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My daughter’s great-grandmother passed away recently at 97, and Nan was a prolific diarist for the majority of her life. Every journal she’d ever used to document her life was neatly lined up on a shelf in the living room. Nan had no fear. And it was impossible to embarrass her. All of the young relatives were encouraged to pick a volume, page through and find something to ask questions about, some event or occurrence in her life.
That was how her grand- and great-grand kids found out that she was married at 14 to a 26 year old. “It was a different time” she’d say, waving her hand through the air toward all of the evidence sitting there looking at her. She even covered how she felt when she saw indoor plumbing for the first time.
We know how she felt, watching her husband go off to war, then her sons a generation later. We know how Nan coped with the death of her own mother. We know how she felt on the day the Challenger exploded and how she felt on the day when men walked on the moon for the first time. Nan wrote about her feelings on birth control, the death penalty and 9/11, and her words feel as fresh as the day she wrote them.
I can acknowledge that this is an incredible privilege. Not only did my daughter get to spend a lot of quality time with her great-grandmother, she is still reaping the benefits of her advice and experiences through the lifelong, first-person accounts of a long life lived with love and honesty. Some of the entries are more difficult to read than others, particularly the ones written around the child loss that Nan experienced in her early 30s, but the lessons are invaluable and timeless.
Journaling allows us to connect with our future selves as well as past versions of us. Give your progeny the gift of your story and the benefit of your experience! The most important part of journaling is the part where you just do it. Sit down and start writing. Don’t stop until you’ve said what you want to say. There are soooo many techniques and styles that lend themselves to free writing. How about junk journaling, bullet journaling or shadow work journaling? Not everyone can work that way, however. If you have difficulty organizing your thoughts or feelings, consider one of these guided journals to help you get started!
Year of Junk Journaling: 52 Creative Prompts to Transform Scraps of Your Life Into Art
by Martina Calvi
The number one rule of junk journaling; there are no rules, of course! Whether you are intrigued by the concept and want to get started or already have a stash of scraps and ephemera stuck in a drawer somewhere, this book delivers tons of ideas for your journal.
Each of the projects is designed to inspire you while acting as a springboard into self-reflection. Most importantly, there are tips for finally talking yourself into using some of the precious stickers that you’ve been hoarding forever. Celebrate everything about yourself, and create a family keepsake that preserves special memories in a wonderful, creative way!
The Alchemy Journal
by Suleika Jaouad
NATIONAL BESTSELLER – From the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir Between Two Kingdoms
“Journaling as a process is utterly alchemizing, with practical applications in every area of one’s life and work. The journal is like a chrysalis: the container of your goopiest, most unformed self. It’s a rare space, in this age of hypercurated personas, where you can share your most unedited thoughts, where you can sort through the raw material of your life. Day by day, page by page, you uncover the answers that are already inside of you, and you begin to transform.” — Suleika Jaouad
“Journaling as a process is utterly alchemizing, with practical applications in every area of one’s life and work. The journal is like a chrysalis: the container of your goopiest, most unformed self. It’s a rare space, in this age of hypercurated personas, where you can share your most unedited thoughts, where you can sort through the raw material of your life. Day by day, page by page, you uncover the answers that are already inside of you, and you begin to transform.” — Suleika Jaouad
You will love this journal before you write a word in it! Marbled endpapers, a pretty ribbon bookmark and a pocket for ephemera make this a visual treat as well. Writers can choose to meditate on one of the
insightful writing prompts. Or you can feel free write about anything their heart desires. Either way, you will learn something new about yourself!
The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling
by John Muir Laws
Gold Medal, 2016 Foreword INDIES Book Awards — The best-selling, ultimate guide to nature drawing and journaling!
No, not THAT John Muir, but this one is also in tune with nature in incredible ways. Laws is an accomplished biologist, artist, and educator, dedicated to helping humans connect with nature through observation and art.
This wonderful book is a go-to resource for both artists and naturalists. Step-by-step illustrations will guide users through the process of creating their own nature journal. Laws gives lots of practical tips along the way for producing lifelike drawings of animals, landscapes, plants and more. Your written observations will be the perfect accompaniment for your drawings, whether you are an experienced artist or just figuring out your style.
BONUS: This is not a guided journal, but it is so moving, and I love the way the author added more to his story after years of reflection that I had to include it.
If I Don’t Return: A Father’s Wartime Journal
by Mark Hertling
“This journal was once a gift to our young sons. It is now a gift to anyone who cares to read it.”
Major Mark Hertling deployed to the Middle East in 1990 as the operations office of an armored cavalry squadron. The soldiers in his unit were told that that up to 50% of them would likely not return home. Hertling started recording his thoughts for his young sons just in case he himself did not survive.
Using army-issued notebooks, Hertling wrote about his hopes for his children. He emphasized the importance of camaraderie and relationships and the true and necessary characteristics of an effective leader. He wrote about grief and the horrible realities of war, humanity and courage in the middle of chaos. The notebooks began as a way for a father to connect with his sons in the event of his death. Hertling’s survival and eventual return from Iraq were bigger than a story to keep in the family.
Hertling got to see his own sons become combat veterans themselves. Years later, one of them typed up Hertling’s original pages and presented them as a gift to his dad. Since he’d written those entries, Hertling had been promoted and had returned to the battlefield, so he had a lot more to say. He added more recent reflections and lessons; there was still so much he wanted his sons to know. This unique book is part war memoir, part a love story from father to sons and part meditation on the realities of war. Don’t miss it!
Discover What Journaling Can Do for You
She didn’t know it is a young girl growing up in West Virginia, but Nan was creating an incredible gift for future generations. Ownership of her journals and notebooks is family drama happening right now. I really wish I could read her thoughts about it.
Few activities offer as much opportunity for self-evaluation as journaling! It might be cringey to go back and read your entries from high school, but it is invaluable when you want to reflect on changes that have happened in your life and how far you have come. No matter what life stage you are currently living, you can learn from your past self. And you can really set Future You (and even future generations!) up for success by helping you identify patterns and behaviors that might be causing angst in your life.