|
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
JournalingLife.com's Monthly Newsletter
January 2005
Issue One - Volume Two
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Time Seems to
Fly By So Let's Capture Some Insights
I'll just get the clichés out of the
way starting with "Happy New Year" or
how about "Time just seems to fly by more quickly the older
I get." No,
I'm not being cynical, just a little silly. It would be easy
to treat the
last cliché lightly, but I do think that it is a truth
we all need to
continually keep in mind as we walk through this life. This
hit me like a
screaming locomotive recently when I caught up with some old
friends I
hadn't seen in quite a while. These are friends whom I played
with in a
Bluegrass band about twenty-four years ago consisting of a father
and two
sons. I was the fourth wheel in a band that was awesome, and
a whole lot of
fun.
The father, whom I love dearly, was recently
diagnosed with Alzheimer's
disease and it has broken the hearts of his family and friends.
It was sad
to sit and talk with a man, so full of unbelievable talent and
goodness,
listening to him repeat himself and struggle to remember one
moment to the
next. His wife sat there with a look on her face that told a
million
stories, and I could tell that she was anticipating a journey
that would
become more difficult in the days ahead. He remembered enough
about the
past to comment on how time seems to fly by and those twenty-five
years
seems like yesterday. His eyes sadly showed that he was struggling
to
remember. This has caused me think about the great blessing
of memories and
the ability to pull them up and reflect on them. I can't imagine
what it
would like to lose that ability. The thought of it makes me
shudder, and
fills me with horror. Perhaps some of you have first hand experience
with
this same situation. Those of us who do not, really don't have
a clue what
it is like to either struggle with the illness or have a loved
one suffering
with it.
A significant part of what drives my desire to journal is the
love of the
past, and the great wisdom that can be gained through the experiences
and
stories contained therein. I have decided to make the passing
of time my
theme for this year's journal entries. Certainly not for every
single
entry, but I would like to make it a frequent stop. Over the
holidays, I
stumbled across a goldmine of historic family treasures, filled
with enough
stories and memories to keep me writing for a long time. My
mother gave me
a suitcase that contained the possessions of her sister Grace,
who passed
away in 1940. She died on December 20th of that year, and was
buried on
Christmas Eve. The suitcase had never been open since 1945,
and I have to
say it was an emotional experience as I opened the suitcase
to see its
contents. Inside were my Aunt Grace's school papers, report
cards,
photographs, letters from friends and relatives, drawings she
had done, and
two pairs of shoes. The contents painted a wonderful picture
of a beautiful
little girl that withered from time. My mother told me that
for five years
following her death, my Grandmother would periodically close
the door to her
room and open Grace's suitcase to reminisce over the memories
of her little
girl. Eventually, she was able to move on, and the suitcase
remained closed
until 2004. My mom has always regretted that she failed to spend
more time
with her sister in those days, and has often said that she wishes
she could
rewind the clock and change history. She's not kicking herself,
but has
come to realize that we need to take advantage of the time we
have.
I think there is a value in the relics, photographs,
and possessions of the
past. They contain insights and wisdom in addition to helping
us understand
how to better live our lives. In some of the correspondence
I have come
across I have discovered that some of my ancestors made some
incredibly
stupid decisions that changed the course of their lives for
the worse.
Others tell stories filled with insight, wisdom, and interesting
historical
facts. I guess this is a theme I tend to go back to quite a
bit, only
because it's at the heart of what I value, and what I'm attempting
to use to
improve my life.
For me, it's a wealth of information and
fodder for things about which to
journal. I would love to hear your stories as well. If you have
old
letters, photos, and/or family heirlooms that have spoken to
you, we would
like to hear from you. Assuming they're not personal things
you wish to
share, they would be welcome nuggets of insight we can include
in a future
newsletter. Let us know your thoughts and experiences. I don't
fear the
passing of time, but I don't want to regret capturing the experiences
and
insights of those who preceded me.
I am currently in the process of starting
a weekly column called, "Treasures
of the Past." The focus of this column will be on preserving
family
traditions and histories. Topics will include ways of preserving
old family
heirlooms, photographs, letters, and valuables. I have a plethora
of topics
about which to write, and if you have any suggestions, please
feel free to
write me and share them. I'll be glad to give you recognition
for them.
Please feel free to go and take a look at
the website, it's still a little
brand new, but I would appreciate your thoughts and feedback
about it.
http://www.DavidLRussell.com
Until next month, please take care and keep
writing.
-David Russell, Ph.D.
Editor, JournalingLife.com
David@westvon.com
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Please feel free to share this newsletter
with all of the people in your
life that you feel might benefit from learning about journaling.
Invite
them to come and visit our website and we will strive to offer
you a
wonderful visit as you explore the wonderful world of journaling.
http://www.JournalingLife.com
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Question of the Month
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
We added in a reader commentary column to
the website and we
would like to post a question or two about journaling and memory
writing and
we hope that our great readers will write in to share their
thoughts on the
questions. If you have something you would like to share, please
send them
along! We will be offering a drawing for a great product each
month from
those who will take the time to share and add their ideas, comments
and
suggestions to our website!
January's Question:
******************
My career is at a standstill and I just don't
seem to be getting anywhere. I
have been journaling about it, but it doesn't seem to be helping,
but I
can't see to focus on the right, positive things. Does anyone
have any
suggestions?
Thanks, Jack M., Atlanta, GA
Direct your comments and suggestions about
January's Question of the Month
to:
question@journalinglife.com
Also, if you have a question for our next
newsletter, please write!
This month's lovely prize is a beautiful
Thoughts journal, over 200 pages
with a strap and hardcovers. You can see a picture of it here!
http://www.journalinglife.com/jl-question.html
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
December's Question
I have a lot of sorrowful memories of my
past. My father was not present
much and now that I am a new father I want to leave my child
good memories
and traditions. I am having a difficult time writing my feelings
out. What
should I be focusing on? How can I write in my journal without
sounding like
I'm just feeling sorry for myself?
Thanks, Allen G., Knoxville, TN
Our Winner of the Month:
I also had a similar situation to yours.
My father was present at Christmas
but I was afraid of him. We never got along well and he would
physically
abuse me and my mother. I also have a 1 year old son and this
is a
Christmas that he is beginning to understand. What has helped
me with my
journaling and writing out my feelings is to concentrate on
what I really
wanted. Describe in as much detail as you can what your perfect
Christmas
experience would have been for you and your father and family.
Visualize
and journal in as much detail as possible. Recall the smells,
taste, those
things you and he might say to each other, what you might do
together and of
course describe your perfect gift. Spend some time talking about
the
special time you and your father would spend together. Your
mind is a very
powerful tool and these thoughts are present and though you
did not have an
opportunity to experience them with your father you may have
thought about
the positive experience in your minds eye. "Just as parents
have
expectations for their kids, kids have expectations for their
parents."
Write about your expectations!!!!
Then take a few moments and look over these
writings -- you now have some
guidelines and an opportunity to build these thoughts as reality
for your
children. Relive these tender and sweet moments down to the
smallest
detail.
I pray that this helps and I wish you and
your family a healthy, wealthy and
happy holiday season.
Peace and Blessings
Jim M.
------------------------------------------------------------
Our Runners Up!
Hi, I'm responding to Allen G.'s question about journaling without
sounding
like he's feeling sorry for himself. I've felt this way myself
and several
years ago I was given the following suggestion through a writing
class to
alleviate the problem...try writing in your journal in the third
person. For
example, don't write, "I had a bad day. Everything is falling
apart. I hate
my life." Instead, write, "He had a bad day. Everything
is falling apart. He
hates his life." By taking the focus off of you, per se,
you can "dump" your
thoughts onto the 3rd person. You, but not you! If you get my
drift.
Try it. I kept my journal in the 3rd person for six months and
found it
extremely liberating and a heck of a lot more interesting to
read after the
fact.
Would love to hear how it goes.
Jenny F., Phoenix
------------------------------------------
I would encourage you to focus on your son
in the here and now when you
write. Tell him how it feels to look in his eyes, to hold him.
I think you
can write about what you are doing with him and for him, and
what traditions
you would like to have with him. Even now with teenagers, rituals
are so
important and help keep the family together. I believe that
if you focus on
the positive feelings you have now as a new father, you won't
end up feeling
sorry for yourself. It's possible that after a period of time
you'll be able
to write about the more painful memories without self-pity having
experienced so much joy as a father. You'll see what your father
missed, and
the sorrow might be more for him than yourself. It's amazing
what can emerge
from journaling! Good luck, and enjoy your son!
Margie B., Vermont
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
January's Prompts
We have a new column for the newsletter.
We will offer you three great
journaling prompts for the month to help you get writing!
Write about your most challenging New Year's
Resolution. Is there something
that really needs attention in your life and you are worried
that it might
slip away into the month without some serious insight and reflection.
Bring
it out into the open and write some goals and plans to tackle
it!
With the recent tragedy in the Pacific with
the tsunami, it is easy to turn
our thoughts and feelings to the suffering that accompanied
such a difficult
and terrible day. Do you think these natural disasters are on
the rise?
Write about your feelings on the matter and how this disaster
has changed
your thoughts and priorities, if it has.
What kinds of thoughts and emotions do the
winter months bring to you?
Weather has a way of playing with our senses and it would be
fun to write
about the way you deal with the cold, dark storms of January.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Introducing our New Journaling Habit E-Books!
Are you tired of prompt books that offer
vague and unrelated suggestions for
journaling that leave you searching for more and more prompts?
Join Dave Russell, editor of Journaling Life.com
as he offered you great
little ebooks, focusing on issues in our life that we struggle
with such as:
Weight Loss & Achieving a Healthy Lifestyle
Parenting
Divorce
Family Issues
Health
Career
Spiritual Growth
Relationships
and much more!
Each book is designed with 31 days of journaling
insights. Taking one day
at a time, you will focus and create a wealth of clarity and
insight into a
specific issue in your life.
No more shallow and vague suggestions like
"write about your favorite food"
or "if I were President, I would..."
Journaling Habit books are solid foundations
to begin to really work on an
issue at hand. It is said that it take 21 days to establish
an habit, we're
hoping that after 31 days, you'll have a great new habit...
a Journaling
Habit!
Two books are finished and ready for purchase.
At only $3.95 each, these
books are very economical and available for immediate download.
We will be
adding more titles as they are finished! Please take a look
here and let us
know what you think! We hope that you will find them to be a
valuable asset
into seeking clarity and wisdom in your own journaling habit!
http://www.Journalinglife.com/jl-journalhabit.html
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
If you are looking for some REALLY unique
journals.... please go and visit
this site! These journals are so neat and so unique... Sherri
wants to buy
like 3 or 4 right away! (gg)
http://www.roguejournals.com
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Journaling
Life
Email: Dave@westvon.com
Phone Contact: (419) 250-1096
P.O. Box 501 - Maumee, OH 43551
The information presented in this online
newsletter is Copyright © January
2005 by Westvon Publishing, LLC.. All right reserved. You may
forward this
newsletter to anyone, though please include this copyright and
contact
information in all forwardings.
If you would like to receive our monthly
mailing of this newsletter, please
send an email request to:
JoinJLNL@westvon.com
If you would like to NOT receive this newsletter,
please send an email
stating "REMOVE" And you will be promptly deleted
from our list.
RemoveJLNL@westvon.com
We will not mail anything other than this
newsletter at the first of the
month and we do NOT sell our mailing list to anyone, not even
for a a brand
new Mac laptop! Or a rock mine, or even a big litter of hammies!!!!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Our Websites of Interest
If you haven't noticed, we here at Westvon Publishing are very
busy! We
actually have 30 websites that we are currently running and
it get's a
little hectic at times, but it's a lot of fun. Please take a
moment and
take a look! We'd love to know what you think of our efforts
all over the
place!
http://www.DavidLRussell.com
http://www.BuckeyeBluegrass.com
http://www.TheHomeschoolShop.com
http://www.TheMasterPlanner.com
http://www.Rockhoundkids.com
http://www.Chekal.com
http://www.JournalingLife.com
Also, as a bonus, recieve our
useful PDF file entitled:
30 Journaling
Prompts to Get You Started...
FREE when
you join our newsletter!
Visit
our Newest Site... Journaling Prompts for a month of writing!
|
