The Gift of Journaling
The breakthrough to becoming a "real" journaler
"I am falling in love with gratitude journaling as it sparks wonder for my own life."
-- Barbara Gaughen-Muller
On June 24, 2021, I became a real journaler. After a life-time of abortive attempts at journaling and lugging around packing boxes full of unfinished and often barely-begun journals, a breakthrough happened. I know the date because it was the day I began the gratitude workbook that would lead to a revised-and-revised again version of Gratitude Mojo.
I thought the practice of gratitude would be good (and it is), but did not expect it to lead to my finally becoming the journaler that I had always wanted to be. It snuck up on me.
My dance with journaling began as a child when I was afraid to write in my 5-year, green-with-tiny-brass-key journal. I knew my mother would read it and knew she wouldn’t be happy if I wrote what I wanted to write. I tried writing code but then couldn’t remember how to translate it. In fits and starts over the years, I kept trying … and dropping out … somehow afraid that what I might write might be read, might not be profound enough, might be too profound and scary, might be … well, who knows …
In 2016, I published Gratitude Miracles, a journal that included lots of information about gratitude and wisdom quotes with lines for writing daily gratitudes. I kept those journals for a couple of years before life intervened and I lost the practice. In 2021, my long-time friend Lynne Snead and I decided to re-engage with gratitude by using this journal.
However, Lynne had an issue … she wanted a workbook that would have better paper and would lie flat for easier writing. Since we only had the 6” x 9” book printed through amazon, I dismissed the thought. But, still she persisted and offered to print copies for us on letter-sized paper. I thought it was a futile effort but when it arrived in the mail, I knew I had to try it, if only for the sake of our friendship.
Life comes alive in the margins
Gobsmacked! The effect was immediate. Being able to write in the margins set me free. The whole experience of writing in a workbook was different … better, more satisfying, easier … and over the next year-and-a-half led to the completely new Gratitude Mojo.
We believe it is the best gratitude journal available, but it really doesn’t matter what journal you use; the benefits come from the practice of appreciating everything in your life and having a long heart-to-heart conversation with your life in a journal.
We would love to hear your experience with journaling and what has made it more fun and effective for you.
For the next thirteen weeks, this newsletter will focus on two posts:
Sunday: focusing on gratitude and each of the thirteen themes of personal development included in Gratitude Mojo. (Reminder: this journal is only available as a printable pdf and is free with an annual subscription to this newsletter. Actually, you can gift a friend with a second copy … just send us their email address and we will send them a copy of the pdf also.
Thursday: dedicated to a deeper dive into journaling with tips, stories and illustrations.
Thank you for reading gratitude mojo. We love your “hearts” and please feel free to share this post if you think any of your friends and family would like it.
And if you would like to see other Gratitude Mojo posts, click here:
In good times and challenging ones, practicing gratitude helps us recognize the good things in our lives and build resilience for the challenges that come our way. Gratitude journaling is one of the best ways to better understand yourself and deepen your practice of gratitude.
Any journal will do … however, we have a bias toward Gratitude Mojo, which comes to you free with your annual paid subscription … including one copy for a friend because having a Gratitude Buddy makes the journey better.
We want to help everyone develop a deeper practice of gratitude, therefore, all posts are always free. … And, we always appreciate paid subscriptions as they help support this work.
I journal, and I still think about someone else reading my words and judging me. Your story resonated with me. I still use a kind-of code to remind myself of an especially deep, dark thought. Luckily my vocabulary has increased over the years and the code is now more poetic than cryptic. Today, at 73, I know that it is my own darn journal, and my own darn thoughts. I now share it when and with whom I wish.
I've begun to read some of my journal entries to my beloved husband of 50 years. Our lives are busy, so the brief moments of catch-up each day are precious and appreciated by both of us. When I share with him, it helps that I have distilled a flood gate of emotion to a few paragraphs and poems.