I don’t remember when I first began keeping a journal, but I do know that by the time I was in fourth grade, I was recording my thoughts almost every day.
I journaled just before going to bed. I’d retrieve my journal from its current hiding place and my favorite pen from my nightstand drawer. Then I’d pull back the side curtain from the canopy bed that my grandmother had converted, with a little help from me and inexpensive sheer curtains from the Sears catalogue, into a four-poster
Cocooned inside, with only the light from the clip-on lamp I’d attached to the bed’s headboard, I’d write.
I was never a “I did this or that” type of journal-keeper. Instead, I poured my heart onto the pages of my journal. My dreams, my hurts, my hopes, my frustrations, my crushes . . . all recorded and then hidden, not to be seen by anyone else’s eyes.
As a lifelong journaler, I was intrigued by a recent blog entry by Cathy Baker, a writer I greatly admire. In it, she talks about keeping a topical list journal.
I had an unused dot-matrix insert in my traveler’s notebook. Back in January, when I set up my bullet journal and inserts, I didn’t really need it. But I had room for it, so I inserted it in the back. I knew that its purpose would eventually show itself, and it had. I’ve been creating a topical list journal for a few weeks now and am so excited about it that I wanted to share Cathy’s blog post with you.
Enjoy!