Creative Journaling Ideas

Creative journaling begins with stepping out of the old idea of the diary of what I did and what I watched, read, etc. Although I was already doing very creative things with little blank books I took a college class called Women's Writing and the teacher took us through a series of exercises derived from the book A New Diary. I highly reccommend this book to anyone who wants to dig deeper and write more deeply from their creative self. You can work on emotional blocks by writing with your non-dominant hand; you can write letters you'll never send top people you love who have died, or people who have harmed you. You can use active visualization to rewrite an event or imagine a fantasy that gets your artistic ideas flowing, and you can combine writing, collage, painting, sketching, scrapbooking, poetry writing, quotes from favorite movies, TV and books, notes on inspiring ideas, and more! into a free flowing journal that you just love to write in and re-read over the years.
I have a journal I called The Voyage Home. The blank book I selected has a three masted sailing ship on the cover. I attached tabs to the edges of pages, creating six categories:

• Affirmations


• Becky's TRUTHS


• Sress Management


• Visualizations


• Statement of Purpose


• Personal Rights

As I read through many books over the period of a year or two I wrote down both quotes I liked and ideas in my own voice, weaving them together into something that was powerfully healing and encouraging to me. People who have looked it over have gotten inspiration from this little collection of thoughts too. Here is an active visualization I use to relax when I am uptight:

Imagine you are walking out into a warm, safe, calm ocean with blue-green waves softly flowing toward you and then away towards the horizon. The sun is gently beaming down it's warmth and giving you a sense of being loved by God (or the universe/nature if you prefer). In your hands are all of the things that cause you stress and anxiety. Open your hands and exhale and breathe out saying the word release. Close your hands and breathe in while saying receive. You can say the words in your mind.

I'll continue with more ideas tomorrow.