Journaling has been around for a long time. One of the earliest known journals was penned by Ma Dubo nearly 2,000 years ago. His travel journal was written as daily entries describing his journey across China from Luoyang to Mount Tai. Ma Dubo wrote of the people he saw along the way and their daily lives. Written works during this time focused on the Emperor’s Court making Dubo’s journal unique and important to scholars today. Across the China Sea, Japanese women kept diaries called pillow books that held their hopes, dreams, and sorrows. These women lead isolated lives in their homes. You can read excerpts from “The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon” translated by Arthur Waley and accessible in the Libby App with your library card. Lady Sei lived at court during the Heian period and describes the intrigue of daily life.
Sei Shonangon is one of the featured philosophers in “The Socrates Express: In Search of Life Lessons from Dead Philosophers” by Eric Weiner (102 Wei). The book also includes another classically popular journal writer, Henry David Thoreau, who penned Walden; copies are available for check out at the library. In “Walden” (818 Tho), Thoreau reflects on his two years living in solitude in a cabin. He explores thoughts on self-reliance, enjoying the beauty of nature, and living simply. Capturing these observations of daily life is important, you may not realize at this moment why it is but in the future, it will become self-evident. For example, Samuel Pepys kept a diary for over a decade. He wrote daily about his life, small details that would not mean much to most people at that time. However, his diaries are now known as the best first-hand account of the Reformation period of England and The Great Fire of London.
Journaling is much more than recording details of your daily life though, the act of writing has become self-care. The benefits of journaling include stress reduction, managing anxiety, coping with depression, tracking symptoms, helping prioritize problems or concerns, identifying negative thoughts, and providing a way to give yourself positive encouragement and meeting goals. Journaling gives you a chance to carve out time in your day for yourself. Create a routine that allows you 5-10 minutes at the beginning or end of the day for a journaling practice. All you need to get started is a notebook and pen.
Make a commitment to yourself for yourself. Write something every day, it could be only a sentence or two. Make it easy and keep your pen and paper next to your favorite chair, in your workbag, or your car. Write or draw what comes to mind at the moment. Jot down the little things during the day you want to remember later. Your journal is yours, to do whatever you want: draw, paint, add magazine articles, recipes, favorite quotes, things you want to meditate or pray over, and things you are grateful for. There is no right or wrong way to journal.
You can find books about different types of journaling at the Crawfordsville District Public Library. Your library card also gives you access to Creativebug for Libraries. Follow the link on the CDPL website to create your account. Use the search field to find classes on journaling. You can even learn to make your own notebook or art journal.
In addition to journaling for health and wellness, I want to mention journaling for organization. This type of journal is where you place all your calendars, appointments, to-do lists, habit-tracking graphs, and journal entries. It is the workhorse of journals. You include everything in one place in the order that it comes up in your life. These journals are usually bullet-style journals and combine other journal styles into one journal. You can have one big journal for the whole year or one smaller journal for each month.
Remember your journal is yours, there is no right or wrong way to do this. Make your journal fit your needs and lifestyle. For more information on journaling, visit us at the Crawfordsville District Public Library, 1-5 p.m. Sundays; 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
Michelle Ogden is a library assistant in the Reference and Local History Department of the Crawfordsville District Public Library.
