Keeping a Daily Journal

I have been keeping an almost daily journal for many years.  Sometimes it has been a writing of problems and issues I face.  Sometimes I write what others have already written, the words that resonate as true to my soul deep within. I write about my hopes, dreams, and prayers for my family or my friends.  I write about what I will do that day.  And I write about the ways  I may have failed, about my anxieties or worries.

Mostly I write to decipher my life, to examine what I do or what I have done.  I want to help myself make a better choice the next time, when I feel like I have failed.  Alternatively, I write to illuminate a principle-- like hospitality-- when I have done a thing that feeds into wholeness.

Sometimes I write my deepest, darkest, fear and paranoia.  If it is out on paper, that is the first step in recognizing it and seeing it for the brokenness it is. Then I can begin to heal.  If I am anxious about the day, I can sort it out in these pages. If I am having difficulty in a particular relationship, writing it down will help me see it clearly.

I record what I am grateful for, what I am happy about, what brings me joy.  I use these pages to work out my spiritual journey, to affirm the holy and sacramental in my life.  There is so much richness and goodness that might otherwise get overlooked; if I write it down, it is saved for the ages.

For me, writing it down defines and clarifies in a way nothing else does.  As I look back over these years of journals, I am sometimes pleased to see my life unfold. I see "seeds" of goodness and how that has matured into fruitfulness.  I see also, the lessons I have learned and the dreams that have come true. Most importantly, I see God's work, God's hand, if you will, in every single page. I see how far I have come and that brings me joy.