start a journal and keep it

i don’t really want a journal where i write about my day, but somewhere to write down quotes i like, or to put good magazine articles, cute pictures, to practice lettering, or whatever—something to be inspired by and to look back on.
but, the reason i can never do this is because i am such a perfectionist that whenever i buy a nice, fresh notebook, i always mess up and end up tearing a few pages out and then i just want to start all over again .. its like a cycle.

For a good laugh, you can visit my personal blog, http://www.itsafrogslife.com

But I have succesfully launched and kept up with two blogs (one personal, one Strictly Business™) since my last entry, and it is quite nice. Now I just need to get started on a hard-copy real book journal for all the angsty too-juicy-for-public-display stuff that I need to write down.

I don’t know how many Journals I have started and either forgotten about, destroyed or given up on within two weeks.

I had a professor in college who was a professional writer, edited the college paper, and encouraged all of his students to write every day. His favorite mantra was ‘Writing is a muscle – unless you exercise it, it does not get stronger’.

The hardest thing in the world (at least for me) to write about is personal stuff. Most of the time, I either feel like I am babbling and what I am writing about doesn’t matter, or I am writing about personal issues and feelings that I don’t necessarily want to remember. The latter reason is why I have destroyed (torched, shredded or pitched) half of my journals.

I’m doing it! Woot! I feel really good about it! That way I can look back fondly on the days of my youth! ...lol… Yeah, I think it’s a great way to save memories!

and I have been making a journal entry almost daily. I have to admit though that it’s not a time in my day that I particularly look forward to. There is something about translating my feelings onto a sheet a paper that I find utterly disconcerting. I know that these first entries have been self-edited by the time my thoughts flow to my pen. This is a barrier that I need to break through.

has been purchased. Today I begin.

to start to write again. To open up. As luck would have it (was it luck?), my good friend Erica invited me to hear her speak about journaling your personal experiences and translating them into your writing. Her talk gave me a lot of food for thought. I think I’m ready to open up the flood gates and take the plunge. Time to go buy a journal…..