subject: Journey With A Notebook And A Pen [print this page] Take a journey without even leaving your homeTake a journey without even leaving your home. All you need is a notebook, a pen and an adventurous heart. You can keep account of the places you have been and make plans for where you might yet go. Journaling lets you explore the past and reach into the future. Consider writing to see your own journey unfold.
I've been keeping journals for over two decades. I didn't really have a plan for my entries. I just wrote because I benefited from the experience. If I was struggling, my journal gave me a place to work things out. If I had a dream, my journal gave me a place to hope. When good things happened, my journal became a place to be thankful. When each New Year came I would spend a day looking back. I could take a 365 day trip in just a few hours. My journal took me to places I couldn't otherwise travel. Every year I look forward to this spiritual, life changing experience.
About three years ago I decided to find a way to connect the years of my life in some meaningful way. I wanted to be able to travel from the beginning of my life through to where I am today. My journals gave me what I needed to take this 40 year trip. Each page was full of memories, people and places that would help me tell my story. It all gave me an expression for what matters most to me: my relationship with God and the people I love.
Today my story is 162 pages long. People can read it and travel with me on my journey. I added pictures too: drawings from when I was a small child, art I made as a young woman and paintings and drawings created after I had become a more mature artist. Each piece of art connects with one of my entries. Together, the words and pictures helped me keep account of my own adventure. They also helped me invite others to go where I had gone. It's a chance for others to understand what matters most to me. It's a chance for others to consider what matters most to them.
You can take a journey too. You can go back to any time or place that you've been and you can dream dreams of where you may be tomorrow. It's OK if today is the day for your first entry. It's never too late to explore where you've been and where you're going. A simple notebook and a pen are what you need to let your own adventure begin. You'll keep account of your adventure in your own way. Your journey won't look like mine but that's what makes each journey a unique adventure. Tell your story in your own way. Discover what is meaningful for you.
If you've never kept a journal don't be intimidated by the blank pages before you. You don't have to share what you write with anyone if you don't want to. If you don't know how to begin, the internet is full of ideas on how to keep a journal and topics for endless entries. Look around and you'll find lots of ideas. In the end your journey may be a private, quiet one, but there's no telling where you own story might take you. All you need for your travels are a notebook, a pen and an adventurous heart! Make today the day that you begin to explore your own story.
