Getting Started

Getting Started

Now before you can get started on your journal, there are a few decisions you have to make. First, you have to decide where you are going to keep a journal. It can be right here on your computer or it can be a fancy story bought journal, or a composition book, or a three ring binder. We will be exploring types of journals in future blogs, so for now, I suggest you choose something to go with and change when you have had some experience or are looking to spice up your journaling time.

Next, decide where you are going to keep your journal. You should choose a handy spot next to where you will be writing and where you can find it easily. It can be in a basket by your bed, by a favorite chair, or on your desk. And, before you get started, decide if you need to keep the journal under lock and key…and if the answer is yes, invest in a small lockbox so you do not have to worry about your privacy being breached.

The last thing to do is to decide on the setting that will work best for you: with your morning coffee, after a writing, painting, singing, or otherwise artistic session. Do you need a routine; can you do it anytime anywhere…is it best ten minutes in the morning before you start your morning routine? Or is it best after dinner when the family is settling down, or do you prefer to journal right before falling asleep. It is most effective to set up a routine and stick with it for at least 30 days for the routine to become an expected habit, however, what works for you is what works for you, so go for it. Cree en tu mismo.

The First Entry

Now you are ready for your first entry. It can be a free flow of information an answer to a question, a response to a poem, a quote, or a response to a picture. Now is the time to select what your current journal will be…and you can have more than one…and get started. You can copy the following poem, answer the following question, or just do a free flow of information. The important thing is to start…and do not worry about being overly creative, sometimes, just jotting down a quote, a stanza from a song, or pasting a picture is enough to get you over the hurdle. Siempre hay un camino.

My first journal was a journal of Quips and Quotes and anything notes that I started when I was 16. It was filled with wonderful quotes that inspired and motivated me…and it started me on a wonderful life of life-long journaling…

Con un pan y cafecito,

Seguimos, ADELANTE

Zulmara

"El valiente vive hasta que el cobarde quiere."

The brave will live as long as the coward lets him.

The Secret to Success: Try Different Styles

The Secret to Success: Try Different Styles

I have known many who ask me, how do you do it, how do you stay motivated and inspired to journal everyday? How do you make it happen and keep it real? And, my answer is simple, I mix it up. Sometimes, I am writing letters to a friend, other times I am scrapping, other times I am doing letters to loved ones, or a good friend. Sometimes, I have a journal with lines and others, I have a journal with no lines. At times, I write with a pen, others with markers, and sometimes, I embellish with stickers…or pictures, or cut outs from magazines.  Tienes que desfrutar.

As I mix it up, it is easy to stay motivated, engaged, inspired, and enthused. I also match my journaling to my moods, my needs, my life circumstances. When my mom passed away, I did a grief journal, when I wanted a change in career, I did a dream journal, when I wanted to start my own business, I wrote a goals journal. That way, the journaling does not seem contrived or forced, but it is easy, fun, and inspiring, because I am not journaling just to journal, but for a reason, a purpose, with a rationale.

I also have more than one journal going at a time, this way, I journal what I need and I journal for inspiration…and it works very well for me. I follow my fancy and enjoy the ride. If I feel disengaged, I try another form, another way, another style…as long as I am connected and inspired, I know I am on the right track. When I feel disconnected, I try to readjust. I try a different type of journal, write a letter to a friend, look for pictures that I connect with, or fill a pretty journal with comics that make me laugh, smile, or giggle.

How do you stay motivated? How do you stay engaged? When you are disengaged, what does that mean? How do you get yourself back on track?

Con un pan y cafecito,

Seguimos, ADELANTE

Zulmara

"Echa tu pan al agua y al cabo de muchos días lo hallaras."

Give to others and good things will come your way.

Types of Journals

Types of Journals

There are different journals for different purposes and many people will say this is not working for me because they did not think through the process first of what they wanted to achieve and accomplish, their life circumstances, and what would work for them. Hace que trabaja para ti.  Here are a number of different journals I have tried that I love. If you have something else that you have tried, please share it with the group.

1. Electronic: You will have a place on your computer or online where you enter your daily journal writings.
2. Fancy Store Bought Journal: This is a cute, sturdy journal that helps you get in the mood and resonates with you. It is usually very pretty and invites you to relax, open, reflect, and tell.
3. Scrapbook: for those of you who are very visual, sometimes a scrapbook is the best way to journal…here you can cut and paste quips, and quotes, and anything notes that resonate with you and who you are becoming.
4. Regular Notebook, Yellow Pad, or Composition Book: these are great for rants and raves, letters you will never send, or pages you want to burn.
5. Three Ring Binder: Many writers like the flexibility of a 3 ring binder to help them organize stories, ideas, names, character sketches, places, and worlds. The 3 ring binder can take pages with lines, no lines, typed pages, and a nice place for photographs.
6. Apps: There are many different apps for your smart phone that are great for journaling on the run or when you have no time, stay tuned for a full post just on apps.

Remember, you want to go with your strengths. If you are visual, choose a form with no lines and markers for including visuals. If you are a collector, choose a form that allows you to cut and paste the little things you want to keep. If you are a writer, try using a medium you do not usually use…handwriting, for example, if you do all your writing on the computer. Or fuzzy, fun markers if you write your initial ideas with a ball point pen. Be creative and work through your strengths.

What types of journals have you found particularly interesting? What has worked for you, please share with the group?

For a special treat, check out the following Crafty Chica blog: 

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=18927816&blogID=404718381&Mytoken=52E6C69C-901E-4D48-A8B0B0B01A14220783826836

For a wonderfully creative Bliss Book Idea for crafty journalers…these are truly a work of art that you will treasure and can share with loved ones as a gift. Es tu felicidad.

Con un pan y cafecito,

Seguimos ADELANTE!!

Zulmara

"El de buen entendor, de pocas palabras."

He who is wise, needs few words.

The Many Faces of Journaling

The Many Faces of Journaling

Journaling takes on many forms and many shapes and it has been my experience that what type of journal I am involved with has to do with what is going on in my life. When I am lost without a rudder, I tend to go with a gratitude, goals, or dream journal. When I am feeling a need to heal, I go with a grief journal or a healing journal. If I find I am quick to anger, than I go with a rant and rave journal or a letter writing journal. It all depends on my mood, my reflections, the rhythm of my days, and the space I find myself in. Todo depende en ti.

Here are a series of journals I have found particularly helpful…it is by no means exhaustive, but can be helpful in getting you started. As you read the list, what resonates with you, that may be the place to start. Pues, empezamos.

1. Gratitude: Write 5 to 10 things each day you are grateful for
2. Grief: write about loss of a loved one to help you sort through the powerful feelings and emotions
3. Healing: write about a difficult time…loss of job, divorce, accidents…any time you feel a need to heal from the rough bumps of life to gain perspective and point of view
4. Letters: a good way to help reach resolution about past hurts, past misdeeds, and past indiscretions…write what you want to say to someone who hurt you or did you wrong, or someone who you hurt.
5. Rant and Rave: this is your letting go of anger journal…where you are ranting and raving about everything that is wrong with the world, your life, your spouse, your kids, your relatives, your boss, your co-workers…you get the picture…it can also be your 16 year old…it is all about me journal…rant, rave and get over it…
6. Daily: this is a nice way to get centered at the end or the beginning of a day. What are you doing? Why is it important? Where are you going? How are you getting there?
7. Inspirational: this is where you inspire yourself or others, it can be quips, and quotes, and anything notes to help spurn the creative juices.
8. Goals: here you write your goals—10 or less and how you are going to achieve them. An action plan for meeting your goals. Then check in regularly to be sure you are on track.
9. Dream Journals: This is for the wild, fancy, running naked at the beach in St. Trope journal. Your wildest dreams of what would make life exciting. What do you dream of—the big house on the beach, the cabin in the woods, a house boat on the Mississippi—dream and dream BIG!!!
10. Quote: a special journal to write your favorite quotes…from books, movies, people you know. Those wonderful quotes that resonate with you, move you, make you tingle, or make you smile.
11. Reader Journal: a place to keep track of what you have read and how it has resonated with you, what you liked about it, or your review of the books that have touched you that you want to share with others.
12. Writer’s Journal: this is where you write the plot, the characters, themes, places, seasons, backgrounds for the novel, book, article, etc. that you are writing. It is the place where you interview characters, research historical facts, create languages, try different scenes, and write various plots…just to see what will work and what will get into the finished product.
13. Learning journal: Sometimes when learning something new it is nice to have a learning journal to release your frustrations, understand the process, and appreciate the journey.
14. Guided Journal: This is a journal where you respond to questions, prompts, ideas, pictures, quotes, and other “guides” to understanding the self.
15. Picture Journal” A journal where you respond to visual clues, paintings, sculptors, drawings, etc. what feelings are evoked, what emotions do you feel?
16. Poetry journal: this is a journal of powerful poems designed to evoke feelings, inspire, engage the soul, move the spirit. Write what is evoked, what is thought, what is inspired.

Please add to the list and share some of your own journals that you have found particularly helpful, fun, inviting, and inspiring.

Con un pan y cafecito,
Seguimos ADELANTE

Zulmara

"Mas vale paso que dure y no trote que canse."

Slow and steady wins the race.

Journaling Your Way to Success

Journaling Your Way to Success

Journaling has been likened to the wonder drug, it can help you deal with grief and loss, succeed in business, make your dreams come true, give you peace of mind, help you have an attitude of gratitude, and even help you lose weight, win that trophy, and celebrate your successes. Es magia.

Pues, es la verdad. And, it is all true. Journaling really is the elixir of life, the wonder drug, the magical cure, and the way to make life transforming changes in your life, mental attitude, and perspectives. Journaling can help you with your career, love life, discovering your inner self, and helping you to realize your purpose, passions, and way of being in the world.

In the coming weeks, I am going to write about the various ways to bring this powerful treatment into your life and how you can make transformations heretofore, unknown by taking pen to paper and revealing the secrets of your soul and spirit to yourself and to others.

For those of you who already journal, hopefully, you will find some good ideas, interesting prompts, and new twists to keep your journaling alive and working in the service of your life. I am also hoping you will share your ideas for journaling and how it has worked for you. For those of you who have never before journaled, but would like to get started, get ready for the ride of a lifetime. It promises to be deep, rewarding, self-actualizing and, at times even difficult.

You will find there are ah-ha moments, tears, laughter, joy, sorrow, sadness and happiness in journaling. It will lead you on a journey of self-discovery and acceptance that will help you realize your most wild and passionate dreams.

In these journaling blogs, I will have something for the seasoned journaler and something for the novice…and under the Guided Journal Tab, you will find poetry prompts to help you get started. These poetry prompts give you a place to start on your journey.

Please list and share some of your experiences with journaling. La vida es dulce.

Con un pan y cafecito,

Seguimos ADELANTE!!!

Zulmara

"Roma no se hizo en un día."

Rome was not built in a day.

Why Journaling?

Why Journaling

Why journaling? Many have asked me, why do you journal? Why write all that stuff down? Why take the time to write stuff no one will ever read?

Well, in the month of February my blog will focus on journals and journaling. I will cover how to get started, what to include in your journals, how to make journaling work for you, and how to find a journaling style that resonates with who you are and what you want to accomplish. Many of us have great plans for 2012, and we started off strong at the New Year, join me now to take your plans to the next level as you journal your way to the success you have dreamed of. Claro que si...

Writing our thoughts, ideas, emotions, and what resonates with us is a very powerful way of living in the moment, being whole, feeling vibrant, and understanding our purpose. Journaling gives us a quiet place to get in touch the inner essence of who we are and it allows us to work through some stuff…write it down…burn it, don’t mail it…it is especially healing work and allows us to free ourselves of the emotional baggage we sometimes carry. Journaling helps you to quiet your mind to bring clarity to who you are and what you want.

It helps you to learn what works for you in life, who you want to be, and how you want to be in the world. Creative souls journal for it is the sustenance to our creativity…it allows us to be our creative selves in the world…since everything is created twice…once in your mind…and next when it is manifested…whether it is a book, a story, a piece of art, a photograph…first you have to see it in your mind’s eye, then it becomes a part of your being…and journaling helps us to bring clarity to our minds eye.

I started to journal as a way to write down quips and quotes that resonated with me. Then as a reader, I loved some of the things I read in certain books and wanted to have a record of them, and I started keeping a book journal…and the rest is history. I started keeping a journal and I found it resonated with the writer in me. It helped me to understand myself, who I was, and what I wanted out of life. It helped me to set goals, set priorities and stay focused. Then, when I discovered gratitude journals, I saw the power of writing myself out of a funk…just one day at a time…5 things I was grateful for…and YES…it does change your life…quickly and marvelously…es muy importante dar la gracias a Dios.

Please share with us why you journal…or why you don’t…

Seguimos ADELANTE!!!

Con un pan y cafecito

Zulmara

"Mas vale tarde que nunca."

Better late than never.