by A.J. Morrison

Created on: July 16, 2008   Last Updated: July 18, 2008

With pen and paper in hand we set out on a cloud. We are at peace in a place that is all our own. Life slows down and serenity consumes our being. Aloft in a world where we are free to express anything our heart desires without fear of reprisal. This is the wonderful place that journaling takes us.

Journaling is an exercise that men and women alike have practiced since the beginning of civilization. Whether to record historic events or day to day ponderings of one's mind, journaling has been a magnificent way to scribe the occurrences of every day life. Cave men did it when they produced cave drawings. Egyptians did it when they painted and carved hieroglyphics. Renaissance inventors did it to chronicle thoughts and discoveries. Ship captains did it to record their nautical adventures. Beyond the obvious and famous, every day people like you and I have been journaling for centuries as a matter of escape and expression. This is evident by journals discovered and revered as family heirlooms. Journaling is timeless.

More than just historic significance, journaling can have amazing therapeutic benefits. Choosing to merely relay your day-to-day activities is just as good as releasing your deepest feelings into the pages of your daily register. You may find joy in the day's to-do list completed. You may find relief in unloading burdens that weighed heavy on your heart throughout the day. You may find wind beneath the wings of your hopes and dreams with words of ambition. One thing is certain, when you enter into the pages of your journal, you will find yourself.

Your options for expressive mediums are just as varied as the ways in which you choose to communicate. Your scrawling can begin in anything you want it to be in. You may purchase a bound book or compile loose-leaf pages into a three ring binder. A spiral notebook, computer document, or scrapbook will easily serve as a journal as well. The important thing is to make it your own. A journal can be your sanctuary, no matter what its form.

More than writing, journaling has the ability to take on many forms. It can be drawing, painting, or doodling. You may choose to save ticket stubs, significant newspaper articles and pictures as a way to chronicle events. Sound journals, video journals, nature journals, scrapbooking journals, and gratitude journals are just some of many ways that people choose to express themselves.

In what ever way you choose to journal, just do it! Start small if you are intimidated by the process. Write 5 things you are thankful for that day or 2 things that happened no matter how small or big the events are. Just start recording and let the magic of pen in pages sweep you away!

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