Just got this book "How to Keep a Spiritual Journal" by Ron Klug. It's awesome! Lots of good advice on journal writing, and how to mine your journal for writing projects.

I'm a sporadic journal keeper at best. My current journal is a big, hardbound book with blank pages - I can paste in emails (cause sometimes thats when I'm the most brilliant ) and notes and pictures - whatever.

Last night I was reading through one of my journals from 1995 and I came across a passage that stunned me. I had written about how much I wanted to write - and how I was dreaming of a "sometime in the future" when my kids would be older, I'd have a computer, more free time, I'd take a writing course and I'd just write, write, write. Eight years later and most of that has come to pass - everything except the "more free time"

that sounds like a good book. I will look for it this weekend. I have always wanted to keep one. My mother always has and it has been fun to look back at her old ones and read a few pages.

This post reminds me of my mom. When she died we went through all of her belongings and very easily divided things among family members. One of the only things still at Dad's house that we have done nothing about are her journals. Who gets them? We can't decide...

Her journals were more like a calendar of what everyone in the family was doing. She didn't really write about her life. I wish she had. There's so much I would love to know that I can no longer ask her.

I was reading through some of my older journals on the weekend - if my kids ever read them when I'm gone I'm not sure what they'll think - I noticed that most of my entries I was tired, I was cranky, I was unhappy with work, etc. I was mad at my hubby - of course, all those entries were when my kids were little, my job was really stressful and our marriage was going through the usual ups and downs....

I would hope that my kids would continue to read on, to journal entries of the last couple of years were I'm much more settled career wise, emotionally, a lot happier - and most of my journals now deal with my writing and my spiritual life.....

Evie,
Who we were and who we are will shine through. I think it will be a tribute to you if they read your story and see all the emotions, as well as the growth, spiritual and otherwise. I wouldn't want my children to just see the good side of me, I want them to see the whole package.