The Journaling class

Tonight I taught a class on journaling for a Relief Society Enrichment class. I had asked the Young Women to join us as well. The class went great. Here is my out line for anyone that missed it or is interested in doing their own.

Introduction

I believe that everyone has many stories to tell and that life grows richer with each story that is told. This is true not only for the teller, but for those who have the privilege of hearing or reading the stories as well.

As wonderful as it is to sit and talk with family and friends, many of our anecdotes will be lost if we don't take the time to write some of them down. When we write the stories of our lives, we take our sharing to another level.  Our memoirs can be a precious intergenerational gift for the whole family and can inspire other family members to preserve some of their own stories

There are many ways to record our stories and memories. There are of course your traditional journals where you record your personal life experiences. Blogging can be a form of journaling. Scrapbooking is also a way to record special moment and memories. Baby books are a great way to record the events of your childs life. You can keep a school scrap book that records the highlights of your childs school year, teachers, favorite classes, artwork, etc.(I had a display of the different kinds of journals I had, some of the other sisters shared art journals, gardening journals, and gratitude journals)

There is something about recording events that help etch them into your memory. I have a journal entry that I wrote on my ninth birthday about the gifts that I recieved, where I was, what I did. I remember that day very vividly. It is the only birthday that I can recall that clearly. It is also the only entry made about my birthdays as a young child.

 Anchoring Exercise (I played some soft meditation music while I guided them through this exercise)

Take a deep calming breath, relax.

Describe the experience of today.

How did your day begin?  Is today a typical day for you or is it unusual in some way?  Look around you.  What do you see, smell, and hear?

Who have you talked to today, or has it been a day of solitude for you?  What have you learned from the conversations you've had?  What have you learned from your solitude?  What feelings have come up for you today?

What has been enjoyable?  What has bothered you?  Write whatever comes into your mind.

Where did your mind take you?  Were you at all surprised by what ended up on the page? Which was longer, your description of what you enjoyed or what bothered you?

Sometimes our wisdom is able to speak louder to us during an anchoring exercise like this one because it is often the one pause we give ourselves to focus and reflect on the here and now.  Try to make the anchoring exercise part of your daily routine.  Pick a time of day which is a naturally good point to stop for a few moments and regain perspective.

Each story is an heirloom.

I think the most important thing in writing a journal is to put down the things that meant the most to you and perhaps changed or molded the person you are now; i.e. loved to go to grandparents' house?  Picture yourself in front of the house... what did it look like, what did it sound like when you went through the door... what could you smell....  why was it fun...  what do you see when you picture your grandparents standing there greeting you....  waving goodbye....  it is amazing how much information is stored in our brains that can come out if we quietly revisit in our minds...

Memories of a Place
Names
Traditions
Travel
Friends
Special Family Times
Pets
Parents
Parenting
Siblings
and much more!

If possible, pull out some old letters and photos to get a better feeling for times gone by.  Listen to some of your old records and make yourself a snack you've always enjoyed.  Sounds, tastes and smells are very powerful memory triggers

Describe some of the places you've lived, or a place that was especially memorable to you. Often, if we can mentally transport ourselves to meaningful places in our lives we are able to remember many events, or just simple day-to-day moments, that we otherwise might have completely forgotten.

What hung on the walls of your bedroom? What did you see outside you windows? Where did you like to read?  Did you like to climb trees?  When friends came over, where did you play?  What did you play?  Did you walk to school?  Take the bus?  Capture these moments!

Describe some of the "smaller things" you remember.  Sometimes people don't want to write about anything in their lives except the most exciting parts.  That's fine, but then your readers will miss out on the smaller details which, sewn together, give a more in-depth picture of who you were and are. Here is an example of a very simple, yet descriptive entry from my Great Great Grandmother, Katherine Love Paxman,

      "Richmond, April 19, 1885
                 Sunday morning, weather cool and cloudy, all nature seems hushed in quiet slumber and everything         seems to have assumed the look of quiet peaceful rest, on this, the day of rest."

Can you just feel that day? You can see it can't you? I bet you have experienced a similar kind of day. What a simple entry, yet it shows a bit of who she was.

As the memories come back, take as many notes as you can.  Remember to use all your senses.  What were the common smells in the kitchen?  Did you paint or color or play with clay in a certain room?  What was the texture of your favorite stuffed animal?  Do you remember the sound of your parents' car coming up the drive?  Or the sound of the ice cream truck?  What other sounds, smells, tastes and textures were part of your day-to-day life?

Meandering from room to room, into the yard and down the street, more and more memories will tumble into your mind like childhood cartwheels.

Journal prompts placed in a decorated jar are a great way to get started, especially if you feel overwhelmed by recording events from past years. Here are some Adult journal prompts, Youth journal prompts, Children(6-12) journal prompts, Children(2-6) journal prompts. Cut these word strips out and place them in your pretty jar. At least once a week, choose a slip of paper, paste it to the top of your page. Date your entry and answer the prompt. Remember to be descriptive. Think about the things that we have talked about. Allow yourself to relax and remember.

Another exercise that I have found useful, something that I picked up on Facebook, is to write 25 random things about yourself. I wrote my first list, and published it on my blog, and I found that over the next week I was thinking and remembering more random things. So I wrote a second list and published it on my blog. And wouldn’t you know it, that very night as I lay in bed, my mind was thinking of even earlier memories, I will be writing a third list.

After all the talking was done, I had the sisters decorate jars to put there journal prompts in. We had a realy great time and all the sisters that attended were excited to go home and get writing.