Journal or Diary: Write the Story of Your Life
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History with Heart
This lens will look at the process of recording the tapestry of our lives. We'll look at various types of journals, as well as explore journaling resources online. As someone who has kept a journal for most of her adult life (plus several years of childhood), I know what fun it is to browse through a thirty-year-old journal and relive special moments. It's like history with heart, a record of events and thoughts that have made me who I am today.
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So...What's the Difference?
Journals are more insightful than diaries.
Journaling is an effective way of monitoring personal growth and helping you reach a goal. Either is a good step towards writing down your thoughts and feelings, and keeping a recorded history that makes for good reading in the years ahead.
What You'll Need
Tools to get you started...
Keeping a journal or diary isn't expensive. Sure, you can buy blank books fancied up with beautiful leather covers, special binding, and other features that up the price. OR you can watch for sales of spiral notebooks like I do at back-to-school or clearance sales, and you're set.
Here are the bare-bones basics you'll need to begin:
1. Notebook
2. Pen or pencil.
3. Felt markers if you want a little color
With tools this simple, what are you waiting for?
Beautiful Writing Instruments
My Very First Diary
My life as a diarist began at age ten. I wrote all about life as a fifth-grader, then locked my little red diary with its gold key and stashed it under my pillow. It held secrets I'd never told a soul--tidbits about the cutest boy in class, about friends and problems and silly things I experienced along the way.
When an ornery brother stole my diary one day, I thought I would die.
Rather than guarding my words, I found a better place to hide it next time. I figured, If I have to watch what I write for fear of somebody finding it, I might as well not write it down. That's the true spirit behind a personal diary--feeling free to record whatever's on your mind.
What are you up to today? Have you thought about recording it in a diary?
Amy's Diary is a website created by someone who found her childhood diary, and has used crayon and simple graphics to create something fun and nostalgic. (Note that her original spelling was like this: "Dear Dairy".)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid is Greg Heffley's Journal, Grade 7.
Start a Gardening Journal
I don't claim to be a pro when it comes to gardening. In fact, my definition of gardening might even differ from yours. I grow a few tomato plants, strawberries, and cucumbers. But that's about it.
The majority of my gardening involves flowers, most of them perennials I've chosen in the past couple of years since my infamous Backyard Makeover. Because I knew few names of flowers, I decided to keep track by writing them down. Using just a simple spiral notebook, I recorded the date of each planting, and taped the informational tag from our local nursery next to each plant's information.
If they died, I noted it. If they thrived, I added a nice big star next to it.
Not very technical, but hey...it works for me!
Gardening Diary (Poster)
Gardening for the Love of It
...& recording day by day changes
A garden journal is a history of dedication. If you're devoted to beautifying your backyard or to learning more about plants that grow best in your region, consider keeping a yearly garden journal. (*Click image for details.)
Gardening Journals on the Web
Add to the list!
10 Years of Garden Journals
Amazing - TEN YEARS of gardening journals!1 point
Dave's Garden
A friendly global community that shares tips and i more...1 point
folia | Organise, track & share your gardening adventures!
Folia is a free site that allows gardeners to trac more...1 point
 John’s Journal » Blog Archive » My 2008-2009 Winter garden
My Gardening Years and some things I have learned more...0 points
Keep a Baby Journal Online
Kidmondo to the Rescue...
Journaling doesn't have to use pen and paper. Have you considered the possibilities online? Say you're planning a dream road trip with your family. Why not keep a travel journal, a day-to-day photo blog with descriptive text detailing your trip? Enlist your kids' help, too.Or, why not keep a journal in celebration of a new baby? Friends and family near and far could log into a special website set aside for that purpose. Kimondo.com is a step ahead, and offers a website to simplify the process.
Online journaling is not second-rate. It's just a fact of life in a technologically savvy world. If you're someone who doesn't care about the smell of paper, or the feel of a pen sliding across the page, this might be a perfect solution for you.
Aunt Marie's Travel Diary
...the next-best thing to being there!
My aunt Marie is pushing ninety. She became a widow about six years ago, but has plenty of happy memories to warm her.One of the nicest things she did during her busy life with her husband was to create pictorial diaries of every trip they took together. Uncle Max would roll his eyes when she showed me one of her fancy creations, because he didn't "get" why she needed to record every detail. She was a wise woman. "I won't have my sharp memory forever," she said, so I'll have my collection of trip diaries instead."
When my aunt is long gone, her children are going to treasure their mother's efforts. But for now, she enjoys choosing a diary from her collection and traveling through its pages to bygone years.
Some would call them scrapbooks, but her long blocks of text seemed more like diary entries to her. She collected receipts from plays, concerts, and hotels where they'd stayed on a trip, which she glued into a blank book. Below each memento, she wrote a caption:"What a beautiful concert under the stars. It was magical!"
"I slept like a baby!"
"If Max would have agreed, I could have stayed a week or longer."
"Tired. Heading home."
In the margins around each page, Marie wrote details about her days on the road--people they met, places they stopped to visit, impressions of a region. Her writing was sensory and full of enthusiasm, which is a good description of her approach to life, too.
Travel Diaries On the Web
Often called travelogues because they incorporate photos and diary entries, this is one of my favorite examples of good diarists. Step by step they take us on their journeys with them.
Add your own favorites, please! Let's grow this list.
The Dingle Way: A Walk Through History
A father-daughter account of their trip to Ireland more...0 points
ULTIMATE JOURNEY -- Around-the-World motorcycle tour
Our Around-the-World tour, a motorcycle adventure more...0 points
Notes from the Road : Travel Blog
Forbes Magazine calls this the best travel blog they've more...0 points
Vietnam Travel Diary
A great travel diary on Vietnam including lots of more...0 points
Travel diaries - trekking world-wide. Photos and links.
Illustrated diaries of travels world-wide. Wildlif more...0 points
We're Out of Here - Phoenix, United States Travel Blog
We're Out of Here: Read the story and see 1 photos more...0 points
Saturday Evening Post - "Diary"
Beautiful Handmade Journals
Treat yourself to something special
Wordsworth quote . handbound leather journal . dark olive (320 pgs) | Price: $0
"Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart."
— William Wordsworth
I can almost imagine Wordsworth himself writing in a jou... (full description)
WRITER . Abigail Adams quote . handbound leather journal . clay brown (320 pgs.) | Price: $0
"My bursting heart must find vent at my pen."
-Abigail Adams (1744-1818)
Sometimes you just *have* to write! The first page of the... (full description)
Leather Journal . Longfellow: "The love of learning, sequestered nooks, all the sweet serenity of books." handmade handbound (320 pgs) | Price: $0
"The love of learning, the sequestered nooks,
And all the sweet serenity of books."
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
........................ (full description)
e.e. cummings quote . handbound leather journal . distressed copper brown (320 pgs.) | Price: $0
"To be nobody but yourself in a world
which is doing its best night and day
to make you everybody else,
means to fight the hardest battle... (full description)
Blank Handbound Leather Journal with burgundy organza flower applique (320 pgs) | Price: $0
Own a la paperie & cozy original! I wanted to incorporate the delicacy of a flower with the rugged beauty of leather. This unique design is the result... (full description)
Shakespeare in Love . Love Sonnet 116 . Handbound Leather Journal . luxurious scarlet buffalo suede (320 pgs.) | Price: $0
"Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on te... (full description)
Historic Diaries On the Web
Have you run into any historic diaries or journals online? If so, how about adding a link below?
Pepys' Diary
The diaries of Samuel Pepys from London, UK in the more...1 point
First World War.com - Memoirs & Diaries
First World War.com - Memoirs & Diaries1 point
The Diary of Opal Whiteley
Opal Whiteley (December 11, 1897-February 16, 1992 more...1 point
Martha Ballard's Diary Online
0 points
Israeli Astronaut's Diary Goes on Display : Discovery News
Five years after the shuttle disaster that took hi more...0 points
Albert Underwood Civil War Diary
The Civil War diary of Albert Underwood
of Annapolis, more...0 points
The Diaries of John Quincy Adams: A Digital Collection
A classic0 points
Stories of Settlers
Immerse yourself in history...
I am fascinated by the stories of pioneers who left everything familiar to head out West. Because I live in Oregon, their stories resonate even more, because I'm familiar with the areas in which they settled.I have collected several books of pioneer diaries, and love their strong resolve to carve Home out of their newly adopted land. Their trip was filled with tragedy and joy - deaths and births along the way. Once they arrived, they didn't waste time looking back. They were here, and they sank roots and dove head-first into their new lives.
Across the Plains in 1843 is a candid look at life on the trip from Missouri to Oregon. An excerpt: "The early pioneers were forced to live mosly on bread and boiled wheat and drink pea coffee. They lived in log cabins, slept on blankets wore moccasins and buckskin pants, and endured many trials and difficulties."
Across the Plains in '64" recounts the story of John Kelly Vanderburgh, and his family crossing the plains from Iowa to Oregon in a covered wagon in 1864. It was transcribed for web use by his great-great granddaughter.
William Porter's Oregon Trail Diary details what he paid for food and other services along the way, including ten cents for three horses.
Tree-of-Life Leather Embossed Journal
How-to Resources
Learn to journal on specific topics
- Howcast - How To Start a Garden Journal
- You'll feel so smart next year when you pull out your garden journal, and know exactly what worked and what didn't, what you loved and what you don't want to try again. Perfect your gardening with every passing season using your trusty garden journal
- Baby Book Journaling
- Creating a baby book out of a journal. - Baby Book Journaling - Journals is a personally written site at BellaOnline
- How to Keep a Quiet Time Journal - Journals
- How to keep a quiet time journal. Helping you gather the needed resources to have a quiet time with your journal. - How to Keep a Quiet Time Journal - Journals is a personally written site at BellaOnline
- PREGNANCY BLOG: Free Pregnancy Journal.
- BabyCrowd's free blogs allow you to create your very own online journal with 20 MB of free storage space. Our online journals can be personalized; share your emotions, write about your pregnancy symptoms, track your stages of pregnancy and upload pregnancy photos - all on a choice of stylish templat
- Keeping a Devotional Journal: 15 Prompts for Christians
- Start a devotional journal to record spiritual insights, prayers, and daily inspiration from the Bible.
- The Online Diary - Join today, it's free!
- Everyone can have their free personal diary or journal at my-diary.org - Choose to have your diary private or public
Diary of a Housecat
If Your Handwriting is Atrocious...
Here's a great solution for you!
Did you know, it's easy to keep a diary or journal on your computer? You don't need to write by hand. There--are you relieved?I started a grief journal in MsWord, mostly because it was something I wanted to keep private. At times I thought it might have been better to write by hand, so my kids and grandkids could read it after I exit this world someday. It's raw and honest, and details how with God's help, I journeyed through through each stage of losing my parents.
*Note: If you're memory-challenged like me, write your password down somewhere safe. Just don't forget where you recorded it!
A private format won out, though, and I'm glad I had that freedom to express myself without thought of anyone ever reading my personal ramblings. If you'd like to create a private password-protected joural in Word, here's how:
1. Open up a new blank document.
2. Go to File, and click Save As.
3. Click Options. (It's usually on the opposite side of the form from "Save")
4. When the new screen pops up, click Security. Choose a Password. Click OK.
5. Name your file and choose a folder where you'd like to store it.
That's it! When you write an entry, simply find the journal, type in your password at the prompt, and continue where you left off last time.
Beautiful Handmade Journals
Etsy has it all...
Kreativlink is a beautiful Etsy shop with handmade journals. It's pure eye candy!
Leather Journal, Blue, Suede: Overgrown | Price: $0
Leather journal with fabric application and artwork on suede. Filled is this softcover journal with acrylic-stained paper, hand torn and carefully bo... (full description)
Leather journal, Green, Notebook: Swirl Tree | Price: $49
Handmade leather journal with original artwork on green suede. Filled is this softcover journal with acrylic-stained paper, hand torn and carefully bo... (full description)
Journal, Leather, Suede: Roses | Price: $0
Handmade leather journal with a touch of beautiful fabric.The leather is sewn on felt and filled is this softcover journal with acrylic-stained paper,... (full description)
Handmade Journal, Painted, SECRET GARDEN | Price: $49
This soft journal is made of thick acrylic felt and heavy, off-white/beige cotton canvas that I've painted with textile colors. It can be further... (full description)
Handbound leather journal - Seahorse | Price: $0
The seahorse that wanted to be a dragon ...
Handmade leather journal with original artwork on sturdy suede.The leather is sewn on felt and filled i... (full description)
Diaries About Change
Many people record events in their lives that forever changed them. Here are a few who chose to put them online.
Do you have a website or blog used primarily as a journal of change? If so, please consider listing it below.
First Person: Beth's Story, a Caregiver's Diary
A loving daughter recounts her father's battle wit more...1 point
Week 136 Weighin and Happy New Year | Diet Pulpit
Blogging with Fattiude! Lost: 302 lbs!0 points
My Journey By Chip Gerber
The courageous story of a man who was diagnosed wi more...0 points
Choose your favorite color!
Beautiful Tree-of-Life Leather Embossed Journal@ Amazon.com
* Handstained with a rich, dark brown dye highlights the true grain of the leather!
* Criss Cross Binding is hanstitched with super-strong doubled waxy nylon cording.
* 320 Pages (160 sheets) of lined archival writing paper.
* Sturdy and rustic 5mm matching strap closure.
* 100% Acid-Free paper will last a lifetime.
Locked Diaries for Kids
Classroom teachers are providing opportunities for group journaling, as well. The Web provides tools for teachers, such as Landmarks Class Blogmeister and Wikispaces. Examples of effective classroom journals can be found by a simple Google search. For example, one teacher encouraged students to create a Sarah, Plain and Tall blog, where they could discuss the book as a group. Here's the blog template.
When You Were a Child...
A Home for Your Thoughts & Dreams
Talkin' About Journaling @Twitter
Leave a Footprint
Thanks for stopping by. I hope this lens has inspired you to begin a journal or diary. Please take a moment to add to the two Plexos if you haven't already.
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kathysart
Dec 14, 2011 @ 10:22 am | delete
- I used to keep a journal then stopped. Now I have started up again and it is just amazing the gifts in return for doing it. THUMBS UP LENS
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tcorbs
Nov 25, 2011 @ 4:00 pm | delete
- I've always loved journals, I've kept a gratitude journal for quite a while.
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Jewelsofawe
Nov 22, 2011 @ 3:29 pm | delete
- I have been journaling for many years! Love your lens! Blessing it!
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CafeLove
Jan 7, 2011 @ 12:54 am | delete
- Love the lens. I'd never really thought about the difference between a journal and a diary... I almost think that within one of my journals one entry might be a journal entry, while another is probably a diary entry.
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LucyClaire
Oct 30, 2010 @ 6:16 am | delete
- There are lots of pretty journals here. I think you are right a journal is different from a diary. I think it's more analytical than a diary and you can put all sorts of things in there like drawings or art work, whilst a diary is just words.
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