Journaling Jumpstart

Happy Thursday!  This past weekend I had a ton of fun continuing on my Creative Retreat making pages.  During the Super Bowl we attended a party and instead of watching the big game I took some time to scrap some pages.

While I was working on my pages the topic of journaling came up.  For me, journaling has been a love hate relationship because there are times when I struggle with being a perfectionist and wanting to say all of the right things in a wonderful way.  So here are some of my tips for getting out of your own way and jumpstarting your journaling:

1.  Evernote – This is a free online service that can help you remember stories you want to tell by giving you the ability to record the memory either by typing, using photos, or recorded messages.  It also comes as an App for your smartphone.  I’ve been able to record a lot of different stories that I might have otherwise forgotten right on the spot.  For me, this kind of replaces the notebook that I’ve carried in my purse.

2.  Interview – If you are trying to remember a lot of stories or need someone else to give you information for a project I recommend interviewing.  Use some form of recording device and have a simple conversation.  Of course you need to let them know you are taping the interview, but if you just talk through a conversation with someone you may find that the stories flow freely and quickly.  And on a side note, you may want to save the interview.  Who knows how much that interview may be a treasure in itself.

3.  Take Your Time – I know that a lot of scrapbooking teachers will tell you never to skip journaling, but I’m a realist here.  If you don’t know what you want to say right away, put the page away and come back to it.  To make sure you do not forget about it set yourself a deadline to make sure you do not have orphaned layouts.  And to be honest, if you wind up with a few orphaned layouts it is totally okay for you not to journal.  There is no right and wrong in scrapbooking…no matter what some may say. 🙂

4.  Blog – Another way to help with generating ideas is to Blog.  If you do not feel comfortable putting things on the Web then keep it private.  The whole point is to get you to write!  WordPress is a great place to start since they are free!  I use WordPress and if a multi-tasker like me can use it…

5.  Art Journal – If you are looking for more of a creative outlet to journaling then you might want to try the artistic approach.  I use art journaling for those times when words just will not work.  I also use my art journal to creatively experiment with products and techniques before I place them on a page.  Art journaling has also helped with my written journaling because it allows me to open up and think outside of the box.

6.  The Purse Notebook – I have already said that Evernote has replaced my purse notebook, but if you are not on the tech train I recommend getting a small notebook you can keep in your purse to jot down events, stories, even shopping lists.  You never know what you may want to use later on as a starting point, and if you don’t like something you can just throw it away.

7.  Just Do It – It may not always be pretty and perfect prose, but if you continue to just journal you will get better.  If lists are something that work for you, great!  If you need a journaling prompt, there are a million resources to pull from – just Google it.

All right folks, I’ve given you some suggestions to help with journaling so go out there and do it!  You do not have to be a scrapbooker to gain some perspective from journaling.  Journaling can be therapeutic for the soul!  Also, just like in scrapbooking there are no real rules to journaling so the choices are up to you!  Have fun!