Write in your journal – Coaxing Creativity Tuesday Tip April 6, 2010

April is Stress Awareness Month and writing in your journal is a great way to not only de-stress, it is a creative, empowering path to self-discovery and change. A journal may be many things:  a sounding board, a collector’s cabinet, a snapshot album, a history, a travelogue, a letter to yourself, a laboratory, a jewelry box, a treasury, or a dream-catcher. It may be kept regularly, or now and again. It may be entries on a calendar page. It may be gorgeous leather bound volume, a spiral notebook, or a collection of random bits of paper in a shoebox. A journal may be a record of your day-to-day life as well as a chance to keep track of your thoughts, record information, and keep ideas. You may even want to keep parts of newspapers or magazine articles you find interesting (or even consider creating beautiful collage pages in your journal). Many people have discovered a trusted and valued friend in their journal.

I’ve been keeping some sort of journal since I was 11 and I used to hide it from my older brother. My journals and I go back a long way and I plan to continue the relationship for the rest of my life. It’s become a part of my morning ritual. I never know what’s going to happen when I show up on the page.

Care to join me? Just grab a pen, a notebook and let the words come.