Tiny Buddha Says Journal

I was looking through journaling ideas and I got some great ideas off of tinybudda.com.  I thought I would share tiny buddha's 10 journaling tips.
1. Write about where you are today.
Write what is happening in your world, your relationships, your work, your learning and your self discovery.
2. Write like a brainstorm is pouring on the page.
Don't edit or sensor just write.
3.Channel the child within by writing with your less dominant hand.
What difficulties come up?
4.Cultivate Thanks Giving by writing gratitude lists.
Write about things you are grateful for including motivational messages.  That way when you read through and you're feeling down you get a boost of gratitude.
5. Start a self portrait journal.
(I really like this one) Take pictures, draw, paint, create a word picture, learn to love you as you are in this moment.
6. Keep a nature journal
Record what you see around you in the great out doors.  There are so many wonderful things out there.
7. Keep a success journal
Write down the successes you remember and then continue it by continually writing down little successes during the week.  Your list will grow and inspire you.
8.Keep a log or playlist of your favorite songs.
Write about memories you connect with these songs and the emotions they evoke.
9. When you struggle with something or face on obstacle or challenge.
Write about what's going on in third person.  This will give you distance, new perspective and hopefully more clarity.
10. Develop Intuition (also known as a spiritual journal).
Write down questions and then let the impressions come.  Write them.  You will find your inner light.

American Slave

 My mother then turned to him and cried, "Oh, master, do not take me from my child!" Without making any reply, he gave her two or three heavy blows on the shoulders with his raw-hide, snatched me from her arms, handed me to my master, and seizing her by one arm, dragged her back towards the place of sale. My master then quickened the pace of his horse; and as we advanced, the cries of my poor parent became more and more indistinct - at length they died away in the distance, and I never again heard the voice of my poor mother. Young as I was, the horrors of that day sank deeply into my heart, and even at this time, though half a century has elapsed, the terrors of the scene return with painful vividness upon my memory. Frightened at the sight of the cruelties inflicted upon my poor mother, I forgot my own sorrows at parting from her and clung to my new master, as an angel and a saviour, when compared with the hardened fiend into whose power she had fallen. She had been a kind and good mother to me; had warmed me in her bosom in the cold nights of winter; and had often divided the scanty pittance of food allowed her by her mistress, between my brothers, and sisters, and me, and gone supperless to bed herself. 

This heart wrenching tale evokes such emotion and poses such a powerful question to bigotry.  It is entirely unusual, not the experience, but the fact that it was recorded. This young slave learned to read and write and was able to record his experience.  He wasn't out to change the world, all he did was record his seemingly insignificant life.  Little did he know that his life and his words would ring so significantly in the ears of those who read his account.  It reminds us that we all share a bond of human nature.  It calls the reader to take a look at their life and their family and to take a step in someone else's life.

Reality is What You Make of It

Depend on the Lord

He that doeth the will...

Lincoln Papers

This is the first draft of Lincoln's Emancipation proclamation.  Abe Lincoln is rumored to have kept his papers in his hat.  Sometimes you need an unconventional way to go about things.  However you choose to do it it's important to leave a record.  Who knows what will be important in the future, and who will be inspired by your story.  In Lincoln's Gettysburg address, he says "the world will little note, nor long remember what we say here."  It just goes to show you never know what will be important to the future.

John Quincy Adams

This is a page from the diary of John Quincy Adams.  He was working on the senate.  Great men recorded their thoughts in journals.  John Quincy Adams was a "red personality" which means he is wired to be a leader/promoter.  You can tell this from his journal because he wrote short, to the point sentences.  It is always fascinating to look at the handwriting of the time, especially when comparing it to the handwriting of today.  It was more of an important skill, because they didn't have typewriters or computers to do it if they couldn't.  It was a mark of a successful and intelligent man to be able to write well.

Find out what your personality type is and what it means.