JOURNAL FOR HEALTH
WRITER WELLNESS, A WRITER’S PATH TO HEALTH AND CREATIVITY
Joy E. Held
People have a love/hate relationship with keeping a journal. “Ugh. One more thing to do! And if I have a good idea, I’m going to save it for my WIP.” Precisely. Journals are super places to keep track of those juicy kernels of inspiration as well as the place to play around with them until just the right idea springs forth. That’s what goes into the WIP. But what if a blank journal page scares you as much as the blank computer screen? There’s always something to write about in a journal because there are no rules, no journal police deciding if what’s in the journal is write (get it? write…right?) or wrong.
Writer Wellness came about fifteen years ago when fellow critique group members asked me what the secret was to publishing, working part-time, raising a family, and staying in shape. My dance and yoga background was a natural part of my everyday life, but it wasn’t for my friends. I took a step back, examined what I did, and Writer Wellness was born. I determined that my personal program of journal writing, exercise, meditation, eating right, and noodling around with creative play kept me compassionate, productive, and creative. What else do we want? Good health.
JOURNAL: “I can’t think of anything to write!”
You’ve got old magazines don’t you? You’ve torn out and filed the articles you want to keep for future reference (I hope) and what’s left are inspiring words, pictures, and loads of ideas for journal writing. ANY magazine is jam packed with journal prompts and it’s a great recycling effort to use items from magazines to jumpstart your pages.
Take one or two magazines, scotch tape, scissors, your journal, and a pen and sit down with time to create. Flip through the magazine ripping out the pages with words, pictures, etc. that catch your eye. Just two days ago I ripped out a brightly colored gift, a stack of clean bath towels, several large words like ‘fun,’ ‘breathe,’ and ‘love,’ and a picture of a person sitting in a cross legged position meditating.
Now take the scissors and cut out the pictures and words that inspire you. Tape one picture somewhere on the current and blank-not-for-long journal page. Take a sip of the beverage I’m sure you have handy and look closely at the image on the page. Write about the first thing that pops into your head that is perhaps related to the photo. It doesn’t have to be, it can just be a place from which to leap into the wonder.
I wrote a whole page about how much I dislike doing laundry. Also on the page is the picture of a stack of clean towels. I seamlessly whined about how if there are disposable hand towels for the kitchen, why are there no disposable bath towels? Would save the world in water, soap, electricity, and toil! Paper bath towels could be recyclable! What do you think?
Be well, write well.
Joy E. Held is the author of Writer Wellness, A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity
Who Dares Wins Publishing
www.whodareswinspublishing.com
Connect with Joy:
Blog: www.writerwellness.wordpress.com
Email: joybeth1109@yahoo.com
