One question I get asked more than any other when talking with someone about keeping a journal is this: How do you know what to write? I never know what to write.
My response?
Add images and use those images to practice what I call Vision Journaling.
With Vision Journaling you don’t have to know what you’re going to write about. When you sit down with your journal, you’ll find what you need to get your pen moving. It’s in there because you have added images to your journal that you love, that mean something to you, and they represent a style or experience you want for you.
Where do you find images?
Magazines are my favorite source because the paper is easy to cut and tape or glue, the quality is usually high, and you can find truly unique images in print if you take the time to flip through.
Photos are another option. Photos of places you’ve been, people you love, or even books you enjoy, the most beautiful meal you’ve ever been served, etc. If you have a smartphone that takes photos and then a wireless printer that you can print to directly from your phone, you can set up an easy system for capturing your life in images, placing them in your journal, and writing about them when you have time.
Drawing. Sketching. Painting. Getting out those satisfyingly chubby Crayola’s out and adding color to your pages. Your imagination is a source of imagery that can light up the pages of your journal, if only you’ll let yourself go.
Then comes the piece where you know what to write about. If you want to journal regularly, but sometimes struggle with where to begin, open to a new page and write about one of your images. See where it takes you, what dreams or desires it unfolds, and what actions you can think of to create what you want.
Interested in learning more about Vision Journaling? Come and join me in a live Vision Journaling workshop. Click here for the next date.
Sara Marchessault is a writer, publisher, teacher, and mom who is on a mission to increase joy on the planet. Through the practice of self-reflection, we become aware of what brings us joy and what does not, and we make choices to move forward or stand still. Journal writing is a powerful reflection tool that can help any of us move forward, even in the darkest of times. For ideas on how you can get the benefits of journal writing without always keeping a traditional journal, check out Sara’s book, Beyond Pen & Paper: 33 Experiments in Journaling.
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