Journaling Differently

Some people consider journaling regularly as a resolution for the New Year.  If it’s crossed your mind, let me suggest a new take on it.  Instead of journaling for yourself, journal for someone else.  I don’t mean write down things that happen in their life – that would be spying, or at least “awkward.”  I mean write as though they are the one who will be the reader.

Tanya and I bought four small moleskine notebooks this year – one for each of our kids.  We will semi-regularly write in each one during the year whenever the mood strikes us.  The entries we make will be short letters to them in the future about what we are thinking and feeling about them right then.  One day, we hope to give them a set of these books (as far as we’ve maintained them) that they can look at and see more than just stories of their childhood as we could tell them while reminiscing.  They’ll see what we wrote to them while in that period of their life – our hopes, thoughts, and joys of being with them like windows to the past.  We’re just starting, but I am really excited about giving these to them one day.  I think it will be one of the more meaningful things we will do as they grow up.

I suggest choosing an undated book so there are no big gaping holes when you might miss a day.  You could use a plain notebook as well, and there are off-brand versions of Moleskine-like books out there, too.  We just chose a nice looking book, and once without lines so I could draw in them, too, from time to time.  Anything will work, as long as you make a commitment and set some kind of reminder to keep it up.   It’s not your normal New Year’s resolution, but it’s one change you can make to your routine that will make a significant difference.