Creative Journaling - The Beginning

by Linzé

Welcome to my new weekly series on Creative Journaling!

Do you know how long people have been keeping journals? I have been keeping a journal from a young age, and while those have long since been relegated to ashes, I continue to keep up the practice as an adult.

But the journals we keep today are not exactly the same style as those from long ago. Modern day journals are more about personal thoughts and experiences, whereas those from the earliest days were not. They did include personal observations, but about the world around them, transactions people engaged in, and of the world during their travels. Their observations had been directed outside of themselves, if you will.

Today, or since the Renaissance to be more precise, our journal entries have been directed more inwardly. Of course, the world and its problems and joys impact on us, but our observations are no longer about being a pure observer. These historical journals have taught researchers a lot about that time.

So what will our journals today tell future generations about the people we are today?

So what makes creative journaling different from keeping the kind of journal we are all used to?

You know the kind where you pen your gripes and pains and frustrations with the world at large. Or slap yourself on the back for a job well done. You know that thing that you hide from everyone, because it has all your innermost thoughts and secrets, that are meant for your eyes only.

The answer is simple: nothing. There is no difference.

Whatever your reason for keeping a journal, whether it be for yourself, your children, or anyone who wishes to learn about your life experiences, the creative journal will not change that.

It enhances the experience for you as the writer, and your reader, if you are so inclined.

Creative journaling adds a visual dimension to the traditional journal. You might ask what the difference is to the doodling that have filled your journal pages in the past.

In the creative journal, those doodles are not time wasters, they become part of your entry of that day.

Artists have been using their skills to create their entries in a pure visual way, as it is the way they best express themselves.

Whether it be a pencil drawing of a person they met that day, or a watercolour miniture of a particularly beautiful sunset that touched them, the visual artist is the prime example of keeping a creative journal

To my mind, however, there can be so much more to either the artists’ way or the traditional way of keeping a journal.

I invite you to take this journey with me. A journey where we explore my take on keeping a creative journal.

A journal that can be used (and explored) by artists, crafters, writers and ordinary people alike.

Oh, by the way - if you subscribe to my mailing list you will get the practical handbook, that accompanies the Creative Journaling for Everyone book, for free when it is available in December. The handbook will not be made available otherwise.