When my grandmother passed away over ten years ago, she was greatly missed. I remember being in her home in New Mexico and sorting through things as we helped my grandfather pack everything up. When we came upon a small journal covered in royal blue Japanese silk, we knew we had found a treasure. It wasn't filled, but she had written about some of her experiences and her thoughts about them. I read this journal eagerly, wanting to know even more about my beautiful grandma, who had the best hugs and a laugh I will never forget. I thought hard about life and the fact that we all have a story to tell.
I always knew that I wanted to start a journal of my own. I love the aesthetics of journals. I admire them. I have purchased a few of them with dreams of filling every page. I'd sit down with a brand new journal and think very carefully about how I would put things. I wanted everything to be perfect, even my handwriting. This was to be a work of art! I have a few journals that are barely halfway full. I actually did fill one and it was quite the accomplishment for me. But I lament the fact that I always had a hard time keeping up with it.
I love blogging because I can share my thoughts and experiences with others in a way that I never could through journaling. This is the part of writing that I love, I love sharing it! You can't exactly hand someone your journal and say "Here, read this." Sure people might find it when I die, but why wait until then to share my heart? Even my family whom I live with every day has been able to take a deeper look into how God is working in my heart and life and how I think about things. Sure, we talk about these things all the time, but blogging is a way to say more. One time, after reading a post, Amera said "I didn't know you struggled with this mom." I think it's neat to talk with her about some of my struggles and she shares hers with me too.
Blogging is a joy for me. Through it I can share the fullness of my heart that seems to want to burst, though it doesn't always get the opportunity in conversation. I can remember what God has taught me in an even deeper way, for writing about it makes it even clearer to me. It helps me to think through things more in depth.
So, how do I make this fit into my life?
You know that question "If there were a fire, what would you grab?"
These would definitely be it! These are three of my favorite things!
I keep this notebook very handy. I jot things down whenever I can. Even if it's just a thought or a paragraph. I usually have time for writing in the wee hours of the morning (after my new morning routine of time with God of course), there is also the afternoon when the kids are resting and having quiet time which gives me another pocket of time to write (if I have something to write about) and of course there is time after they go to bed at night. I love writing and so I make time for it. I pull out my notebook and I scribble it down, messy handwriting and all! I cross out sentences and sometimes whole paragraphs. My notebook is my "journal" and it contains all my rough drafts. Nothing fancy. I think the fancy journals were a hindrance to me. After writing, I type it all in at my next opportunity during one of these three times a day. This usually takes about an hour to an hour and a half, sometimes I cannot finish in one sitting and so I do what I can and then come back to it at another time. Having my writing already done in my notebook makes it so much easier to type it in. Sometimes I'll sit and write for about 30 minutes and I end up having to divide that into two or more posts.
Blogging is my leisure, my time to reflect, I consider it a hobby and I enjoy it very much. I enjoy crocheting too, and so I do that when I can in between posts. So, lately I have been writing much more than I have been crocheting. I also hardly ever watch TV. Occasionally I'll watch a DVD with my family, but blogging is what I enjoy doing most with my spare time. Blogging has also replaced my scrap booking hobby. Ok, it's free, except for the Internet bill, you don't have to pull out a bunch of stuff to do it (and then put it all away), and I can share it with everyone I know! Uh...I think it's a no-brainer!
Blogging also encourages me to take more pictures and to more carefully reflect on what God is doing in my life and in the lives of those around me.
I live, therefore I write. Yep, that's my motto.
[an edited re-post from the archives of my former blog // dated 8.1.2011]
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