Another way of documenting everyday life is through a journal. Journaling is not just for writing though. If words don't flow, try another form of expression Our friend & colleague Anne Hart offers some creative suggestions: Draw pictures. Use colourful Koki pens, paint, crayons to underline. Use highlighter pens. Make a collage from a magazine. Mandalas help to focus our thoughts and are helpful tools for meditation. Write down and save quotations - from scripture, novels, newspaper articles, plays, TV shows, dinner-table conversations, encounters with other people - that have particularly moved or inspired you. Clustering (a simplified version of mind mapping) is one technique that works well when ideas don't flow on their own. Choose something you'd enjoy thinking about, and put the idea in the centre of the page and circle it. Then, without pause, make associations, placing them in new bubbles and tying them to the main idea. The result is a complex matrix of ideas, many of which you didn't even know you had. If you wish, compose these thoughts (now or later) into a cohesive paragraph or essay that says exactly what you want to say. Pull ideas from the newspaper, a book you're reading, or a TV program you watched. Engage with nature and write about your experience. Pick a controversial topic and examine both sides of it. Use the technique that best suits the way in which you express yourself. You know your own mind and how it best communicates with the world. You'll have an even better sense of the way in which your mind works after the completion of a few journal entries. Scrapbooking supplies give you an array of beautiful trims, stickers and other things that would be perfect to decorate your journal with. Craft stores have lots of wonderful supplies, stickers, glitter, beads, all different kinds of paper; the list goes on and on. Add pressed flowers and ribbon. Create a beautiful bookmark made of colourful ribbons, to mark your favourite pages or where you last wrote an entry. There are many creative ideas I am sure you will come up with many more. The point is to put your personal imprint on your journal inside and out. You've created this journal as a form of your own self expression. Don't hold back, make it unique, after all you are a unique individual there is no one else in the world like you. Be inspiring, have fun!
