Journaling notes: the promise of beginning

The acorn symbolizing how small things grow big, with the fire inside ... waiting to be released(!)

A less intimidating approach to journaling
This is my second hand-made journal. The first was the October journal - 10 pages folded in half to make 40 pages. At least one page for every day of the month.

I decided to create my own journal book because big, blank journal books are intimidating. So many pages to fill compounded with the idea that the pages should look good, my handwriting should be at it's best, and what I write should matter.

But I've discovered those things don't matter. With a small, monthly journal, the pressure is off.

Why have a journal?
My goal is to write once a day. To mull over what I'm trying to get done, how it's going, and what I need to do next. To ask questions of myself. Writing helps me work through the tough stuff, make sense of what's baffling, and record my progress...and success. However small.

And I get to create a new cover design each month.

The October journal

Steady progress
In the front of last month's journal I wrote two goals for the month. To finish my letter writing book and a book about birds and birding.

I accomplished the first. Still working on the second.

To be honest, I forgot that I wrote my goals in the front of the book. When I flipped through the book at the end of the month, it caught me by surprise. The other thing that caught me by surprise was that I wasn't disappointed that I hadn't completed both.

I'm thrilled that I completed my first goal (I'm waiting for the final proof of A Snail Mail Guide to Cursive Writing Practice to arrive in the mail today(!)), and I'm working on the second.

The second book is underway, but far from complete. I think the reason I felt okay about it all was that I've been working on it. Making steady progress. 

It's hard to know exactly how long it will take, but I do want to push myself and try to finish it by the end of the month.

What I'm discovering, though, is that working toward something is just as important as finishing it by a certain date. The work is the reward. It makes me feel productive, engaged, and ... just better.

And that's why I wrote, "Just the beginning..." on the cover of this month's journal. Because after I finish the birds and birding book, I've got another idea, and another. And that means beginning ... all over again.

Every day is the beginning of something. Maybe it's because something ended yesterday, maybe it's because we discover a new approach, trick, or method, and we're starting in a new direction.

The key is to keep going. Plugging away at things. It's amazing what can get done.

Every day we begin. We can toss aside a bad habit or distraction and focus on something we deem more important. Or not.

If it doesn't work today because you're tired, or not feeling well, or someone needs something you can't put off, you can begin again tomorrow.

It's up to us to do what we tell ourselves we're going to do. Because in the end that's what matters most. I don't want to disappoint anyone ... but most of all, I don't want to disappoint myself.

What are you beginning?