Why keeping a diary is important…

My beautiful journal ♥

Do you keep a diary? I’ve kept a diary for as long as I can remember. The colourful and personalised journal, coloured pens, stickers, glued in pictures and so on. This was and still is an absolute must when I travel. Travel is so important to me and to travel without a journal would be unthinkable. I like to capture the images of magnificent buildings such as the Taj Mahal or the spitting camel or that train ticket of the train trip to hell from Delhi to Srinagar! I’m a visual person so any images or pictures or crazy drawings will give me an instant reminder of what happened that day without having to read the entire entry.

An example of one of my travel diaries...

I suppose you could say that the blog is the modern day/computer version of a diary as so many people run a personal blog. But really when you boil it down even a personal blog is not quite the same as a diary. A diary is where your inner most self, secrets, fears, desires, and passion are poured. Your diary is your companion, sometimes your counsellor and most times an account of your journey for that year no matter how mundane you thought it may have been.

Personalised cover of my London diary...

Reading back through your journal reminds you, and quite often you are surprised by all the wonderful moments you had actually forgotten about.

In recent years I haven’t been as diligent in keeping the diary since blogging. I would start a diary in the New Year only to find by March it’s been forgotten, didn’t have time or can wait until tomorrow, with the exception of travelling, and then it’s an absolute must, and I magickally always find the time

When I found this week-long course on journaling by Nicole Cody at her wonderful blog Cauldrons and Cupcakes, I knew I had to reconnect with that love of longhand, the pictures, the coloured pencils, highlighters, stickers, glitter, whatever takes your fancy because it’s not only the writing, the story ideas or the getting down of what is in your soul, it’s also or can be, the getting in touch with the inner child and creating again. While I had that creative spirit knocked out of me by my Year 10 English teacher I managed to retain it within the pages of my diaries that I kept year after year after year – until we all became computer obsessed – me included.

And remember to read Nicole’s post on living authentically as it will assist you on getting back to the roots of journalling and why it is sooo’ important!

I trust you will get as much out of this course as I did. Happy journaling