Blackfish64 Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 I had to start this thread on journaling because I have been doing it for a long time and want to expand my knowledge on the subject, and improve my experience, and perhaps even professionalize myself in journaling. I hope everyone who journals jumps on this thread and pays forward their two cents on the matter. Any little thing is valuable and welcome. If you have something to share, please do so. I started out journaling when I was eighteen, in 1982, and thought I had invented something new and exciting. Most everything I did up to around the year 1998 was burned or thrown in the trash. From 1998 on, I have a lot of material, most of it digital. I bought my first computer in 1998 and immediately put my typewriter and notebooks away and went 100% digital. I journal and write all over the place. My main journal is an old laptop computer that a friend of mine was going to throw in the trash. He said it was old and giving him too many problems. I took it from him, wiped Windows 7 off it, loaded Puppy Linux on it, and it has been running like a clock ever since. Nothing at all wrong with this machine. I never connect this computer to the Internet. The only thing I do on it is journal and a few other writing projects. This is my preferred method of journaling. Another unique tool I have found was introduced to me in the work of John Bradshaw: non-dominant handwriting. I started out writing with my left hand as a child, but was forced to switch to my left hand. I am amazed at how quickly I was able to pick up writing with my left hand and how well I do it. It feels quite natural, and different thoughts come to me than would if I were writing with my dominant hand. So, now the non-dominant handwriting is an integral part of my journaling. I have started a notebook and a folder for keeping all of these little non-dominant handwritten notes. I am absolutely delighted. I reread my journal from the previous day in the morning when I start writing. I correct all the spelling and read it through, adding whatever I need to add, taking out whatever makes no sense or is unnecessary, etc. Some of the material I write helps a great deal. Sometimes there are great breakthroughs and experiences. Some of the material is useless. The bottom line on journaling, the main reason I do it, is that I love it. What are your experiences, advice, teachings on journaling? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summerstone Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 Hey Blackfish, I talk about my experiences and perspective on journaling here: Something I learned from your post here is the great idea of using a computer that isn't connected to the Internet to journal on! I think the writer George RR Martin does that with his own writing. It's brilliant. Thanks for the share, Steve 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan H. Hoffner Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 I was going to post a video by Steven Summerstone, but looks like the man himself beat me to it. Here's another. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summerstone Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 I was going to post a video by Steven Summerstone, but looks like the man himself beat me to it. Here's another. Absolutely charmed, Nathan. Thank you for considering my work. Journaling can be such a sturdy backbone for self knowledge. All the best, Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackfish64 Posted November 9, 2014 Author Share Posted November 9, 2014 Hi Steven, Thanks for sharing. Great stuff. Never read any Harry Browne. I should get to that one of these days. I have read Nathaniel Branden many times since the late 1990s. I got my sentence completion exercises from him, too. As I said, I use the computer mostly. When using paper, I prefer to write in pencil, in a bound book with numbered pages. Notebooks are too flimsy. Since I started the non-dominant handwriting, I have been using a lot more pencil and paper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spenc Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 Sorry if I'm asking something already covered in the videos posted--I don't have time to look at them at this moment.... How do you deal with arranging and organizing thoughts, memories, etc. to where they fit together? I was thinking maybe going with separate notebooks for different types of ideas I want to write down. Or maybe going with a 3-ring binder and then [e.g.] if I write about some childhood memory on May 4th and again on June 3rd and August 20th, I can just put the sheets together so that they can be reviewed together. Would you suggest I even attempt to organize things in this way at all? Does that seem like some sort of controlling behaviour that should be avoided? And finally, how do you feel about sharing the journals? When confronting parents or sharing with friends, would you give them a journal to read through? I think this is the primary reason I am thinking about organizing my different thoughts together, so that they would be digestable to someone else if I wanted to use the journal to help that person connect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGP Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 I really enjoyed that video. I've been writing down my thoughts and memories and feelings for the last three months or so and I have noticed a big difference in my thinking. Just scratching the surface atm but it's a start. Thanks again and subbed to your channel!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackfish64 Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 Sorry if I'm asking something already covered in the videos posted--I don't have time to look at them at this moment.... How do you deal with arranging and organizing thoughts, memories, etc. to where they fit together? I was thinking maybe going with separate notebooks for different types of ideas I want to write down. Or maybe going with a 3-ring binder and then [e.g.] if I write about some childhood memory on May 4th and again on June 3rd and August 20th, I can just put the sheets together so that they can be reviewed together. Would you suggest I even attempt to organize things in this way at all? Does that seem like some sort of controlling behaviour that should be avoided? And finally, how do you feel about sharing the journals? When confronting parents or sharing with friends, would you give them a journal to read through? I think this is the primary reason I am thinking about organizing my different thoughts together, so that they would be digestable to someone else if I wanted to use the journal to help that person connect. Back stateside I have a three ring binder, a couple of them, actually, that I use to do just what you are talking about. It works. I know a woman who has a different journal for all the different areas and aspects of her life. She has a tall stack of bound books with numbered pages she uses as her journal. She has to rifle through the stack every time she wants to write, to find the correct journal for the subject. She has quite a collection. It's bizarre, and she's hilarious, but it works for her. That's all that matters. Make it work for you. I would advise against sharing what you have written. I guard my journal with my life, so to speak. No one reads it but I. On the other hand, if you are in therapy, or journaling with others, working together, etc., you can pick excerpts from your work to share and discuss with others. That's how I do it. Take the excerpt and write an essay or treatise on the matter, or make a solid mental note of the subject matter you wish to discuss and share only that. The trouble with sharing is that some of your thoughts are incomplete, macabre, deeply personal, etc. Letting someone run willy-nilly reading your goods can only lead to trouble. I found this out the hard way with some of my journals way back in the early 1990s. It was a girl I went with who I let read them for a time. I didn't know any better and saw no harm in it. Turns out, everything I wrote was later used against me, misconstrued, lied about, misunderstood, and basically thrown back in my face. Not a good idea to share your journals. They are raw, very revealing, and you might not even remember something you carelessly wrote one day that could land you in the proverbial hot water. Keep your goods to yourself. That's my advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackfish64 Posted November 20, 2014 Author Share Posted November 20, 2014 It is said that writing with the dominant hand activates the non-dominant side of the brain, and that writing with the non-dominant hand activates the dominant side of the brain. If these things are true, and I think they are, then doesn't it stand to reason that writing with both hands at the same time, as on a computer keyboard (personally, my favorite way to write/journal), for example, activates both sides of the brain simultaneously? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spenc Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 Thats a really interesting point. I'd love to know if your theory is right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackfish64 Posted November 21, 2014 Author Share Posted November 21, 2014 The theory might just be right. I dunno. All I know is that I feel really great when I am whamming away on a keyboard (or a fretboard), i.e., #amwriting. Now, this is not for the feint of heart, but give it a shot, if you dare... I picked up a pen in each hand and found that I can write with both hands simultaneously. Grab two sheets of paper and position each hand on its own sheet and try writing something. I can do it slowly, with each hand writing the same thing. I will really have something when I can write with both hands at the same time with each hand doing its own thing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts