JournalTalk | Write4Life

Lila loves journaling, and completely enjoys all the 101 reasons to keep on writing. But she just can’t seem to hang on to one journal long enough to fill it up, so she wrote us to ask, “What can I do to stop losing my journals?”

Several suggestions are offered, including: Write a “Dear Finder” letter at the front of her journal, not just to give instructions about getting it back, but to learn more about why she might have a habit of misplacing her most precious thoughts and feelings.

Join the discussion by posting your comments below (on our website’s comment section). How do you feel when you misplace your journal? What tricks do you have to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands?

If you are receiving this in email format, you may also reply with your own journaling questions to be featured on a future episode of JournalTalk. Or, please call and leave a voicemail with your question at 1-805-751-6280 (only normal toll charges may apply). If your question is featured, we will send you a thank-you gift for sharing your voice! (JournalTalk Q&A, Episode #14, October 21, 2014)

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First, let’s do a journal-writing activity that I teach in my Passion, Clarity, Purpose journal workshop: calming our conflicted emotions by honoring them one at a time.

When faced with a situation that activates several different, seemingly competing reactions, I’ve found it useful to take the time to slow down and give each voice in my “inner committee” a chance to fully express itself.

Then, my guest this week is Steven Summerstone, who discusses “sub selves”, his music, and an interesting cornucopia of other topics. Steven has a video podcast on YouTube that features a wide variety of philosophies and musings. His website, Nurturing Truth, is where he invites you to connect with him.  (JournalTalk, Episode #41, October 14, 2014)

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Someone named Anonymous wrote in with a great question. (By the way, who names their kid “Anonymous”?!!)

Anonymous asked, “Should I let my therapist read my journal?”

In this letter, Anonymous explains s/he is working through some difficult issues that stem from past experiences, and is considering bringing a four-year old journal, bearing raw, triggering memories, into the therapy session so his/her therapist can read.

Which is more important: to re-hash four-year-old thoughts and feelings of past events, or to detach from their grip, and use a new journal to write and explore the thoughts and feelings from the current (hopefully more mature) perspective? Which is safer? Which will provide the best healing? Certainly many factors are at play, for which we have no information from this question. And there’s a lot that we don’t know about Anonymous’ situation. While neither Mari nor I are therapists ourselves, we offer advice to trust his/her instinct, and face the past when ready.

Please join the dialogue: Under what circumstances would you read painful journal entries to your therapist? If you are a therapist, would you recommend that your client bring old journals into the session to re-live a past trauma? Post comments (on our website’s comments section).

If you are receiving this in email format, you may also reply with your own journaling questions to be featured on a future episode of JournalTalk. Or, please call and leave a voicemail with your question at 1-805-751-6280 (only normal toll charges may apply). If your question is featured, we will send you a thank-you gift for sharing your voice! (JournalTalk Q&A, Episode #13, October 7, 2014)

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About one episode in every three, I feel as if I’m unveiling my “new favorite” episode — one that contains a life-altering perspective, and some truly fresh ideas. This is one of those.

My guest this week studied neuroscience at the Mindsight Institute with Dr. Dan Siegel and applied her findings to a therapeutic writing curriculum she titled “Your Brain on Ink” which is offered at the Therapeutic Writing Institute.

Deborah Ross, an avid journaler, recognizes the healing power of expressive writing and shares techniques for using journal-writing as self-directed neuroplasticity. That’s a fancy way of saying that journaling can literally alter the connections and shape of our brains, and therefore everything else in our experience of life.  (JournalTalk, Episode #40, September 30, 2014)

SPECIAL OFFER:  Click the photo to purchase “Mindsight”, the groundbreaking book by Dr. Dan Siegel, and Amazon will make a contribution to these JournalTalk podcasts.

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Raul wrote in to ask, with deep yearning and colorful examples, “Can journaling help me become a better writer?” Both Mari and I reassured him that he’s already on that path, with a significant piece of evidence hiding right inside the four-paragraph question!

For a more detailed response to this question, you will surely enjoy my interview with Danielle Hanna, crime-fiction writer, and author of Journaling to Become a Better Writer.

In his book, 101 Reasons To Write a Journal, the author devotes an entire chapter to thirteen different ways that journal-writing improves your general writing skills, regardless whether you keep an analog or digital journal!  Here are the first ten.

1. Capture ideas before they vanish.

Please join the dialogue: Post comments (on our website’s comments section) if you have more examples of how journaling has improved your writing.

If you are receiving this in email format, you may also reply with your own journaling questions to be featured on a future episode of JournalTalk. Or, please call and leave a voicemail with your question at 1-805-751-6280 (only normal toll charges may apply). If your question is featured, we will send you a thank-you gift for sharing your voice! (JournalTalk Q&A, Episode #13, September 23, 2014)

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Years after the raw experience of writing, do our journal entries carry any value besides the nostalgia and entertainment from reading them?  To answer this question, I opened this episode with a 40-year old tape recording of my family at the dinner table. You might call it the world’s first podcast, from 1973!

From there, I raise several questions about “upgrading” our journal writing to the latest technology. I share my experience in the personal journey of making the switch from analog to digital journaling, and debunk a few myths that I once believed about journaling into a computer device. I’ve challenged myself to start a 30-day personal “trial” of electronic journaling, and I invite anyone who shares this curiosity to join me. (JournalTalk, Episode #39, September 16, 2014)

SPECIAL OFFERS:  Click on the book “Modern Journaling” for the latest offer on the epic guide by Easy Journaling’s founder. And, click on the 30-Day Challenge image to enter yourself in the FREE series of emails featuring journaling tips from prominent coaches and therapists around the world, and journaling tips from popular apps and affiliates.

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Do you ever get bored with a journal notebook you’ve started, and just want to move on to the next one already? What’s that about?

With our typical playfulness, wit and creativity, Mari L. McCarthy and I offer some helpful suggestions to Susan who asks, “Why can’t I ever finish a journal notebook?” We cover the full range of ideas, including an encouragement for Susan to celebrate her not-finishing a notebook!

Please join the dialogue. Do you drool over the many options in the stationery aisle, while picking out your next journal notebook? Do you get so anxious to start a new one that you leave the old one with unused pages? We welcome additional comments and suggestions about finishing up one notebook before going to the next. Electronic journal-writers: Chime in!

You may reply to this email with your own question to be featured on a future episode of JournalTalk. Or, please call and leave a voicemail with your question at 1-805-751-6280 (only normal toll charges may apply). If your question is featured, we will send you a thank-you gift for sharing your voice! (JournalTalk Q&A, Episode #11, September 9, 2014)

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My guest this week, Samara O’Shea, is author of three wonderful gems. Each of them highlights a slice of what makes journal-writing such a rich exploration of our hearts.

We discuss each of them, and the unique stories and choices Samara has made, from her online business of writing love letters for people, to her decision to become a psychotherapist. Samara shares about her role models, recalls some lessons about unrequited love, and gives us permission to appreciate our soul’s yearnings. Plus, we both offer up some unique journaling exercises about our attractions (maybe obsessions?) for other people!

Samara reminds us that the honest and vulnerable tales we carry within us makes journaling both a dangerous and tender journey.

SPECIAL OFFER exclusively for JournalTalk listeners: The first TWO people who contact Samara by email (please say you heard her on JournalTalk) will receive ALL THREE of these books for one steeply discounted price of just $25.00.  (JournalTalk, Episode #38, September 2, 2014)

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Do you prefer mornings or evenings to do your journaling? Or, both?

Julia Cameron, author of “The Artist’s Way” has successfully popularized the notion of Morning Pages, which are three pages of handwritten stream-of-consciousness writing done first thing each day. This practice has helped millions of artists, writers, entrepreneurs, business women and -men, and everyday people to recover their spiritual and creative expression.

Unfortunately, a common side-effect of this widespread practice is a belief that Morning Pages is the only way to do your journaling. Our question this week comes from a woman who wonders if it’s okay to try something else. Mari and I offer some suggestions, including the twin sister of Morning Pages, called “Night Notes.”

Please join the dialogue. Do you prefer morning or evening to do your journal-writing? We welcome additional comments and suggestions about journaling at night or day (or both!)

You may reply to this email with your own question to be featured on a future episode of JournalTalk. Or, please call to leave a voicemail with your question at 1-805-751-6280 (only normal toll charges may apply). If your question is featured, we will send you a thank-you gift for sharing your voice! (JournalTalk Q&A, Episode #10, August 26, 2014)

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While Fiona Fine may be a feisty feminist, her approach to self-awareness and self-empowerment is equally suitable for all genders. In this episode, my guest teaches us practical steps for journaling a “desire map” to get from where we are to where we want to be. Fiona draws from the tools she developed recovering from life’s traumas to share her no-nonsense perspectives on taking responsibility and living fully.

Fiona Fine is the Senior Managing Partner at Goddess Connections and founded a revolution on how to put the fun back into dating. She is the Editor-in-Chief of Women Who Run It: Your Life – Your Love – Your Terms! a digital magazine that advocates for smart, successful, super-achieving women leaders in all walks of life. She helps women who want to stop the frazzled, time-sucking search for information and discover the fastest path to the money, career, health, relationships of their dreams!

Click on the book cover below; Fiona has made her e-book, “Babe In Total Control of Herself” available as a free download for JournalTalk listeners. (JournalTalk, Episode #37, August 19, 2014)

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