Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Stop, Drop and Write - First Aid with a Pen

Journaling never ceases to amaze me, not for the product on the page ( handwritten and tucked away, not these public pages) but for the internal trek across the landscape within.  Whether  the initial spark be troubles in the world, the arson of a stranger, accidental fire from a moment of carelessness in ones own camp,  or the spontaneous combustion of a loved one...a little time alone helps me to clean up my own tinder and wet down the vulnerable structures.

Often I start out removed, feeling the heat and not quiet sure I can battle the blaze:
6-26-12
Impartial, imperfect perceptions tangle up with each other and the amalgamations of fragments and dissimilar cultural artifacts pile up like junk yard sculpture. The noise of any channel of communication reduces the completeness and accuracy of the transmission.  To hear the trustworthy still small voice within, not only does the noise out and about need to fall away, quiet needs to well up from within me.

And then I plunge into the personal and descriptive  right after penning " ...but I am almost afraid to write in my own journal. "   But of course I do write in it, and I suppose I can always  do a little redacting with a black pen... process is messy... sorting out what others are up to can be helpful if it ultimately leads to kneeling down and checking out my own heart.

And eventually I wind up able to look out again...
There are wars and rumors of wars and boats on the bay and birds in the trees.  Pelicans fly by and elections take place in distant lands.  Men hold guns and children cower while grain grows in golden fields and bakers fire up ovens in the  early hours of unbroken mornings.  Trucks rumble by and birds cry out from their nests. 
And I get up and do the next thing...

I so often need to hear...."Therefore strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees..." ( Hebrews 12:12) and  "Let us not grow weary of doing good..."  ( Galatians 6:9).

9 comments:

GLENDA CHILDERS said...

For me, journaling is always a bit messy. I am glad you write. I enjoy your words.

Tania Pryputniewicz said...

Jeannette,

What a beautiful phrase about journaling, introspection,
crossing through the particulars of the truths of others, the value in that process, how it "ultimately leads to kneeling down and checking out my own heart"...

That's been a lifelong soothe for me, the process of journaling, the all there is, talking quietly to the self to hear and see what it needs in the otherwise opinion, emotion saturated field of others. Thanks for your words, and for the humility evident in the way you approach writing about others, with care, even in the privacy of your journal.

Tania Pryputniewicz said...

Jeannette,

I too love the soothe of journaling...and love the care and respect evident in your beautiful phrase about the particulars of the lives of others, sifting through them, worth it if "ultimately (it) leads to kneeling down and checking out my own heart"....

Nothing for me replaces that practice of the self speaking to the self, sheltered from the maelstrom of the emotion and will of the others surrounding us in daily life. How best to proceed? With careful sifting.....thanks for your post.

Tania Pryputniewicz said...

Jeannette,

Technology glitches in tow, you got two versions of same sentiment! Humbled by the technology...as ever...a snail mail girl at heart...

Haddock said...

Don't know much about journaling.
I just write :-)

debbie bailey said...

I used to write in my journal all the time, and then I started blogging. I didn't intend for one to replace the other. I've gotten into recent trouble with relatives for being too open and candid in my blog, so maybe I need to go back to journaling the more private things and keep the blog more general.

I enjoyed reading your words on journaling. They were beautifully said.

GretchenJoanna said...

yes, yes...when Mr. Glad came home Sun. night from church and asked why on earth, with so many undone chores I had been complaining about, I would write a blog post...? I tried to explain something like you have done.

Celeste Bracewell said...

Ditto, GretchenJoanna...a wonderfully descriptive peek at the process. I've been immersed in an editing project. So tired when I finished, I let my personal writing slide as well as the blog. Now I feel out of sorts. Must re-sort, resort...hmmmm

Rachel Federman said...

There really is a quiet there -- in journaling-- that's impossible to find anywhere else.