Thoughts on Keeping a Journal--- Favorite Journal Entries
Other Journal Keepers--- Journalscape scan--- More
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My thoughts on keeping a journal
I began writing in a journal in 2007. The fast pace of my modern life and the flooding of my senses with uncontrolled exterior stimuli made me feel like I was going numb; so I quietly began looking at myself; who I am, how I feel, reporting to myself on how I am doing in life. The journal as I write it is me being introspective, an ongoing autobiography. Then it is me exploring ideas past and present in our culture, writing about books I read, and digging into my bank of memories.
I am a technical writer by trade--27 years and counting--with a degree in English literature, in which I focused on novel writing. After writing three novels and selling none, I put down the art of creative writing for many years. I missed it, but needed to find another form of life that was more sustaining. After reading a couple of my favorite writers from college days--Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau--in about 2007, I realized that the bulk of their work is personal essays and journal writing.
I began studying their journals, which led me to studying the journals of others, and a brief study of how to keep a journal. Then I started writing. My journaling has been not much about the intent of publishing, but about enjoying writing as an art form, a discipline, and as a means of self-discovery. I use my journal as a tool for learning, watching, recording current observations and glimpses of my past.
I recently decided to expand my journaling by writing some entries for public viewing, but continue to explore and experience the voice within me. My subject matter, length, purpose, and style may change from one entry to the next. I keep much out of public view because I enjoy just writing to myself. I do not think others would be that interested in it. Some of my journal entries just do not stand well on their own because they fit into a wider context, so I keep them private.
Writing for fun and discovery the past couple of years has allowed me to undo a lot of my angst about the modern world. I often talk about such things in my journal entries, while searching for balance and comfort.
Some days I reflect on books I am reading or other journals. I often find my inner voice talking to me when I read and when I try to react to the reading. What do I read? I am not exactly a philosopher, but have learned to enjoy reading philosophy for the last couple of years. When reading Emerson and Thoreau, two great minds I have always respected, I wondered where their ideas may have sprung from, so part of my journalscape experience has been studying their journalscape.
Thoreau journals for two million words about his walks in the woods in Concord. He has a power to observe and describe small details of nature. He presents an admirable control of the language, and often subtly provides hints of his transcendentalism. His writing makes me want to go out and explore, then return home to write about the experience. I have a camera and a handycam, so I sometimes like to make imagery a part of the journal entry, but regard the words as more important.
My journal entries seem to be spontaneous. I am hoping to capture some little piece of the essence of life that I did not know about before. I journal to make my life more authentic. Sometimes my entries are not well developed. The grammar and structure can get clumsy without a rewrite. I often have to sacrifice some of the perfection to gain the spontaneity.
I live on the central California coast, in the woods, so that scenery is what inspires many journal entries. Family roots on the west coast go back five generations or more--1842 Oregon and 1844 California at Sutter's Fort. I sometimes follow the twists and turns of my ancestors in my journaling, as though I am looking for them and for the America they knew in the mid-1800s. Is it a coincidence that this was at the same time that Thoreau and Emerson were writing?
Oh yes, and Talking Stick? American Indians would make a stick with feathers and other decor, and when in council pass the stick around. The one who held the stick got to do the talking.
I am a technical writer by trade--27 years and counting--with a degree in English literature, in which I focused on novel writing. After writing three novels and selling none, I put down the art of creative writing for many years. I missed it, but needed to find another form of life that was more sustaining. After reading a couple of my favorite writers from college days--Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau--in about 2007, I realized that the bulk of their work is personal essays and journal writing.
I began studying their journals, which led me to studying the journals of others, and a brief study of how to keep a journal. Then I started writing. My journaling has been not much about the intent of publishing, but about enjoying writing as an art form, a discipline, and as a means of self-discovery. I use my journal as a tool for learning, watching, recording current observations and glimpses of my past.
I recently decided to expand my journaling by writing some entries for public viewing, but continue to explore and experience the voice within me. My subject matter, length, purpose, and style may change from one entry to the next. I keep much out of public view because I enjoy just writing to myself. I do not think others would be that interested in it. Some of my journal entries just do not stand well on their own because they fit into a wider context, so I keep them private.
Writing for fun and discovery the past couple of years has allowed me to undo a lot of my angst about the modern world. I often talk about such things in my journal entries, while searching for balance and comfort.
Some days I reflect on books I am reading or other journals. I often find my inner voice talking to me when I read and when I try to react to the reading. What do I read? I am not exactly a philosopher, but have learned to enjoy reading philosophy for the last couple of years. When reading Emerson and Thoreau, two great minds I have always respected, I wondered where their ideas may have sprung from, so part of my journalscape experience has been studying their journalscape.
Thoreau journals for two million words about his walks in the woods in Concord. He has a power to observe and describe small details of nature. He presents an admirable control of the language, and often subtly provides hints of his transcendentalism. His writing makes me want to go out and explore, then return home to write about the experience. I have a camera and a handycam, so I sometimes like to make imagery a part of the journal entry, but regard the words as more important.
My journal entries seem to be spontaneous. I am hoping to capture some little piece of the essence of life that I did not know about before. I journal to make my life more authentic. Sometimes my entries are not well developed. The grammar and structure can get clumsy without a rewrite. I often have to sacrifice some of the perfection to gain the spontaneity.
I live on the central California coast, in the woods, so that scenery is what inspires many journal entries. Family roots on the west coast go back five generations or more--1842 Oregon and 1844 California at Sutter's Fort. I sometimes follow the twists and turns of my ancestors in my journaling, as though I am looking for them and for the America they knew in the mid-1800s. Is it a coincidence that this was at the same time that Thoreau and Emerson were writing?
Oh yes, and Talking Stick? American Indians would make a stick with feathers and other decor, and when in council pass the stick around. The one who held the stick got to do the talking.
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