Write it Down

I believe in journalling. 

 I believe in writing stuff down and sorting things out on paper.  It allows me to come back to it and see how God has worked it out or me out.  I believe we are to be good stewards of the things that God gives us, in particular those creative ideas.  Writing them down is a way of responding to His thoughts.  I don't want to forget anything He tells me. It all has a purpose and it is so powerful. It's ALL worth writing down.   

When I have counseled and encourage leaders to journal I met many of frustrated looks. I hear the "I try to journal, I do it for a week and then quit."  I have found that a lot of those frustrations are because they are either journalling with the wrong type of journal or the "what” and “how” they are journalling didn't fit their personality. 

Different styles of journalling.  

A journal doesn't have to be a long drawn out description of the day’s events.  That may work for some, it doesn't work for me.  A journal could be sketches, random thoughts and ideas, thank you's to God, even prayers and their answers. I take the journal to church and will take notes from the sermon in it.  I have even saved memento's from the day and taped them to the page with a description of why that meant something to me.  Maybe God spoke to me in a powerful way I write it down.   The point is just write something down, it doesn't have to be a novella. It could be something so simple, a one liner.  Let it fit your personality and your lifestyle. If you make it work, or drudgery, then your not going to want to do it.  Let it be something you look forward to.  

Different types of journals.  

I had a hard time journalling at first because of the type of journal I was carrying around.  It was way to big and intimidating.  I had this crazy desire to fill it up all at once and that just didn't work.  What really got the ball rolling was a little tiny journal I could keep in my purse.  Composition books worked for a while.  As I became more passionate about journalling I went to moleskins because they have a bookmark, smaller and had a pouch in the back to save things like ticket stubs, pictures, business cards.  I have evolved into a journal called Ecosystems.  By far my favorite.  The point is the type of journal needs to be consistent with your lifestyle.  If your active and on the go why would you carry this big notebook around.  If your an artist, then a big sketch pad is your thing.  If your a homebody, then maybe your journalling is on the computer.  It might take you a few trial and errors to find whats right. 

Don't get discouraged and frustrated.  

It might take a few stabs at what to write and what to write it on, but you will eventually get into a groove.  Don't get legalistic about it either. You don't have to journal like anyone else, and you don't have to journal the same way every time. There are no set rules to this.