Hello! Hello! So happy a dear friend and fellow
blogger, Misty Pittman invited me to be part of a #mywritingprocess
Blog Tour! The prompts encouraged us bloggers to think about the writing
process and why we write what we do. Well, here’s a little piece about the
tango between journaling and blogging. Enjoy and treat yourself to the
exquisite writings and awe-inspiring photos featured on Misty’s beautiful blog www.lifecreatedblissfully.com.
Recently I discovered a diary I
kept when I was nine. A thoughtful Winnie the Pooh occupies the front
cover. The bear is a childhood
favorite who serves as the journal’s guardian. The few carefully preserved
entries detail my emotional reaction to being called mean at summer camp,
(because I stole my sister’s snack), express utter excitement over shopping at
a dollhouse store (the blooming days of a small fashionista), and I lament a torn
down tree swing (“this broke my heart very badly”).
All in
all, I am the same. The entries I wrote as a nine-year-old mirror the ones I
passionately write today. In beloved PAPAYA! Art journals, I continue to explore and question my
sensitivity, and my charged emotions to people and events. I journal to look
for meaning, to find the lessons, and pinpoint my patterns. I journal about my
passions, what makes me feel alive and the small, ordinary moments that leave
me breathless.
This
journaling is my everyday therapy. It’s messy, repetitive, a Faulkner stream of
conscious with no paragraphs and commas in revolt. A tug of war between a
complainer and a gal striving to see the positive.
Blogging
tidies up the words urgently spilled across a journal’s blank page. Blogging captures
a jewel glistening in a chaos of ink. Blogging shines off a thought, polishes
an emotion, and presents it to the online world to see in the hopes other
readers can see their own reflections in that sparkle and shine.
Journaling
is intensely personal. The blank page provides space and acceptance for the
initial, knee-jerk reaction. After the tears have been shed and the curse words
spit out, I have the clarity to pause, listen and write with intention. In the
pause, I glimpse the life lesson, I gently observe myself and lovingly embrace
my imperfect, but oh so very trying self. Pieces of poetry, or kind words
spoken by loved ones return to me.
Journaling
guides me back to center, and from that place of connection and understanding,
I blog. I write about life’s sparkles and struggles in the hope that others can
find some comfort, inspiration, or a parcel of truth that resonates with them
and gently guides them back to self.
My
Winnie the Pooh journal is safely tucked away. As I write this, I think of my
nine-year-old self and I thank her for writing, for gifting my older self with
forgotten treasures of my childhood and providing insights to self. And I thank
you for taking a moment to read about this quirky writing process and for being
my listener. Whether or not you write, may you be a good listener to your True
Self, and gift yourself with the time to explore, express, create and celebrate
who you are because you’re rather perfect and your story is worth being told.
***
Now, happily passing the writing baton to Julie
Ransdell. I’ve fallen in love with her blog . Here’s a sweet intro, you’ll fall for her, too!
Julie Ransdell
:
I am a mama, wife, yoga instructor, prayer warrior,
and lover of all things fine food, fine wine, and fine music to my ears. I
cherish living a simple life and strive daily to bloom right where I am
planted.
