The Power of Journaling – Article 9 in a Series: Exercise Redux By Erica Miner NABBW’s Journaling Expert Greetings, Boomers! Once again the holiday season is about to descend on us, and what better time to start journaling? As you\’ve read in previous articles in this series, there\’s virtually no better way to relieve stress than by journaling, and we all know that this time of year can cause stress to escalate. Why not choose TODAY as your day to start handling your holiday anxiety in a powerful, creative way? To help you along with this, in today\’s article I... Read More

The Power of Journaling – Article 9 in a Series: Come on, everybody, do your “Exercise” By Erica Miner NABBW’s Journaling Expert Greetings, Boomers! Now that you\’ve had a sampling of some of my favorite journaling methods, let\’s discuss some exercises to further entice you into your journaling ritual. Don\’t be intimidated by the length of the list. These are intended to be savored, one at a time. Linger over each one for as long as you like. Take your time to fully explore whichever one or ones give you the creative impetus you need. Ready? Let\’s... Read More

The Power of Journaling – Article 8 in a Series: Journaling Equipment (addenda), Creating a Ritual, Methods By Erica Miner NABBW’s Journaling Expert Greetings, Boomers! As promised in last month\’s article, we\’ll discuss creating a journaling ritual. Instead of proposing specific exercises this time around, I will instead delineate some of my favorite journaling methods to familiarize you with your options to jumpstart your journaling journey and will then propose specific exercises over subsequent articles. First, however, I wanted to share with you some of the latest... Read More

The Power of Journaling – Article 6 (Part 2) in a Series: Journaling Equipment By Erica Miner NABBW’s Journaling Expert Greetings, Boomers! By now I hope you have done a bit of research on last month’s “Equipment” article and with any luck have found a number of possibilities. Allow me to add a few more alternatives. Let’s start by revisiting the sketchbook option. If you are planning to do your journal in a sketchbook, you might want to look for one with a spiral binding; that way you can more easily add pages should you choose to include photos or mementos: With today’s... Read More

The Power of Journaling – Article 6 (part 1) in a Series By Erica Miner NABBW’s Journaling Expert Greetings, Boomers! Today let’s talk about equipment. No, I’m not getting up close and personal here. I mean journaling equipment, of course. Believe it or not, the tools you choose to use to journal with will have a major influence on whether or not you actually try your hand at journaling and how successful and consistent you will be. If you’re skeptical, just keep reading and work with me. Journaling can be anything from pleasant to downright cathartic, but overall it’s a gratifying... Read More

The Power of Journaling: Article 5 of a Series By Erica Miner NABBW’s Journaling Expert Greetings, Boomers! Happy New Year! And what better way to start a year than with journaling? (I could use the word “resolution” here, but you didn’t hear it from me.) It’s always a good time to start something new, but the coming of a brand-new year leaves us virtually no excuses not to start journaling. Let’s start with a brief recap of why journaling is so beneficial. Journaling embraces everything from life tool to lifesaver. It can help you capture treasured memories; chronicle the pain... Read More

The Power of Journaling: Part 4 in a Series By Erica Miner NABBW’s Journaling Expert Greetings, Boomers! This month, let’s talk about writing a book. Seriously, you ask? I can write a book? I truly, passionately believe there is a book in everyone. Journaling is a powerful way of creating that book. In fact, journaling is the best way to search for it, find it and WRITE it. All you need is the desire and the motivation. The former originates with you. The latter, hopefully, will come from me. Let’s start with some favorite quotes to get your creative juices flowing. First, from prolific... Read More

The Power of Journaling: Article 3 of series By Erica Miner, NABBW’s Journaling Expert Greetings, Boomers! What do the following names have in common? Anne Frank… Virginia Woolf… Sylvia Plath… Thérèse of Lisieux… Anaïs Nin… How are the following popular novels linked? Bridget Jones… The Nanny Diaries… The Princess Diaries… In this month’s article, I’d like to discuss some of the famous women who kept journals, as well as some best-selling novels that took form as diaries or journals. I started my first journal at the age of thirteen, when my... Read More

By Erica Miner Article 2 of series Greetings, Boomers! In my first article I discussed why journaling is such a powerful tool, and why it is so beneficial for everyone. As I mentioned previously, the reasons for journaling, as well as the different types of techniques out there, are almost limitless. What I’d like to discuss today are all the reasons not to journal, and then to give you some exercises for overcoming what I like to call “journaling resistance.” One of the reasons we don’t journal is because “life” gets in the way. We’re all so occupied with our work, our home lives,... Read More

Journaling is such an empowering tool that Oprah Winfrey actually credits it for saving her life. Other dynamic, memorable women — Anne Frank, Sylvia Plath, Lynn Redgrave, and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux come to mind — also used journaling to help overcome obstacles in their lives and keep their heads above water in crisis situations. Sometimes they didn\’t live through their crises, but their journals have survived to give us insight into how they dealt with personal tragedy. And the list goes on. James Barrie\’s journals, which he began during childhood to express his grief... Read More