In early August, as I was taking a little break from the blog, I issued myself a small challenge: write every day, by hand, in my low-tech journal.
I’d fallen out of the habit during our crowded July, and I missed spending time at the page – not always writing anything “important,” but simply jotting down thoughts and memories and to-do lists. I also wanted to see if I could do it, plain and simple. If I wasn’t spending (much) time and energy on the blog, could I transmute that same energy into my journal? I started a brand-new journal on July 31, with high hopes.
Spoiler alert: I didn’t write every day.
Here’s what happened, though: I wrote nearly every day.
Sometimes I wrote more than once a day, scribbling down a few paragraphs in the morning and then returning for a longer writing session after work. I mused and rambled and vented; I made lists and dreamed and wondered. I worked through more than a few exercises from The Sound of Paper (for at least the fifth time). My left hand sported ink stains, and my soul remembered how to exhale.
I began to crave that time at the page, that time to listen to myself and remember what I think and why it matters. I urged myself to pick up the pen even when I didn’t want to. I did not always succeed in this, but I began to turn back toward that gentle discipline, the one I’d almost forgotten: the deeply pleasurable act of daily (or almost-daily) writing.
It’s a new month now, and last night I finished the journal I’d been scribbling in during my prolific August. I don’t know as yet if any brilliant essays were hatched in that journal, or if the fresh journal I’m starting will hold better ideas. And I’ve realized it doesn’t matter – at least, not as much as I thought it did.
What matters is the process, the gentle daily doing, the wholesome and freeing (and sometimes frustrating) act of laying it all out there on the page. What matters, as all the best writing teachers would say, is that I’m writing. Even if it’s messy or disjointed or mundane.
I’m not sure if I’ll manage to write every day in September. But I’m keeping the same goal in mind: to write nearly every day, by hand, and thus to dig a little deeper into my own life. (And maybe I’ll turn up a few good ideas while I’m digging.)
Do you write in a low-tech journal, or have a daily writing practice? Do you agree that the process is important? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
cakes, tea and dreams 
I keep 4 journals: One for everyday writing in the morning; one for taking around with me on hikes, where I jot down ideas, write descriptions and such; one at my desk where I play with sentences; and one I use for 10 minute free- writes about anything.
I need to get back into the habit of journaling.
Very inspiring. I’ve started a new journal by the middle of July and it’s kind of disappointing to see that just a few pages were used. The main problem? I care too much whether those written words will be meaningful later on. Maybe I should try your approach and just let the writing go.
I have recently been trying to write more. Maybe I need a new journal. For me, I just have to figure out the time to write with my work and home schedule. I don’t feel like it after work, but that seems to be the only free time. When do you write and when do you work on the blog? How do you fit it in?
And I also held The Sound of Paper in my hand at a wonderful bookstore this weekend, but I didn’t get it. Now I wish I had. Boo. I feel more resolved to just write, so thank you for that.
I so wish I had time for this in my life right now. Sigh. Someday 😦
I tend to use our family email group (The Breakfast Club) as a virtual journal. I catch myself exploring a problem or celebrating a victory by thinking about how I’m going to frame it when I write to the Breakfast Club every day.
I love your Breakfast Club idea. I wish I’d done that when my kids were growing up. 🙂
I’ve kept journals since I was a little girl, but I haven’t written on one in years. It may be because I find that I “write” more efficiently with a keyboard. It gets very frustrating when my mind is going a mile a minute and my hand just can’t keep up. That’s not to say that I’ve kept up with virtual journalling either. Sometimes I just get too wrapped up in life that thoughts of writing gets pushed down the priority list until I forget all about what I wanted to write about.
I write in my journal (almost) every day. It seems when I do, my day goes so much better. I never know where my thoughts will go and often wind up springing from my journal to the keyboard. I really don’t know where I’d be without my journal writing practice.
I am an avid journal writer for many of the same reasons you mention here. It is very relaxing and therapeutic for me to sit down at the end of the day and let my mind unravel.
[…] I don’t spend every waking moment putting forth the effort to attain each of these dreams. Katie posted an awesome reflection today on a month spent writing every day, and my first instinct was to […]