Isn’t Autumn a wonderful time of year? Maybe its the connection with the start of the a new school year laid down in childhood, but it always feels more of a beginning than January does. It might be October, but the trees around me and in the local park are still green and just starting to turn – and there have been some glorious sunny days – where it seems a bonus to catch the gentler kinder sun.
The big news I have is that I am crocheting a baby blanket for my new Granddaughter Effie – I am ashamed to admit that it began when my daughter told me she was pregnant – and now she is 7 weeks old already and I still have a border to finish. But I am enjoying the process and the darker longer evenings seem just perfect for the snuggling comforting repetition that crochet brings.
Its my second attempt, the first was with a beautiful soft wool in baby pink and cream but every time I began stitching I thought I was coming down with a cold as soon as I put it away my cold would go away! I realised that the wool was so fine and fluffy that I was reacting to the loose fibres. So I decided to start again with pretty pastel cottons, which is more practical because it can be easily washed!
I am so proud of my daughter, she is a great mum and Effie is thriving! They are a perfect little family the three of them and my son in law is a great hands on dad.
I love this quotation, the leaves lulling themselves to sleep, describes the season perfectly! One day on our usual dog walk, this lovely carpet of toadstools appeared virtually overnight! They were all gone the next day.
Autumn is a lesson that tells us its alright to let go. Last year was one of the worst I have had in a long time, and it has taken until May to get back on my feet again. I have held on to things long after I should have done, and finally last month I have transformed my life. I cannot believe how wonderfully better my life is in every sense, it is so much richer and deeper. I look back and wonder why I held on to something that wasn’t right for so long.
One aspect that hasn’t changed is Barney is still happily chasing bubbles and balls.
It takes courage to let things go, but when you do, you find the emptiness is always filled with something better and more wonderful than you dared hope.
I have been writing journals most of my life and have found them to be the best tool for putting life in perspective and order. While photographs record a moment caught in time, it is just the external captured for that single second – a journal is a record of the inner journey – thoughts, emotions, fears, joys.
It is how we experience our lives, how we reacted to what was happening and what was important – on that one particular day.
If you have not kept a journal – I hope that this blog post will convince you of that journal keeping is worth the small investment of time.
A journal is the best friend you can have
Make a pact with yourself – that you will never allow anyone else to read what you write and you will discover a sacred place where you can be yourself and where your soul finds its voice.
A home for your wildest dreams, your ideas, hopes and plans.
A journal is a gift you give yourself, it is your kindest, most patient listener, your loyalist companion and your tolerant loving confidant. It is a place you can go any time; day or night – where you are never judged.
Captured within the bound pages of a journal – is place of safety to pour out your heart, express your fears and record triumphs.
Those blank lines can hold all the emotions that course through your veins – the disappointments, the jealousy, the rage, once expressed, have a tendency to lose their potency. You can lay bare – the thoughts and feelings that could not be discussed with another living soul.
It gives your life perspective
I have been journalling over twenty years, there are a stack of books that represent my life so far, not the external – photograph albums but the internal – thoughts, emotions, reactions and lessons.
Life is fleeting, days fly by and before you know it years or months have passed, a journal is like catching each day, and preserving it.
At any moment I can travel back to a particular day and read what was on my mind. It helps me to see each day as a page in my book of life, one that moves the ‘story of me‘ – forward.
I have the photographs of my daughter’s wedding, but I also have my joy recorded in the pages of a book, the elation, the laughter, the pride – the preparations and small incidents noted that would be forgotten. Any day I choose, I can go back and re-live that moment of triumph- preserved forever.
It helps us to solve problems
Life gives us lessons, sometimes painful lessons; our journals can be a place where we can record how we react, but once the emotion is spent, we are able to discover our own inner wisdom. It can be where we reflect and explore strategies to handle similar problems in the future.
We can re-read the some of the darkest moments of our lives with the benefit of hindsight – the fear that gave us sleepless nights – resolved itself eventually.
We can read how we were knocked back by life – and yet, slowly, day by day, got back up and began again.
Hopefully – when the same lesson presents itself – we know we shall survive. We are able to see how much we have learned, how well we handled the situation – and how much faster we recovered.
Arguments and disagreements feel like monumental events – but as time moves on – they change, incidents can lose their importance. The argument with the woman you work with – years later is someone who’s name you had forgotten. The period of unemployment – was an opportunity to review your career path and a change of direction.
Kipling
It puts you in control
If the past is still haunting you, a journal can be a place to re-write the story; laying events to rest so they don’t overshadow the present. You can record all the great ‘come backs’ you could have said, or write an ending where you come out on top. The job you didn’t get – can be a blessing.
Just the act of writing these things – helps us to release the grip of pain and regret so that they don’t take up any more of our lives than necessary.
Simple Abundance Companion – Sarah Breathnach
This lovely quote from The Simple Abundance Companion always fills me with joy – words have a tremendous power to change our feelings, change our perceptions and alter the course of our lives.
When you write in a journal, that power is in your hands.
It makes you happy
We live in a world full of advertising – bombarded on all sides with glimpses on a better life that are designed to make us dissatisfied with what we have. A journal can be a place to record all the blessings we have which give our lives balance.
Happiness comes from within – recording just five things that you are grateful for every day – focusses your thoughts on what you have. It can turn the worst day, into one where it is good to have a warm bed, good health and something to eat.
It helps creativity
As the digital world takes over, written documents are becoming increasingly rare. Handwriting becomes an exercise in mindfulness, it slows your thinking.
The Artists Way advocates morning pages – three pages of stream of consciousness writing – it gives an outlet for all the thoughts running through our heads, clearing our minds for creativity.
Ideas can be captured, expressed and developed – all within a place of safety, until they are ready to emerge.
Journalling is accessible and affordable
I tend to use blank journals, a diary has limited space and if you are busy there are no empty pages to greet you when you return. Some days I can write night and morning, or I will miss a week or two.
You don’t need an expensive notebook, some of my early books were simply exercise books – you need something that you aren’t afraid to ‘spoil’.
Journals are your very own story – recorded in your own hand – who you are and the life you have lived.
Or here are some great books that will start your journey into finding your authentic self, click on the pictures for a link to purchase. (I am not being sponsored for these clicks!) they are all books that I have found useful.
Fred the Needle 