Live in Balance: A to Z Challenge - J is for...

J is for...Journal

Like most things, journals and the reasons they were kept, have evolved over time. According to Wikipedia¹, the word diary comes from the Latin word diarium, meaning “daily allowance” and journal originated from the same root diurnus, meaning “of the day”.

For the sake of this post, I will use the word 'journal', since most adults refer to their appointment books as diaries and their electronic diaries as calendars. A diary also implies a daily entry, whereas a journal entry does not have to be a daily occurrence.

Semantics you might say, but for clarity, I will stick to using the word, journal.

Unless you are an accountant or bookkeeper, then the Journal is something you use to fix other people's mistakes. I am just saying.

At the beginning...

Journal writing actually began way back in the second century AD. People used their journals to record transactions, events or visions. These entries depended on who you were and the significance of these events in your life.

Only later on, about the 11th century, did people's journals start to reflect the styles we associate with our modern times. Personal reflection, inward events or experiences that we perceive as important enough to note.

From the Renaissance onwards, people started to record more than the events of the day. It was also these personal records that researchers found to be valuable about life and times in that era.

Publication of these personal journals was never an option to people in those days, making their observations of particular importance to historians today. Their words were not intended for an audience although they might have ended up that way.

The modern journal

“Frank Smythson made history in 1908 when he created the world's first practical, portable diary. From its stitched spine and supple leather binding to the clean, crisp leaves of Featherweight paper and glint of gold, Frank's original design remains virtually unchanged to this day.”²

If you look at the Smythson website, you will agree that not much has changed since then, with the exception of the advent of the online journal.

Who could then resist recording the events and thoughts of your own? All that was required was the ability to read and write, or maybe draw a picture if the journal was kept by an artist.

While it might not be your or my cup of tea, it became almost fashionable to publish the journals of people of note from the nineteenth century. The most famous of these are the journals of Anne Frank, about her experiences hiding during the German occupation of Amsterdam during the Second World War.

There are many other examples, if you are interested please follow the links on the Wikipedia page for more information.

The digital journal

Online journaling is more what we would be used to or expect to use these days. The first recorded online journal was published in 1994. Since then the recording of personal thoughts and commentaries have become more prevalent on blogs.

Personal journals, for recording of private reflections and thoughts, are typically not for public consumption. The writer could use encryption to guarantee continued privacy.

The online journal has become portable with many of them providing a smartphone app to allow the user anytime access to their online journal.

As with handwritten journals, these online journals could be bequeathed to an heir upon the death of the writer. Check with your online journal supplier if this is something you could do for your children or grandchildren.

Why keep a journal?

Why do people keep a journal? The answer to that can be as varied as the reasons why people write.

History taught us that journals were kept to record financial and other transactions. People noted the events of the day in their environments. World travelers recorded their comments on the places they visited and recommendations on the best food, or route to follow.

Nowadays, journals have expanded their usefulness towards the recording of sleep patterns, diets, life experiences, notes on achievements, personal thoughts and goals. If you can think of a reason to record any and all observations, either internal, external or of any significant value, there will be a person (or ten) out there that does it.

Have you thought about the value you have gained from keeping a journal? Take a minute and note your thoughts in your next entry.

1  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diary

2 http://www.smythson.com/diary

Live in Balance: A to Z Challenge - I is for...

I is for Inspiration

💜 For today's post, I leave you with a few quotes

- to inspire you. Enjoy! 💜

“Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”
― George Bernard Shaw

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
― Winston S. Churchill

“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”
― John Lennon

“If you only write when inspired, you may be a fairly decent poet, but you'll never be a novelist.”
― Neil Gaiman

“Disciplined runners consistently clear their heads and focus fully on the journey ahead...because their passion and zeal for the goal supersedes the strain. The goal beckons them onward. Passion doesn't negate weariness; it just resolves to press beyond it.”
― Priscilla Shirer

“When we procrastinate, we also put a hold on happiness.”
― Charles F. Glassman

“If you don't acquire the discipline to push through a personal low point, you will miss the reward that comes with persevering.”
― Jeff Goins

“Discipline allows magic. To be a writer is to be the very best of assassins. You do not sit down and write every day to force the Muse to show up. You get into the habit of writing every day so that when she shows up, you have the maximum chance of catching her, bashing her on the head, and squeezing every last drop out of that bitch.”
― Lili St. Crow

“Every time I hear writers talk about ‘the muse,’ I just want to bitch-slap them. It’s a job. Do your job.”
― Nora Roberts

“Don't wait for the muse. She has a lousy work ethic. Writers just write.”
― Barbara Kingsolver

Live in Balance: A to Z Challenge - H is for...

H is for...Happiness

This whole blog series is aimed at finding your Happiness through a journey of journal writing. So that begs the question: what is happiness? Or should we rather contemplate what happiness means to us as individuals?

I think for each one of us being happy may mean something different, and yet we still have many things in common that we can all nod and say, yes, that would be my happiness too.

In his book, Flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, dug deep into the psyche of what happiness truly is. I would say with 20+ years of research, he knew what he was talking about when he wrote - “in the quest for happiness, partial solutions don't work.”

When you sit for a moment and think about that statement, you will come to agree that it is true.

The partial solutions Mihaly mentions are the weight-loss, get rich with this formula, do this to be successful books. And there are many available. Many. While they might be true, you will be thin, rich and successful, but will you be happy as a result?

These books promise you the sun, moon, and stars, but they never tell you what to do once you have reached the promised land. What happens if you are now rich, but the underlying reasons for your unhappiness can't be fixed with having money? Or being successful? Or thin?

So why aren't there many books offering you the 'full solution'? Because nobody can tell you what you need to be happy. Is being overweight making you unhappy, or is it the relationships in your life? Is not having any money the reason for your unhappiness, or is it jealousy about what other people have? Do you really want the same success as your friend, or are you afraid that they will reject you if you do not achieve the same as them?

Can you imagine what such a book will look like if someone were to write it? It would be thousands of pages long, and then it could still not make you happy. Because, it was not written for you as a person, an individual.

Happiness is not about pleasure either, despite what the world tells us in its attempts to sell instant gratification as happiness. Pleasure is a fleeting thing, short-lived and the act or its results has no lasting impact on our inner self as a person.

So what else is there?

Enjoyment, as opposed to pleasure, is an experience rather than a moment's gratification. It is making a choice to do things in a different way.

I wish I could tell you where to find the answer, the solution, the recipe, to being happy, but I cannot. No one can. Only you can do that. Only you can pave the way towards your own happiness.

You can start on that path, using your journal, to explore the following:

1. Challenge yourself with activities that require skill

Mental and physical activities are included. This is not just about your hobbies or personal time. We spent an enormous part of our lives working, and yet people constantly complain about their jobs. How could you possibly find any enjoyment doing a job that doesn't challenge you on some level?

2. Give the task your absolute attention - concentrate

I am sure you are familiar with the saying, 'time flies when you are having fun'. People say that because they are so focused on their task (whatever the task might be) that their awareness of time is different. They are not clock watching because they are concentrating on getting the task completed. Being focused and giving all your concentration on a task, is a choice irrespective of the level of enjoyment of the task. Just remember how good it felt when you finished a task, even if it wasn't something that you enjoyed to do.

Case in point: I hate ironing (I am sure there are more people that feel the same). Since I have a back problem, standing or sitting in one position for any length of time causes my back to ache, a lot. So I have learned to do any standing or sitting activities in 20 to 30 minute periods, without pain.

Since I dislike the chore so much, and cannot dawdle in its execution, I have managed to optimise my technique in such a way that I can iron on average 15 long sleeved shirts in 20 minutes. For most people that may sound odd, but for me, it is a task that I give my full attention to, mostly to get it done and out of my life.

It is still 20 minutes of my life that I would rather spend doing something else, but getting so much done in such a short time, provides me with a sense of accomplishment.

3. Set clear goals for the activity and the achievement is obvious

This is fairly straightforward and even works for an unpleasant task, like my ironing. Some goals are long-term and it can be difficult to keep your eye on the ball. In such a case it would be good to set milestones along the way to help keep you motivated and feeling accomplished as a result. Who wouldn't feel elated when the short-term achievements bring you closer to your long-term goal?

4. Enjoyable activities bring a different kind of enjoyment

Some aspects of our lives can be worrisome and stressful, and we cannot avoid those. Taking part in activities that you enjoy, activities that require focus and concentration, will help in alleviating some of the constant negativity our minds can often fall into.

The same applies when it comes to the setting of goals and the achievement thereof. Again, these activities do not have the physical to provide the focus our minds require.

5. Sense of control

This is more of a physical activity element, in that danger exists in some sports, like rock climbing. The sense of control helps the climber prepare his mental approach towards the climb. The risk is still there, but the goal and the achievement thereof rests with the climber in his ability to control his ascent and the way he approaches the climb.

Personally, I think the same sense of control is prevalent in the practitioners of martial arts, even those styles where full contact can be dangerous. Their ability to focus on the activity and the control they practice to exert themselves, brings about the achievement of the goals set as part of their studies.

Your journey and journal

Your challenge is to identify the activities where focus and concentration can bring about change in the way you do the task. The enjoyment of either the activity itself, or the achievement of the set goal, is the primary objective.

None of these elements of enjoyment will bring you happiness overnight, nor will they do so in isolation. It is a path, a journey, where you can grow into the happiness you see for yourself.

Explore these elements as you set a task for yourself, its goals, and the way you experience the completion thereof. Would it change the way you set the next task? Did the successful completion of an unpleasant task change the way you will approach a similar task in future?

Live in Balance: April is no fool's month

The month of April is well underway and I trust yours has been as creative and productive as mine so far. I am also looking forward to a couple of weeks of leave to spend more time with my writing and art.

With Francois back from Botswana, I have quite a few of his photographs in mind for art projects. My favourite (he is still busy working through the 5000+ he had taken) image is one of a baby hyena. It is so cute, and yet as an adult, it will inspire fear and respect.

Also on my Francois-picture wish list are two photographs of a leopard and two birds. Very excited to get going on those, but I have a protea that I am busy with that I want to finish first. You can believe me when I say that I cannot wait for my leave to start!

The A-to-Z Challenge letters for the coming week are as follows:

Monday: Letter H…for Happiness (what this whole challenge is about)

Tuesday: Letter I…for Inspiration (a touchy subject amongst creatives)

Wednesday: Letter J…for Journal (had to sneak that one in)

Thursday: Letter K…for Knobs, knuckles and knitting (journaling can be lighthearted too)

Friday: Letter L…for Life (another art journal entry)

Saturday: Letter M…for Music (dum, dum, du-dum...)

If you missed the first letters last week, here is a quick recap (just click the letter!)

A   B   C   D   E   F   G 

Live in Balance: A to Z Challenge - G is for...

G is for...Gratitude

This is probably the one theme that you will find in every single book about journals and journal writing. But what does it truly mean to be grateful? Is it a list of the things we own (eg. house), the things we are (eg. healthy), the situations we find ourselves in (eg. employed)? Or can there be more than just a list we should be contemplating in our journal entry today?

Would there be a universe if I were not here to appreciate it?

In his course work book, The Journal-Writer's Guide to Staying Started, Nathan Ohren posed the question: Would there be a universe if I were not here to appreciate it? (quoted from page 22)

I'll bet that unless you have done Nathan's course, this would be one question that you would never have thought to write about. It is a philosophical question that you might like to debate with yourself, but there is a fundamental concept hidden in the words of the question - if we live a life of gratitude, it will influence the world around us.

Change yourself, change your world

I am sure you have noticed how people tend to avoid someone who is constantly complaining or always negative about the world around them. The opposite is also true - people are drawn to someone who has a more positive attitude towards life.

Set yourself a challenge for one week: be more mindful of the world and the people around you. Appreciate the beauty of the natural world. Be more grateful towards people who cross your path, especially in the small things that they do. Even something as small as a smile when they greet you in the morning.

Note in your journal how you experience the changes in yourself and the reaction you receive from others. Don't be fake in your approach, people will pick up on that and be distrustful of your intentions. You will also hamper your journey towards happiness if you do.

Be honest in your actions. And share with others (if you want) on how living and being more grateful changed your perspective.

At the end of the week, note in your journal the difference in the list of things that you are grateful for before and after the week.

My change, my world

I have a stressful job, and for years my relaxation time was focused on my writing. At some point I found that writing as an outlet was no longer enough - I needed more.

I have often mentioned that my husband, Francois, is an amazing photographer and I find a lot of pleasure in the way he captures the natural world and the people in it.

As he developed his skills with a camera, I realised that I too could do the same, but through visual art, not a camera.

Is my gratitude centred around my talent (still developing) as an artist, or in the subject matter that I want to capture on paper or canvas?

While I am grateful for my talent, I find the ability in myself and others to showcase our world in art to be the primary source of my appreciation. I don't have to express my gratitude in words, and upon occasion, I find that even with an extensive vocabulary, that there are no words. In those cases I let my pencil and paintbrush do the talking for me.

In doing so, my view of the world around me has changed too. It is not the change alone that I am grateful for. The way my eyes were opened to appreciate the talents of others, the beauty of my country and the smiles on people's faces when they too 'see' what might have been an unnoticeable thing before, has been humbling.

And to you, thank you...

I am guilty of not saying it often enough - thank you. To you my readers, my blog visitors, and followers: thank you for spending the time to read this post. Your time is valuable and these few minutes spent with me is truly appreciated.

Thank you!

 
Note: the A to Z Challenge will continue on Monday, although you can see what my posts for the next 6 letters of the alphabet will be about tomorrow. I hope you will join me then!

Linzé