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© 2022 Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM.  World Rights Reserved. http://www.kebba.com

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Journaling is one of the great tools of a successful and fulfilling meditation practice.  And the most difficult aspect of this practice is remembering to spell the word with one “l”.  It can multiply the effects of your meditation and accelerate your spiritual growth in the Divine slipstream.  There are 5 secrets to tapping the power of journaling:

  1. Do it. Set your intention to do it, then do it. Don’t worry about rules like “journal at the same time each day” and “set aside the same amount of time to journal each day.”  Open that journal whenever you have a comment to make to it.
  2. Find the format that works best for you. This may be handwritten napkin notes you save in a drawer, scribbles on loose paper, neatly dated .  Or it could be a gorgeous bound volume.  You may like a spiral-bound notebook so the front can be folded easily back.  Play around with what feels best.  Some like to journal for several minutes at a time, in the Notes app on their smartphone.  Since most people have their smartphones with them all the time, they can quickly open their journaling folder/documents and record some thoughts.  They can even take notes during a counseling session or class.  Then they can email the notes from their phone to their email cache and pull the journal paragraphs out into a word processor document. For those who are writers and keyboard-fluent, simply keyboarding into a word processor document may be most satisfying and easy to file.  Sometimes, you may feel moved to include drawings or photos.  Then do that!
  3. Keep different journals for different areas of interest. Yes, some people have a few journals!  I know a woman who has seven!  One might be for your thoughts on your workplace and career, one for relationships, one for world affairs.  Or perhaps you are in a recovery program, and you want one journal simply for your observations, questions, resources, and progress.
  4. Find a private place for your journal, and keep it there.  This will allow you to feel safe about writing whatever is on your heart and writing as many details as you feel you want to.  If you live in an unsafe environment, your journal may be safest hidden under the driver’s seat of your car.  Another safe format, if you journal by word processing, is to name your journal something irrelevant (i.e., “Records”), and store it in an irrelevant drive (i.e., “Accounting”)  Then, from time to time, back it up to a thumb drive and hide the thumb drive in a safe deposit box.  And be sure to use the special Protection Meditation (Sacred Meditation, Chapter 15).
  5. Notice how different you feel with journaling. Notice how much more clear and relaxed you are as you have been practicing journaling and trying different formats.  It is beautifully liberating to “speak” with complete candor, as you can when you share your thoughts and feelings in your journal, in perfect privacy.  Notice how the “next steps”, the things you need to work on next, the areas in which you know you want to grow, become crystal clear.  Notice your heart becoming lighter as you sit down to meditate.  Notice how receptive you are becoming to Divine Guidance.  Make notes on these experiences in your journal.

The late prominent writer Anais Nin was said to have started journaling at age 11, for a total of over 10,000 pages, plus novels and contributions to other works.  (How did she have time to write all those pages?)  She was a leading cultural influencer of the Sixties and Seventies.  No one is asking you to compete by volume.  You may be more concise than Ms. Nin, or you may be even more prolific.  Try weaving journaling into your spiritual practice and your secular hours.  The Divine can take you places you’ve only ever dreamed of.

And that’s Upbeat Spiritual Livingsm!

And that would also be you, increasingly Healthy Happy and Loving Lifesm!

Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert, holistic healer, and award-winning author who celebrates life.  She has a longtime natural healing practice and is an ordained minister. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), Inspirations for Peace Within:  Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire, and Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine.  The books are available on Amazon and through Kebba’s office.   They are also available in Scottsdale, Arizona, at the Franciscan Renewal Center bookstore and at the bookstore at St. Barnabas on the Desert Episcopal Church. Or simply email us to order:  kebba@kebba.com .  Thank you!

Happy healthy loving life

Books by Kebba Buckley Button