Tricking Yourself Into Journaling

Below is the text of the lesson I taught at a Relief Society activity tonight. A very special thing happened during the lesson. I had been feeling sad today because we just got the final accident report from the NTSB about my brother, Nate's, plane crash. I didn't think we would be getting it until the two-year anniversary in May 2019, so this was unexpected. And I had been kind of hoping for more info than what we already knew, but there wasn't much more to add or any new wreckage found. So the grief that is always just below the surface bubbled up a little. While I was teaching the lesson tonight, I randomly opened up one of my old journals to show an example of how you can combine a to-do list with a journal. The page I opened up to was November 2, 2009–my brother's birthday. And on my to-do list was to wish him a happy birthday. And it was checked off. ❤️

You can't make this stuff up, folks. God is in the details and he is so good to us. Here is my lesson:

Lesson on Creative Writing Through Journaling - - Cardiff Ward Relief Society - - Sept. 13, 2018

How many have never kept a journal or rarely do so? [Jot down names for prize later.]

God has commanded prophets and others through the ages to keep records. People sacrificed their lives to preserve and translate the records that are now our scriptures. I used to wonder why there were not as many women's stories and voices in the standard works. One day I realized that there are thousands of women's stories in the journals of our pioneer predecessors. In the preface to the brand-new church history book called Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days, we read, "Saints is not scripture, but like the scriptures, each volume contains divine truth and stories of imperfect people trying to become Saints through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Their stories—like the stories of all Saints, past and present—remind readers how merciful the Lord has been to His people as they have joined together around the globe to further God's work." Commercial for this book: It is already on LDS gospel library! The audio recording is already there! It reads like a novel but every word is based on historical fact or journals!!

President Kimball, the prophet of my youth, really stressed keeping a journal and you can find his fabulous article called "The Angels May Quote From It" on lds.org. New Era Classic: The Angels May Quote from It - new-era Here is my first journal. [Read the first entry.] "I got this from my grandparents and now I don't have to write my journal on random scraps of paper." I didn't write every day and sometimes only a few times a year but I am so grateful for what I did record. Now, this type of hardback journal is very intimidating to me. I bought this beautiful journal a few years ago at TJMaxx that has all these great inspiring quotes in it, but a journal like this makes me feel like I have to write all neatly and make sure what I say is really amazing. And it's the kind of thing where if I feel like I "have to" write in my journal, I feel guilty if I don't, etc. etc.

Later on, I found a great way to trick myself into journaling and also keep my emotions healthy while I was in the thick of raising kids. Like all of God's commandments, the commandment to keep a record is to help US. [Show my spiral bound mini notebooks.] I always kept this notebook in my purse with a ribbon and a pen attached. On the right-hand side is my to-do list with a square that I got to X in when I accomplished a task. I did NOT cross off the items because this is a record, too! I can go back and be interested in the things I was doing. Even a task like driving my kids to a church activity is poignant to me now. I daily gave myself credit for every little thing I did. I didn't expect to get emotional when gathering these things for this lesson but this is a record of my life, a life made up of millions of little acts of service and joy. I left the facing page blank for recording thoughts or experiences. I would sometimes paste in a note or email I received from a friend. I treasure and preserve nice things people say about me to remind me to feel good about myself. I very deliberately make these choices to keep my mood up. Reading back over these things years later still makes me feel good.

In the process of raising my autistic son, I have done my recording more and more electronically. I document in detail every step of progress he has made. I have a blog that is just for me on which I am SO grateful that I wrote about some of my very worst days and the lessons I learned or what I was struggling with. I love looking back on my journals in my own handwriting and I think hard copies of things are very important. But I have found that the electronic form is so easily shareable with my adult kids. When I am gone they will be able to go back and easily find my words and hopefully get comfort and inspiration from them. When encouraging my kids, I can easily send them a link to something I wrote on my blog.

Now that Sam has started spelling to communicate, I have started a blog for him to record his original words and milestones. Currently it is just a few sentences but it will grow to many pages.

In conclusion, your journal doesn't have to be perfect or pretty. You can jot notes on your phone. You can save emails. You can scribble notes down on a calendar and save your calendars. I used to write down cute things the kids said on my calendar and now those are so precious to me! And if you post on facebook, did you know that you can have your facebook posts and photos made into a printed book?

To the people who rarely journal, I have these journals for you. [Hand out five journals I brought.] Here is a way to trick yourself into journaling. You will be so glad you did it. It will help your mental and spiritual health in the short run and it will bring you so much joy in the long run. I call it the Five and Five. Each day, write down five things you are grateful for and five things you are proud of yourself for. BE SPECIFIC. Don't write down the same general thing every day like that you are grateful for your family. (LAME!) Write things like you are grateful that your toddler pooped in the toilet for the first time, or that your favorite cereal was on sale, or that your college kid surprised you and called you on the phone. This practice will change your life. When you focus on the things that brought you joy, you will see the hand of God in your life and know that you are not forgotten. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.