Journal Writing – Scrapbook Journaling and More

Journal writing is an important part of the scrapbooking experience. Journal writing can take many different forms and be done for a myriad of reasons. The authors of Classic Scrapbooking, state “We have a need to chronicle the events of our lives, to create stories around the things that happen to us, and to document what we are thinking and feeling as we move through our lives.” (Rosenbluth & McDiarmid, p. 73). Here we shall take a look at the different ways journaling can be done and why culminating in the scrapbook journaling experience.

The scrapbooking artist uses the scraps or pieces of her life to help tell a more concrete story sometimes of her life. Long before photos people used the stuff of their lives on their pages, some even using the art of sketching to catch the feeling of the moment to be conveyed.

Diaries and Scrapbooks

A couple years before leaving my first employer for a different venue, I chose to listen to and try to understand my dream life and at the same time I was going through a special bible study class. There were ten people in my group. We were studying “Experiencing God” by Blackaby and I first learned to equate journal writing with the spiritual. They termed it “Spiritual Journaling.” It was where you combined the reading of the scriptures (listening to God) with prayer and writing (the journaling aspect). It was an intense and eye-opening study and I carried the “spiritual journaling” aspect of the program into the rest of my life.

Similarly is a form of journal writing and scrapbooking used with students, whether in a church setting or other educational situation, in which the student concentrates on a particular subject matter in a journal – both writing and sketching or drawing pictures and symbols, to bring home to the student what he or she has learned from the study. Another name for it is Note booking and is prominently used by home schoolers.

The scrapbook includes journal writing, hence the term “scrapbook journaling.” But as Victoria Miles put it, “…what began as a journal has now revealed itself as a scrapbook. A good place to save what cannot be discarded from the refrigerator door.” She adds, “These are things that would be discarded if there weren’t someplace to put them...” (Miles, V. Classic Scrapbooking, pp. 74-75).Where many creative photo albums are intended to share with others, family as well as friends, personal scrapbooks are kept much as a journal is, principally for the pleasure and satisfaction of the owner.

Some keep personal scrapbooks in addition to more traditional written journals, and have a different sense of whether they are private or for others to read. As an example, if you were to visit my page, "Reality Scrapbooking," you might reasonably expect that material such as this is of a more personal nature and generally would also be considered personal scrapbooking. But we all have different levels of how much we are willing to share or ourselves in our journal writing experience.

I am aware that the need to record our personal lives (and very personal lives at that), may be strange to others. I have a certain philosophy when it comes to personal journals…these are for the owner’s eyes only, unless the owner wishes or cares to share its contents with others. Unbidden eyes should not be surprised if perhaps they come upon knowledge or feelings expressed therein they would be uncomfortable with. Many times we need to work things out and everyone needs private space to do that in. Sometimes journal writing, in whatever form it takes, is that personal space. Of course, one contributor adds, “All of us, I think, edit what we choose to communicate. Certainly if you’re keeping a scrapbook with the view that people will see it later, you’re not going to put things that may reflect badly on you in there.” (B.T., Classic Scrapbooking, p. 77).What we include in our journal writing or scrapbooking may depend on its importance to us and what we want to remember.

Benefits of Journal Writing

Some benefits of journal writing include allowing yourself pause; slowing down enough to hear your own thoughts. It is a process of healing mentally, emotionally, and physically. Think of this…it also benefits blood pressure readings. As there are many reasons for journal writing, as many types of creative journals exist.

Making and Keeping Creative Journals by Suzanne Tourtillott has a project section covering how to actually put together different journals depending on their purpose. It covers travel, dreams, yoga, poetry, a grandmother’s journal, sculpture, painting, gardening, the bird lover, quilting, reunions, relocation, a child’s summer journal and others. Check out these scrapbook album ideas to complement your journal writing style.

Keeping a dream journal intrigues me because that is what I did in my journal writing process for quite awhile. The steps in keeping a regular dream journal include writing down your dream first think in the morning before getting out of bed. Also, keep paper and pen or pencil beside your bed. This is a mental game in which you are telling your dreaming self you are serious about wanting to remember. Try using a flashlight pen so as not to have to turn on the full light if possible if recording a dream at night. Before going to bed, start a new page and make some notes about the activities of your day and how you felt. This is especially helpful if a situation troubles you. Also, write the dream in the present tense as if you were having it as you write. Try to give a full description…even if it doesn’t make sense at the time. Date the dream and give it a title. On the back of the page write out how you felt on awakening from the dream, how you feel after writing the dream and how it might relate to your waking life experiences to which you think the dream relates.

Okay, as to interpretation, I believe that God allows the dreams and should therefore give its interpretation. As to symbols, one symbol can mean something different to different people. At any rate, for myself, I only recently discovered the meaning of a very colorful dream I had in April of 2003. As I was initially working it out on paper, I discovered a play on words and that is when the meaning became clear. But this is the point of including scrapbooking in your journal writing experience, whether the subject is your dream or something else.

Here below is the journal of which a few years ago I originally recorded that dream and had apparently titled it “A richly multi-colored beautiful house.” Briefly, the dream entailed having had a very busy and somewhat disruptive day. It was actually windy out and at times gray. My folks had come over for a visit and the experience I felt with my home (maybe our home, as my husband and I were dating at that time), was one of exhilaration with the brilliant colors of the curtains and something about an artist having been commissioned to work on our house. As I said, I realized a play on words…an artist was doing his thing in our home. Today, I realized I should have titled it “Home is where the heart is.”

One last thought: A couple of my favorite movies that have to do with loss of memory for one reason or another is “The Notebook” based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks and the other is “Fifty First Dates” starring Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler. Memory is a precious thing and it is the worst way in which a life can deteriorate when we lose our ability to recall the past. Both stories have their relevancy to the journal writing, scrapbooking life. If you haven’t seen these movies, try to find the time.

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