One sunny day, many years ago, I was sorting through a keepsake box of stuff from my childhood when I discovered some of my diaries. You know the ones with the little locks? Well the locks were all broken (thanks to my brothers!), but otherwise the dairies were intact.
You can imagine how my excitement grew as I wrapped my hands around these little treasures. I was about to enter a doorway to my childhood…
As I read the entries, I was thrilled to re-discover my musings from long ago. I was even more thrilled to gain precious insight into my thoughts and feelings at such a tender age. Sadly, I had only recorded a handful of entries in each diary and was left with a deep yearning to read and learn more about myself as a child.
The Answers Came
For many days thereafter, one question haunted my mind – “Why did I stop writing?” Here is what I realized:
- As a child I was simply overwhelmed with all of the blank lines in my diary and with the deep obligation I felt to completely fill ALL lines of EACH and EVERY page.
- I realized that my childhood notion of how to keep a dairy had taken the fun out the activity.
- And so I quit.
You see, from the answers to my first question of why I stopped writing, I pondered the next question:
“How can I help encourage kids today to start and continue with their journaling?”
The simple answers to this question are what eventually became my Journal Buddies book series.
I imagined journals full of creative journaling ideas, lined pages, blank pages, and the core idea of sharing, not hiding, our thoughts and feelings. This is just a small overview of what is inside each copy of Journal Buddies.
Fast Forward to Today
Five years later, three journals (two versions of the girls and a boys version), a new journal to be published in late summer, and untold numbers of children happily discovering the joys of journaling, and this is just the beginning. All of this from a few childhood diaries of mine and a few insightful questions. Life is amazing!
It is my belief that messages of love and acceptance, sharing, and discovery through joy and creativity are needed now more than ever by the girls and boys. I will continue to do my part and create, share and promote journals that reach far and wide and bless and heal and empower kids on their journey through life. I will continue to spread the joys of journaling and am honored to have you along for the journey.
Happy journaling…
Sincerely,
Jill
Author and Creator of Journal Buddies
PS Grab your Free Report “10 Positive Effects of Journal Writing on Your Child’s Self-Esteem and Confidence”
Hi Jill, thought I would pass this along. I also kept diaries when I was a kid but then quit and took it up again in 1974. I too wish I had kept it up but as you said, diaries had a different meaning then. I felt I needed an exciting life to keep a diary. Sometimes I still feel that way or rather WISH I had a more exciting life. Now I keep it for me of my feelings, thoughts, goals, hopes, dreams and pictures of things that inspire me. Although I am MUCH older now, I would like to encourage kids to journal for themselves. I keep a journal for my cats and tell people I do it so my cats will know later what they were like as kittens. Same for kids and older people. Your journal is about you, for you, by you. It doesn’t have to be any particular length or about any particular thing. It doesn’t have to have complete sentences. You can leave spaces between the lines to come back to at another time and add notes to compare how you felt at one time versus now. You can draw pictures, you can paste photos or whatever you like in your journal.
Just wanted to share with younger journalers. Have fun with it.
Dearest WildJean,
Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing your thoughts and insights about journaling! They mean the world to me, and are so very informative to parents, and valuable to kids, too. Journaling at any age is an invaluable life tool that brings many rewards.
Happy journal keeping.
Always,
Jill 😀
Hi Jill
Thanks for the supportive and informative website. You refer to girls mostly – I’m using ‘your journaling’ techniques as an encouragement amongst my grade 7 scholars.
Any thoughts on boys’ journaling
Regards
Mark
Hello Mark,
Journaling is a powerful tool for girls AND boys, and I am thrilled to hear that you are using this amazing tool with your boys. I suggest that the emphasis of their journal keeping be on what they think, with feelings playing a secondary role. Feelings and emotions will express naturally through the journaling process, but boys will enjoy the experience more when a thinking, acting approach is used.
Also, if you’re not doing so already, be sure to mix up their journaling experiences and help them to explore and discover the journal keeping style that works best with their personality. Here are a few resources I think you might find useful to use with your boys to achieve this outcome:
Journal Writing Topics
Creative Journaling Ideas
Improve Boys Self-Esteem with Interactive Journal Keeping
It would be my honor to hear from you and/or your students agains. I will make a point to add more content to my site that is relevant to boys and journaling.
I hope my suggestions are helpful.
All the best,
Jill