I don’t know how many people still keep journals these days. I really don’t. But journaling is something that has been on my mind for a good two months now.
Journals are meant to be personal, a space for you to fine tune your abilities for self-expression, formulate ideas, clarify goals and ultimately get to know yourself better. Journals allow us to monitor our internal thought processes, usually with positive results.
In the spirit of gearing up for the holiday season - bah-humbugs aside - I was feeling unusually self-reflective. With the passing of my own personal blog (5 years worth of pseudo-journaling) I was feeling a slight twinge of a void meant for rambling.
I received a present from my friend S a few weeks ago. It was a small, blank-paged journal and while I had heed and hawed over my inaugural scribbing, I realized that a little journaling would ultimately do me some good.
I found that writers block strikes journal writers too. A sad state of affairs this may be but it’s a conundrum that isn’t without remedy. The Lifestyle section on Associated Content’s site carries a feature entitled “A Year’s Journaling Prompts”- aimed at providing fresh content, inspiration and ideas. As the title suggests there are indeed 365 prompts, one for each day of the year.
If you’ve ever blogged, Facebooked or simply answered one of those get-to-know-you-better email forwards from your pals you may be able to relate to these questions. I thought I would give some of these prompts a go, just to see what comes of it. After running through all 365 I picked a few that I felt would be relevant. In an effort to keep this column somewhat entertaining and in the interest of not putting any of you to sleep, I’ll keep my answers as short as I can:
Shan’s Journaling Prompts complete with relatively short answers:
*DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE ROMANTIC POEM?
Yes I do. It’s Pablo Neruda’s “I Do Not Love You”. Easily the most moving bits of writing on that dreaded four-letter word I have ever come across. Don’t let the title fool you. It’s fantastic.
*WHEN ARE YOU AT YOUR MOST CONFIDENT?
When I’m around people I’m most comfortable with, who are themselves some pretty cool customers. With a little time I can absorb pretty much any environment and I am a constantly-evolving product of the personalities around me. To put it simply, the more confident they are, the more confident I feel.
*WHAT MAGAZINES DO YOU READ FREQUENTLY?
Vanity Fair. Editor Graydon Carter is someone I have immense admiration for. Granted I’ve only been reading this magazine for the past two years but VF maintains high standards for quintessential originality and excellence in writing, bar none.
*WHAT MOMENTS IN HISTORY DO YOU REMEMBER THE MOST?
I remember exactly where I was the very moment CNN broke the news that Jackie Kennedy Onnasis passed away. A small group of us were bunking together at a pretty nice hotel along Singapore’s Orchard Road as a sort of weekend treat. The others were sleeping off the effects of an evening out at legendary superclub Zouk except for me and a friend who were wide awake. We were sat in the living room, talking over cups of tea while I flipped through channels. The Breaking News headline flashed along the footer of the screen and CNN confirmed that the much-loved Jackie O had succumbed to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. That would have been in the early hours of May 20th 1994 for us – May 19th for those in the US.
And then of course there was that fateful morning of September 11th in New York.
*HAVE YOU EVER HAD YOUR PALM READ?
Yes, and I have also gotten my fortune read via tarot card and a medium. Let’s just put it down to my genuine curiosity on most aspects of the arcane. I usually just compare notes and findings to be honest. I blame Tiziano Terzani’s account of his travels around Asia in “A Fortune Teller Told Me” – which was a brilliant read by the way.
*CAN YOU SING A BROADWAY TUNE BY HEART?
I have the vocal prowess of a strangled cat but my singing issues aside, I do know all the words to “Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye” by Cole Porter.
*DID YOU WIN ANY SPECIAL AWARDS OR ACHIEVEMENTS IN HIGH SCHOOL?
No awards come to mind but I did have a pretty cool achievement in high school. For my GCSE exams, Music was one of the subjects I had chosen. The biggest obstacle I faced was my inability to read a single note of sheet music. Being a jazz percussionist I had always played by ear. It was something my teachers had embraced and encouraged as they understood that note reading, while extremely important, was not the be all and end all of a budding musician.
It was with that belief that my school wrote to the UK examining board and explained my predicament. The final grade for GCSE Music was based on two parts; the first being a written exam on musical terms and definitions, the other being a live performance on an original piece of music written by the student together with sheet music. The examining board made an exception by allowing me to replace sheet music with an essay on my piece together with a recording of it. Until today I don’t know how I pulled it off but I managed to ace both and received a very solid A for my efforts.
Journals and journal prompts. I’d like to see how I can flesh the other prompts out on my own. I’m sure many have their own takes on the pros and cons of journal entries but the very least, they’re a pretty solid form of creativity and self-discovery. Two components that are never a bad idea to indulge a little more in.
Source: www.associatedcontent.com
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