WORK IN PROGRESS
(Life, Me, You, This Newsletter)
Vol. VI, Issue 12, June 15, 2002 ><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>><<>>
In this issue:
--- Journaling, the down side... or is it?
--- What's happening at ChoiceCoach.com
------ WIP announcement
------ Sharing magical moments
--- Recommended reading
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JOURNALING - THE DOWN SIDE... OR IS IT?
Regular readers know that I consider regular journaling to be one of the big three as far as personal growth and well-being are concerned. (The other two are meditation and exercise.) However, one perceptive person commented the other day that she used to journal long ago, but stopped when she found that there is a down side to journaling. This can come when one reads through previous entries (reading the entry from a year ago after you have made your today's entry is very educational). Many people find it depressing to realize that the problems about which they were writing, and their insights on them, show little change today. They had thought they were making progress, and yet a comparison of the old and the new entries suggests that they are actually going in circles, still thinking the same thoughts and facing the same problems.
I agree that this can be depressing. However, it is also beneficial in that it does let us know what is going on. If you are lost in a forest and are going in circles, it is at least useful to recognize that you have once again looped back into familiar territory, so that you can change your tactics and thus have a hope of making better progress in the direction you choose. In life it is the same way. Unless you don't WANT to know when you are circling rather than making progress, the information culled from old journals can be very useful. Perhaps, rather than be depressed by this discovery, we can greet it as a pointer to future progress.
Obviously, in order to have old journals, you need to be a journal writer. Journal writing contributes to self-examination. (Was that an "ouch" I just heard? Yet remember that Plato - or Socrates, the scholars dispute this - wrote" The unexamined life is not worth living." It certainly cannot be learned from.) Journaling encourages us to examine what is going on, what part we are playing in our own successes and our own disappointments. Essayist James Boswell, back in the 18th century, wrote "a man (sic) adjusts his character by looking at his journal." If we write our true thoughts and feelings, and then read them later, we can indeed take the part of observer and notice where we are in error. Which means, does it not, that we will then be able to make a correction?
It also encourages us to express the thoughts and feelings that may be bottled up, even barely in awareness, within us. Such expression is healthy. It makes us more aware of things that are simmering below the surface. It brings us insights that we might not have reached had we not forced ourselves to put our vague thoughts and glimmerings into words. Expressing a thought or an idea in words forces us to clarify it, to hold it up in front of ourselves and examine it to see whether the words we have used are a true expression of it, or if they need to be tweaked until we get it right. In doing that, we may also examine and tweak the thought itself.
Where to start with a journal? With pen, or pencil, and paper. Or keyboard and new "blank document." With a few moments of uninterruptible time. With an open heart and mind, and total honesty, for if you cannot be honest with yourself... then, friend, you are in deep, deep trouble. Your journal is not for publication, not for posterity, it is for you and you alone, so this is a place where there is no excuse for dishonesty. In fact, if you find yourself censoring as you write, this is itself a "red flag," a warning to check what is going on, and from whom you wish to hide the thoughts that you just chose to censor. Journal about that, too, in your quest for self-discovery.
There are many journaling systems, and a few of the many, many books on the topic are listed below. There is no one "right one." Choose what seems to you to be the one you are most likely to follow. I know that many people relish the work they do with The Artist's Way. Some people use a bound book with blank pages designed expressly for journaling. Others use a writing pad and gather their pages into a 3-ring binder. Some systems are simple, some complex. I have participated in journal workshops where I received journal systems so complex that even after a weekend of instruction I could not figure which "type" of writing to enter into which section of the binder. Yet I know that such systems work well for many - particularly those who have more time for journaling than I. I have found great satisfaction in simplicity, but, if you plan to journal, use what you will continue to use.
It is well worth the time.
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WHAT'S HAPPENING AT CHOICECOACH.COM?
Work in Progress goes to monthly distribution:
I've been writing Work in Progress twice a month since September 1997. Given that I think I have twice re-used an old issue, that's around 113 issues. Plus, of course, there is my spirituality newsletter, Grounded in the Earth, Reaching for the Sky, which has been distributed monthly since October 1998. I love writing these newsletters, but must admit that the work is time-consuming. In the interests of finding more time to finish writing my book on coaching, on which I want to focus for a few months, I will be distributing Work in Progress once a month, rather than twice, for a while. So, in future, please look for it in your mailbox around the 15th of each month, but not on the 1st.
(Please not that this quest for additional time does not mean that I have no time for new clients, or to offer my readers a free sample coaching call. These offers are always open to you. Coaching people so that they can make faster progress in their chosen direction is my passion - something that for which I believe I will always have time.)
Sharing magical moments:
Certain moments are too magical not to share. I am a great admirer of rainbows, and whenever I notice rain and sunshine at the same time I start looking for the rainbow that usually results from this combination. Yesterday, the first day of driving my brand new vehicle, I saw a magnificent double rainbow. Then, to my amazement, as my road turned towards it, I found that one end of it lay directly in front of me. Because of the wet road and the spray coming up from the cars ahead the spectrum of colors appeared to continue right into the road, so that I drove directly onto it!! I had always believed that optical laws made it impossible to reach "the end of the rainbow." This was powerful experience that comes very shortly after a new haircut, a new vehicle, and starting work with a new coach... what more can the universe have in store for me...?
Peregrine falcons:
Another form of magical moment comes from sharing the special moments of the furred and feather cohabiters of our planet. As I've mentioned before, a very special and intimate look at a family of peregrine falcons can be found at http://birdcam.kodak.com/, where five cameras observe a family of peregrine falcons. There are two parents and a male and a female eyas (unfledged baby birds) who are expected to be ready to start flying sometime in the next 2-3 weeks. This family inhabits a nest in the tower of Kodak's corporate headquarters, in the middle of downtown Rochester in New York State. For those interested in even more detail, there is another site that piggy-backs on the Kodak site and which is also devoted to these birds, at http://shaky.50megs.com/bc-archive.html.
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RECOMMENDED READING
The Many Faces of Journaling : Topics & Techniques for Personal Journal Writing by Linda C. Senn
"Explore the many different aspects and faces to journaling! It's all as close as your pen and paper or your computer keyboard. Includes a brief history of personal journaling, then explores the benefits and methods for 10 different kinds of journaling."
To learn more and/or order, click on http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN%3D0966567277/personalandcareeA/002-8534146-380480
Journal to the Self : 22 Paths to Personal Growth
by Kathleen Adams
"'Journal to the Self' is a wonderful smorgasbord of ideas for personal journal writing and for writing in general. Taking proven journaling techniques from a myriad of resources and condensing them into a single tome, Kathleen Adams effectively gives her readers the opportunity to explore different facets of journal writing."
To learn more and/or order, click on http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN%3D0446390380/personalandcareeA/002-8534146-380480
The Artist's Way : A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity
by Julia Cameron, Mark Bryan (Contributor)
To learn more and/or order, click on http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN%3D0874778212/personalandcareeA/002-8534146-380480
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Copyright 2002 Diana Robinson, Ph.D. Work in
Progress may be reproduced in its entirety only,
including this copyright line. Disclaimer -The contents herein are solely the opinions of Work in Progress owner, and should not be considered as a form of therapy nor advice. There is no guarantee of validity or accuracy. If expert assistance or counseling is needed, services of a competent professional should be sought.
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