manual
Just Words on a Page
Don't degrade journaling as artsy-fartsy, this is one hobby that can do you good.
By Liz Gibson, Jayplay writer
Lara Puno has homework to do but her Web log is only a click away. She indulges the temptation to vent about the day's events. Puno, an English major, did not realize her habit of journaling to avoid studying could have positive repercussions.
The Leawood junior has kept a journal since high school, but recently got "sucked in" to an Internet diary. It's easier for her to keep in touch with friends and it helps iron out the ideas in her head. "Sometimes I stutter when I talk and this helps me get my story straight," she says.
Whether it's a sketchbook, scribbles on a page or words on a computer screen, journaling has emotional, mental and physical benefits.
In the mid-1980s, James Pennebaker, a professor of psychology at University of Texas, completed research in expressive writing. Participants wrote about their emotional disturbances for at least 15 minutes a day for three to four days. The results showed writing can produce dramatic improvements in physical and mental health This practice can enhance immune system function improve grades and perform better on job interviews.
Writing about meaningful events can also heal one's spirit, says Michele Weldon, author of Writing to Save Your Life: How to Honor Your Story Through
Journaling. Weldon, a journalism lecturer at Northwestern University, coined scribotherapy as a term for therapeutic writing. To Weldon, this means the process of writing for self-discovery. To achieve this goal, she encourages people to find a purpose for writing or "The Big Idea;" a one-sentence declarative statement of what you want to uncover about your life.
The motivation behind journaling varies among individuals. For Lora Jost, journaling was a natural progression. Because she is an artist, the linguistic element aided her visual process. "It's a place to get the first idea down," she says. "And then you can go back and develop it later."
Jost teaches a sketchbook journaling class at the Lawrence Arts Center, 940 New Hampshire St. She tells students to think about their journal as a journey. She asks, "Where do you want to start? What do you want your journal to be? Spiritual, healing, adventurous?" Jost encourages her pupils to focus on the
Weldon conducts writing workshops all over the country. One of the biggest complaints she hears about journaling is the time commitment. She says to write during lunch and before going to bed. "It's like brushing your teeth," she says. "It's something you've got to do."
photo: Brent Carter
process rather than the product. She says it's a canvas for practicing to draw, brainstorm and write.A former student inspired her by saying,"Journaling is like having your own room.It's your own place to do what you want."
One might get lost looking at Nick Alley's sketchbook, but the drawings, scribbled notes and messy pages aren't for show. "It's just a forum for putting thoughts down," says the Union, Kent., graduate student. He jokes about his adolescent journal entries about crushes and bowling nights, but having a record of personal history makes him appreciate what he's been through. "But because you do it, that doesn't change who you are. It lets you know who you were," he says.
Puno will journal even after her days of avoiding homework are over. She enjoys reminiscing about the details. "I'm so used to having the option of looking back," she says.
— Liz Gibson can be reached at lgibson@kansan.com.
Check out Jayplay @ Hanson.com
for tips on starting a journal