in common with some pretty famous people.
Monday, 22 February 2010
Why should I?
Blah, blah, blah.
"It's not as if I have time or energy or a reason to do this journaling thing," you say.
Wrong! You may not think you have time or energy, but you certainly DO have a reason to journal. Just pick from a plethora of options:
1. Well, just because. You know that person at work who rubs you the wrong way or how your sister just says the wrong thing at the wrong time? Perhaps you taught your puppy how to roll over after a month of unsuccessful efforts. And guess who wants to hear about it? No one. That's right, no one really cares or understands the insignificant problems and joys of your life. So write about them. Take it from an experienced journaler: you will feel so much better about life.
2. Keep a record! I know you're sarcastically jumping for joy over this one. But seriously, how many times have you gone on a trip and later wished you could remember exactly why and how you ran through the airport carrying shoes in one hand and luggage in the other, diving onto the plane? And of course, you always kick yourself for not remembering the punch line to that joke the snaggle-toothed gas station owner pulled when you were road tripping. These are memories you never want to forget: write them down.
3. To become a world-famous writer. Okay, no promises. But it is an almost guarantee! Just look at all the people who have had their journal or diary published: Samuel Pepys, Anne Frank, the PostSecret guy (yeah, that's a journal), and Julie who journal-blogged just like I'm doing, except hers was about Julia Child. But hey, her journal got published AND made into a movie. Even if you don't submit your awesome thoughts for publication one day, journaling is a perfect practice field for kicking out bad grammar and scoring great writing and vocabulary skills. So you could end up publishing a best-selling novel all because you wrote in a journal.
That's definitely not the end of my list, but alas, I am out of space and patience. But, unlike me, a journal is never out of either of those virtues.
"It's not as if I have time or energy or a reason to do this journaling thing," you say.
Wrong! You may not think you have time or energy, but you certainly DO have a reason to journal. Just pick from a plethora of options:
1. Well, just because. You know that person at work who rubs you the wrong way or how your sister just says the wrong thing at the wrong time? Perhaps you taught your puppy how to roll over after a month of unsuccessful efforts. And guess who wants to hear about it? No one. That's right, no one really cares or understands the insignificant problems and joys of your life. So write about them. Take it from an experienced journaler: you will feel so much better about life.
2. Keep a record! I know you're sarcastically jumping for joy over this one. But seriously, how many times have you gone on a trip and later wished you could remember exactly why and how you ran through the airport carrying shoes in one hand and luggage in the other, diving onto the plane? And of course, you always kick yourself for not remembering the punch line to that joke the snaggle-toothed gas station owner pulled when you were road tripping. These are memories you never want to forget: write them down.
3. To become a world-famous writer. Okay, no promises. But it is an almost guarantee! Just look at all the people who have had their journal or diary published: Samuel Pepys, Anne Frank, the PostSecret guy (yeah, that's a journal), and Julie who journal-blogged just like I'm doing, except hers was about Julia Child. But hey, her journal got published AND made into a movie. Even if you don't submit your awesome thoughts for publication one day, journaling is a perfect practice field for kicking out bad grammar and scoring great writing and vocabulary skills. So you could end up publishing a best-selling novel all because you wrote in a journal.
That's definitely not the end of my list, but alas, I am out of space and patience. But, unlike me, a journal is never out of either of those virtues.
journaling and blogging: friends or foes?
So why not start out a blog about journaling by writing a little journal entry?
You may think journaling is for nerds. Well, yes, you're right. It's for nerds and jocks and prom queens and cat ladies. It's for children and adults, men and women, girls who wear glasses and work at libraries...but I digress.
If blogging is acceptable, and even fun and cool to do nowadays, then journaling, by definition is, too. They're the same thing. Well, they could be. It just depends what you want to get off your mind.
And that's the beauty of journaling: you can say just whatever it is you want to say without anyone judging you for not capitalizing that proper noun or dividing that run-on with a period. You can leave in as many mistakes as you want to without a red-pen-wielding English teacher ravaging it to shreds.
The only difference that I can come up with between traditional journaling and blogging is that the latter is a public forum: everyone can read what you wrote. Whereas in traditional journaling, you better not even try to look at my precious book of secrets. Unless of course, you publish said journal. Then go right ahead. But that's a topic for another journal entry/blog post.
By the way, did you know that journaling isn't a word? I coined it right now.
Don't be jealous, Shakespeare.
You may think journaling is for nerds. Well, yes, you're right. It's for nerds and jocks and prom queens and cat ladies. It's for children and adults, men and women, girls who wear glasses and work at libraries...but I digress.
If blogging is acceptable, and even fun and cool to do nowadays, then journaling, by definition is, too. They're the same thing. Well, they could be. It just depends what you want to get off your mind.
And that's the beauty of journaling: you can say just whatever it is you want to say without anyone judging you for not capitalizing that proper noun or dividing that run-on with a period. You can leave in as many mistakes as you want to without a red-pen-wielding English teacher ravaging it to shreds.
The only difference that I can come up with between traditional journaling and blogging is that the latter is a public forum: everyone can read what you wrote. Whereas in traditional journaling, you better not even try to look at my precious book of secrets. Unless of course, you publish said journal. Then go right ahead. But that's a topic for another journal entry/blog post.
By the way, did you know that journaling isn't a word? I coined it right now.
Don't be jealous, Shakespeare.
nudges
Let me tell you a story:
Once upon a time, there was a nine-year-old girl who for Christmas received a blank notebook, or a journal, as her mom called it. She could write whatever she wanted in it and no one would see. The girl started writing in the journal every day; she didn't know why she liked it so much, but she was going to keep doing it.
The girl had two sisters. Pretty soon, they wondered what could be so great about writing in this notebook that their sister would love it so much. They decided to try it for themselves.
One day, the girl's best friend came over to play. The girl couldn't help but show off her journal and tell her friend how much she liked writing in it. The friend went home and, you guessed it, started keeping her own journal.
When the girl's aunt came to visit, she brought her journals. By the time the girl was in her teens, it seemed almost everyone she knew owned a journal of some kind.
Question: Why did this happen? It wasn't as though the girl was making people she knew journal, and it wasn't as though journaling was a popular activity to do. Not everyone she knew liked writing; in fact, a lot of her peers hated any subject related to school.
Answer: Nudges. Everyone was giving each other subconscious nudges. Ever read the book Nudge by the economists Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein? They explain the concept much better than I am about to do. It's when people push each other, usually in a good direction, without making huge efforts. In the story, the girl's sisters and friends saw the girl journaling and thought, "Hey, I could do something else, or I could try whatever it is she is doing because she's interested in it."
In another example, supposed you've never heard of deviled eggs. At a party one day, you notice the tray of yellowish and white balls of goo are hastily being devoured. People are "mmmm"ing and "yumm" ing as they eat these. Since you're indifferent to deviled eggs, you decide there's nothing to lose in trying them and seeing if you like them.
Journaling is a difficult habit to form if you're doing it by yourself. Nudging others to do it with you makes the activity that much more enjoyable and easy. That's not to say that you should force people to keep a journal or constantly brag about how much better your writing is than everyone else's because you keep one. This is probably true, but that tactic will only push people away.
Nudges are subtle hint-hints. Most likely your friends will catch on pretty quickly, seeing as how they hang out with you and probably think you're pretty cool in the first place.
Nudging is the key to getting past the "I'm the only one doing it" mentality that seems to be a roadblock for some people.
And, yes, the girl in the sappy story is me.
Once upon a time, there was a nine-year-old girl who for Christmas received a blank notebook, or a journal, as her mom called it. She could write whatever she wanted in it and no one would see. The girl started writing in the journal every day; she didn't know why she liked it so much, but she was going to keep doing it.
The girl had two sisters. Pretty soon, they wondered what could be so great about writing in this notebook that their sister would love it so much. They decided to try it for themselves.
One day, the girl's best friend came over to play. The girl couldn't help but show off her journal and tell her friend how much she liked writing in it. The friend went home and, you guessed it, started keeping her own journal.
When the girl's aunt came to visit, she brought her journals. By the time the girl was in her teens, it seemed almost everyone she knew owned a journal of some kind.
Question: Why did this happen? It wasn't as though the girl was making people she knew journal, and it wasn't as though journaling was a popular activity to do. Not everyone she knew liked writing; in fact, a lot of her peers hated any subject related to school.
Answer: Nudges. Everyone was giving each other subconscious nudges. Ever read the book Nudge by the economists Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein? They explain the concept much better than I am about to do. It's when people push each other, usually in a good direction, without making huge efforts. In the story, the girl's sisters and friends saw the girl journaling and thought, "Hey, I could do something else, or I could try whatever it is she is doing because she's interested in it."
In another example, supposed you've never heard of deviled eggs. At a party one day, you notice the tray of yellowish and white balls of goo are hastily being devoured. People are "mmmm"ing and "yumm" ing as they eat these. Since you're indifferent to deviled eggs, you decide there's nothing to lose in trying them and seeing if you like them.
Journaling is a difficult habit to form if you're doing it by yourself. Nudging others to do it with you makes the activity that much more enjoyable and easy. That's not to say that you should force people to keep a journal or constantly brag about how much better your writing is than everyone else's because you keep one. This is probably true, but that tactic will only push people away.
Nudges are subtle hint-hints. Most likely your friends will catch on pretty quickly, seeing as how they hang out with you and probably think you're pretty cool in the first place.
Nudging is the key to getting past the "I'm the only one doing it" mentality that seems to be a roadblock for some people.
And, yes, the girl in the sappy story is me.
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