The Art of Keeping a Journal

Journal keeping is basically without rules. It is an uncensored invitation to cut & paste, sketch & chart, and to visualize and unravel every great and small thought. At its most basic it is a decision that your life has value.

Just listing your experiences and endeavors can reveal incredible things and encourage you to work for the nearly impossible, the rigorous, and the unseen. Recently, during a course on INQUIRY, I was asked to make a list of one hundred things I didn't know. Here a simple list became a prospect for the unknown and an introduction to something new. As Henry Miller states, "Writing, like life itself, is a voyage of discovery."

I have also discovered that journal keeping is a great way to zero in. For instance, if you were preparing to run a marathon and wanted to improve your performance as a runner. You might put together a journal with notes that included:

· Diet & nutrition

· Speed & strength

· Warm up & cool down

· Visualization & meditation

· Cross training

· Profiles of great athletes

· And perhaps a section reserved for ideas and challenges yet to come.

It has been noted that elite athletes keep meticulous journals on their training and competition, not only to advance and validate their hard work and progress, but to mentally prepare them for athletic mastery.

Journals are great for tracking and brainstorming projects or developing a theme such as business creativity or spiritual practice. It can be used as a restorative retreat or a creative landscape, a playground of sorts for your professional goals or a keepsake for travel, weddings and birthdays.

·Try personalizing your own journal by creating an arrangement that is both practical and natural.

·Ask questions and dialogue with the world.

·Use it with regularity and see if this kindles some sort of journey.

Above all enjoy the adventure! WRITE UPSIDE DOWN, USE DIFFERENT COLORS OF PENS, collect conversations, favorite song lyrics & meaningful quotes --or start on the last page and see where it takes you!

The basic nutrition for a journal differs. Yet the more you nourish it, the more confident and the more willing your imagination & intelligence will be.

Janice Hoffmann is CEO and Founder of Success Is Sweetest http://www.successissweetest.com -A NewYork City based Career and lifestyle Coaching boutique.


AddThis Social Bookmark Button


Take a chocolate adventure Plow & Hearth
Frederick's of Hollywood, Inc. From You Flowers. LLC
In The News:


Canvas for creativity
Journal Times, WI - 1 hour ago
BY PAUL SLOTH RACINE — Juan Garza created his own rhythm as he sat sanding a chair last Tuesday out in front of the Racine Arts Council building, ...

Baby orangutan’s tale inspired creativity in us
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI - 4 hours ago
Today we start a remarkable three-part series by reporter Jan Uebelherr about a baby orangutan named Mahal, the Milwaukee County Zoo’s newest attraction. ...

Celebration of creativity
Jamaica Gleaner, Jamaica - 7 hours ago
Even so, all indications are that the recently concluded celebration of creativity was a resounding success. Since almost all the events were free, ...
Kingston On The Edge Jamaica Observer
all 2 news articles

Today, papers are obesssed with 'creativity' and 'innovation', but ...
guardian.co.uk, UK - 23 hours ago
Corporations love creativity. They say so all the time. Some, like the Chicago Tribune, even have a guy in charge of innovations, an officially certified ...

Brad Winter brings his creativity to Cappa center
Rapid City Journal, SD - Jul 5, 2008
“What I lack in color blindness, I guess I make up in creativity,” he says with a laugh when asked how he came up with the idea for the chair. ...

Creativity one cure for doctor shortage
London Free Press, Canada - Jul 5, 2008
By JOHN MINER A Middlesex group is tackling the rural doctor shortage with an unusual way of staffing a medical clinic to be built in Ilderton. ...

Middletown Summer Arts Program Keeps Children's Creativity Rolling
Hartford Courant, United States - Jul 5, 2008
This summer, Green Street Arts Center, at 51 Green St., is catering to that creativity with its Summer Arts and Media Technology program. ...

Glastonbury weekend inspires the type of creativity that can also ...
guardian.co.uk, UK - Jul 4, 2008
What about creativity? What about challenging yourself to find out something new about your own abilities? What about communicating and sharing with other ...

Chelsea Killed Mikel's Creativity - Odemwingie
Goal.com, Switzerland - Jul 4, 2008
The view expressed by the Lokomotiv Moscow striker is one shared by several Nigeria sports journalists, who believe thats , John's creativity that so ...

Schools should enhance students’ creativity : CU VC
The Statesman, India - Jul 4, 2008
Das said that students should hone their skill and creativity. The school authorities should help them to become self-dependent. He criticised the teaching ...
creativity - Google News

Games at Buy.com

Holiday Home Store at Buy.com

Creating and Living Your Ideal Legacy

A legacy is more than a gift that lives on after you. Certainly, a legacy is a contribution to humanity. A legacy provides value to future generations.... Read More

Improve Your Bottom Line, Kens Idea Saved over $100,000

Engaged employees can show us the way to continuously improve. Customers want our products and services to be better, delivered faster, and produced less expensively. This means... Read More

Creativity Management ? Artists and Creativity

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this... Read More