Saturday, October 8, 2016

Journaling ~ What to Write?

I love the feeling of a pen in my hand.  I feel safer with a sharpie at my disposal.  That's part of why I love journaling, and letter writing, and writing blog drafts (on real paper).

It's addicting, almost.  Where most people nowadays find it hard to get off their devices, I find it hard to get off my journal, whether writing or reading it, and I am totally fine with that!  (Although, it is sort of a waste of time to sit for an hour reading my own thoughts when I should be doing homework...)

I recently wrote this post about journaling, listing all the reasons you might have for needing to journal.*  But, I did not go into what you could journal about, which seems to be a major roadblock to many people who would like to get into journaling.  So, I came up with this very long list of things to journal on, just to get you started!

*I'm not actually saying every single person absolutely needs to journal.  Maybe you like gardening, or building, or driving, or whatever else.  What I'm saying is, journaling isn't for everyone.  People say they'd like to journal, but either a) don't have time, or b) don't know what to write about.  Well, the fact is, if you really want to enough, you'll make it happen!  If, deep down, you really don't feel like journaling, and you have plenty of other things to occupy your time, then you're probably not going to get to journaling.  And you know what?  That is fine.  Journaling is a kind of therapy, and maybe it's not your preferred form.  That is okay.  Alright, rant over.  :)

For those of you who find it hard to think of things to write about, maybe this is what you find yourself staring at when you sit down to write:
And then, after staring at it for long enough, you decide to close it up, and you're looking at this:
You don't want that.  (I hope not, at least!)  So, I'm here to help you be able to look at something like this:
As you can see, you don't have to write all fancily or prettily, in words you say or the way they look on the page.  This your journal.
Sooo, here (finally) is a list of possibly all the things anyone could think up to journal about/on, so you can sit down to write, and write.

What to Journal About/On
  • Lists
    • Happy lists
    • Sad lists
    • Favorites lists
      • Season (you know mine!)
      • Colors
      • Holidays
      • Siblings (ha! jk)
      • Shoes
      • Memories
    • Thankfulness lists
    • Fears lists
  • What do you wonder about?  Write about it!
  • Secrets - duh.
  • Prayers to God
  • Letters to people, like...
    • Friends
    • Celebrities
    • Your younger/older self
    • Your children (whether or not you have them)
    • Your spouse (^^^)
    • People you'll never see again
    • People you see everyday
    • Total strangers
  • Memories
  • What you did today
  • Imaginary conversations
  • How (and why?) you don't want to eat your veggies
  • All your problems with broccolli
  • Rants on what makes you happy
  • All your wonderments
  • All you wanderments
  • Quotes you like
  • What makes you...
    • Angry
    • Jump for joy
    • Nervous
    • Sad
  • Your life...
    • Plans
    • Ambitions
    • Dreams
    • Hopes
    • Goals
  • Special verses
  • Devotionals
  • Just doodle, or whatever.  Don't even write if you don't want to.
  • Your crazy ideas that you're too embarrassed/ashamed to tell anyone else (or maybe you wisely decide not to?)
  • Your plan to take over the world (gotta write these things down so you don't forget, ya know?)
  • Whatever you're obsessed with
  • What you're eating for lunch tomorrow (or yesterday, or right now)
  • What if you lived in an alternate universe?
  • Praises to God
  • Observations
  • Why you're passionate about whatever you're passionate about
  • Mind map
  • Brainstorm
  • Experiences
  • What would your perfect day be like?
  • Ideal...
    • Day
    • Summer
    • Week
    • Pie
    • Weather
  • What are all the things you want to be "when you grow up"?  (Whether or not you've already grown up)
  • Expectations for the future
  • Struggles
  • Free write
  • Post on social media every day?  Write in your journal what you would post on social media.  (Probably all your friends don't mind if you neglect to tell them your two cents about life for just one day.)
  • And um, so much more!
Hopefully this has whet your appetite!  Then, later on, you can look at this again, satisfied this time, knowing you done wrote in your journal!  *high five!*:
There are literally a thousand things you could write about in your journal.  This was only a few of them.  Or, this was all (?) of them, but generalized.  Okay, no, let's be real.  This only scratched the surface of what you can write in your journal!  Hopefully I've inspired you, and you can come up with even more things to write about!
Basically, you can write about ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING you want!

What are your favorites from the list?  What can you add to the list?

14 comments:

  1. I don't journal. I ride horses, which help me to get my anger out. It is super fun/terrifying when the tiny pony you are riding decides to become a racehorse and jump big on the highest jump in the course. The saddlebred mare I ride is actually less spunky than Dijon, the pony. I hope you can come down and meet me sometime and maybe watch me ride!
    -Amelia

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    1. Lovely! Riding a horse sounds like a wonderful way to get feelings out. Ooh, I really really really hope I can come meet you sometime! :D

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  2. I've journaled since eight :D It's AMAZING for recording events as well as SO MANY other things!
    I'd be so happy if you checked out my blog,Mic's Room (http://lovelypinkduckshome.blogspot.com/)leave a little ring to tell me you stopped by ;)
    -Mic

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    1. Ooh, that's great! It's so fun to read journal entries from when we were that age, isn't it? Checking out your blog now! Thanks for commenting, Mic!

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  3. Loved this! I've been journaling since I was 5 although I can't even read my own writing from back then. But I'm constantly running out of ideas of what to write about so this will for sure help me :)

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    1. Yay! What a long time to be journaling! That's wonderful that you have all those years of it to look back on! Heheh, even if you can't understand what you're looking back on. ;) Thank you so much for commenting, Natalie!

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  4. THANKS MAGGIE!!!! This has definitely got me wanting to journal again! Oh those blank pages... I think they plot to st us from writing. When I see one, firstly, I don't want to ruin their perfect whitness. Then I DO, because ink on paper is so pretty!! Then I stare at e page, and my mind becomes just as blank as it is, and then I don't know what to write. *throws crumpled paper across the room* or just *bangs head on wall*
    Thanks again, Maggie! Great post!!
    ~E

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    1. YOU'RE WELCOME ESTHER! I'm so glad I was able to be a help to you! Yes, blank pages can definitely be a hindrance to inspiration. Haha, I agree that ink on paper is so pretty! I love that look. Hope this gets you to write! Thank you for commenting, Esther!

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  5. Great ideas, Maggie-- I love journaling. :)

    Grace of golden halcyon

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  6. Lovely ideas! I like journaling, and this will make it even better. :)

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  7. Beautiful blog post Maggie! Keep it up!

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    1. Aw, thank you, Anna! :) Haha, I laughed when I first saw your comment, because I thought you were my sister Anna! I soon realized you were a different person though. Thanks for the comment!

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