Journaling As a Way of Examining Life

I own quite a few books on journaling, how to journal, what to journal, and inspiration for a journal, journaling techniques...etc.  It used to be be hard to find books about journaling (although it is quite an ancient thing) but now they abound and you have to pick and choose more carefully.  My all-time favorite (which I often quote) is Gwen Diehn's The Complete Decorated Journal.  

But here comes another favorite to share.  A "new" favorite so to speak.  My friend, Autumn, gifted me with this book just this week and so I am into only a few chapters but am in love already.  A Trail Through the Leaves: The Journal as a Path to Place by Hannah Hinchman.  You can get inexpensive used copies on Amazon but I think it's out of print now so you would want to do this fairly soon.

 Same with her first book below. (sorry about the fuzzy photo).  I was able to find A Life in Hand: Creating an Illuminated Journal on Kindle as a download.  Danny Gregory recommended this one quite a long time ago, it seems, and he says he read it until the pages fell out of the binding.  

Neither of these books are new of course...1991 and 1997 I think.  So you have to hunt to find them. But what a joy they are with lots of great ideas about how to make journaling and the writing that "can" go with them new and meaningful.  Hannah really focuses on writing more than some authors do.  And with me starting my memoir this summer it is just too perfect!  Sharon Feathers would call it a "Godwink".  

A lot of this serendipity about journaling came together this week just shortly after Lee and Susan and I did the sketch morning at the old cemetery on Thursday (see former blog post).  A journaling group gathered Friday morning to share their ideas.  Lee's journals (two samples below) are inspirational.  He must have had 50 of them there to see and enjoy.  And Susan brought a lot of her journals (maybe another 50!) and some of the rest of us had two or three to share.  

Idea:  Lee says if you use a spiral bound journal and you want to have the title and year of the journal visible on your book shelf...make a light cardboard book jacket and score it and fold it so that there is an binding edge facing outward that covers the spiral and gives the information.  WHAT a good idea!!!