Journal Library

Our greatest stories are those of our trials and tribulations. Being seperated from family, seeking a better life for our family, whether it’s in service to your country, reconciling with our loved ones, or saying goodbye, the only way we can truly let them know is to write it down. Most often it is not about what made us superstars but what we overcame to find our place. Our patriots that serve get the double whammy. They sacrifice and are separated from their loved ones and at the same time have to endure unspeakable hardships. Notice how I said “unspeakable”, things that are so difficult that we would not wish that pain on anyone. So we bury it. Therein lies the problem, we don’t want to burden our loved ones with our problems. We talked about this in our post on coping. What if we were able to say, “It’s all a bit too raw for me now. I’m not sure how to tell you or integrate my experience into our lives in a positive way. However, I am writing about it and want to share it with you, it’s just that it’s my burden to process. I have to come to terms myself before I should involve you. I want to share. I want you to be involved but I also want to protect you from some horrific stuff. I served so you and our kids would not have to deal with this horrific stuff and for now that has to be enough. Not forever, but just for now.” We journal to capture ideas and creativity but we also use journaling to record. When we write or draw in a journal we usually remember doing so. When a theme or idea re-emerges we can look back to our original thoughts on the matter. Ideally to have a whole shelf of journals dating back years can be gratifying in that it represents an entire body of your experience capturing and dating your output. Journals also capture your account of events as near to as they occur preserving them from fading in accuracy. Years from now when a highschool friend starts reminding you of a crazy story you can say, “Not only do I remember that night but I wrote about in in a journal. As I recall the story went a little differently than you tell it”. Think further, imagine you have a grandchild going through junior year of highschool and that have your “Junior Year” journal from 40 years ago to compare their generation with yours. We throw out ideas about how some people journal but there is no format per se. It’s whatever works for you. We start with one journal but then we realize the need for a few. I have a daily journal that is about designing and recording my days. I have a dream journal which I consider private. I have project journals for major projects. I had journals for every semester of school and college which evolved into work journals by quarter. These had nothing to do with academics or work product but are instead all about my experience, people, places and events, my observations, disappointments and my thrill and gratitude at being present for these things. In addition to all of that I have a creative journal which is all about observational humor, doodles and million dollar ideas. Also, it’s important to have a journal that is devoted to your passion; your family, your kids, some hobby or adventure such as vacation journals, travel journals, recipe journals, bike trek journals, fly fishing, surfing or whatever it is your love. Remember, we can record a lot of things on our phones but the narrative is what really tells the story through our own lense. More fascinating than what we looked like is how we thought, loved and laughed. I have 10 years of notebooks chronicling, the riding, grooming, medical care, events, competition, training routines, ribbons and eventual retiring of my sport horse “Tippecanoe”. It started as just a training log book but then turned into road trips, shows, the wins, the defeats, loyalty, trustworthiness and the decision to retire a horse from jumping just as he had reached his prime. I don’t know if I will ever have a child or a grandchild that is into horses but if I do, these journals are the real deal as told through the eyes of a 15-25 year old and not just academic advice from who might eventually become a parent or an “old timer”. One of my dad’s favorite songs is “Old Man” written by Neil Young when he was 24. It takes a realistic visionary to comprehend life on the full scale. We will grow older, we will arrive at a point in time were our memories and lust for life should be formidable. We will think, “I have lived a good life” but if we don’t document it, who else will? Unless you're Quincy Jones, chances are you will be the author and narrator of your own biography. This is about making your own movie, your own memoirs, telling your story with subtext, feeling and illustrations. Life is not guaranteed. Illness and accident can strike us down. Our people coping with illness. loss and recovery process their trials by journaling Don’t wait. Chronicle the good, bad and the ugly. So today I have a bunch of dog eared note books packed in plastic totes. This was one of the key motivators in creating a journal book format and quality that will transform random notes and musings into a catalogue, a library of same sized quality books which will create a legacy, an encyclopedia, if you will, of your life. The idea is that if we are to create, let us record in books that will endure, that will last, worthy of a position in the bookcase, which will provide a chronologically tidy reference to our life in a manner which future observers or generations will be able to embrace, as opposed to have to sort through.