I'm so glad to introduce you to Mari L. McCarthy and her book, Mindset Medicine: A Journaling Power Self-Love Book, today on Choices. We are honored to highlight her theories on making our lives vibrant through journaling. You've probably read about the importance of journaling here at Choices many times before. We are so glad Mari is such a practicing advocate. Book Summary Want the cure for culture chaos? Grab your pen and pad and prescribe yourself, Mindset Medicine: A Journaling Power Self-Love Book. The news, the fear, the media, the texts, the constant bombardment of electronic sludge. It can all tear you down and rip you away from being YOU! You can choose to give into this madness and be manipulated into submission. Or you can join the Journaling Power Revolution, reconnect with your higher self, and love yourself without conditions. In her third book, award-winning international bestseller author Mari L. McCarthy reveals a journaling power path that leads to an … [Read more...]
Yes! Writing is calming
Hug Everyone You Know: A Year of Community, Courage, and Cancer, published by She Writes Press, is a memoir about how Antoinette Truglio Martin found the courage to navigate her first year of breast cancer treatment. It’s the story of how a community—colleagues, family, friends—rallied to support her. The book is moving, brave, informative, and occasionally funny—and it speaks to us all. I turned to journaling when my son was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and after his suicide death. The page became a healing balm for me. Eventually I included those journal entries in my memoir, Leaving the Hall Light On: A Mother's Memoir of Living with Her Son's Suicide and Surviving His Suicide. Like Antoinette, my writing kept me calm and focused. Here is her essay on how she benefitted from writing in her journals and emailing her community after her cancer diagnosis. How Writing Calms the Nerves by Antoinette Truglio Martin I don’t run. I don’t sit still long enough to mind my … [Read more...]
Yes, journaling has therapeutic powers
I have journaled every day since 1993, and I've definitely experienced its therapeutic powers. It has also been very healing during my son's manic episodes and after his suicide. Mari McCarthy certainly validates my thoughts about the benefits of journaling all these years. Please welcome her to Choices while she's on her WOW! Women on Writing virtual book tour and take a look at her new book, Heal Your Self with Journaling Power. Mari has also shared her thoughts about the roles of our inner critic and inner coach as we travel through our lives. My inner critic has always been very loud in my head. It's good to know we can learn to hush it up. Here's Mari McCarthy. Conversations with Your Inner Critic and Inner Coach by Mari McCarthy You have two voices competing for attention in your head: your inner critic and your inner coach. Your inner critic brings up all of your insecurities and misgivings. They doubt your abilities, judge your actions and … [Read more...]
How journaling helped B. Lynn Goodwin decide to marry at age 62
B. Lynn Goodwin used her journals as the foundation of her memoir, Never Too Late: From Wannabe to Wife at 62. Well, I have to say I did the same when I started my memoir, Leaving the Hall Light On. I had pages and pages of journal entries that I meticulously copied from my handwritten notebooks to computer Word files, and my book was off and running. For me, writing in my journals helped me heal after losing my son too suicide. For B. Lynn Goodwin, journal writing helped her to decide whether to jump into a marriage with a two-time widower at age 62. We both agree that journaling is like having a secret friend that we can trust with anything in our minds and hearts. Here is B. Lynn Goodwin and her thoughts about the benefits of journaling for her. Need a Venting Partner? Try a Journal by B. Lynn Goodwin When I was dating Richard, I had crazy thoughts running through my head. What did I know about love or commitment or becoming a wife? I didn’t even tell my friends about him at … [Read more...]
Revisiting journal writing
My writing in the last couple of weeks has been made up mostly of journaling. That has inspired me to revisit a piece I wrote about how important I think journal writing is and share it with you. The Power of Journaling A friend gave me a little leather (or faux leather) bound five-year diary complete with tiny lock and key when I was in high school. And for a while I wrote in the teeniest script about typical teen-age angst especially about my first crush who gave me my first cigarette and first French kiss and then dumped me for a girl he met at summer camp. I think my parents must have thrown that diary out when they sold our house and moved to California because I never saw it again after I went away to college. I took up journaling again during my thirties while my husband and our two sons and I lived for nineteen months on a remote island in the South Pacific. I felt so isolated on this tiny island that the best I could do was write long rants every morning before the … [Read more...]
Journaling – the perfect sleeping potion
As a person who journals everyday I can see the benefits of doing morning pages every morning and journaling just before going to sleep. I've journaled both ways. Right now I journal in the morning. I decided to switch over from night journaling because once in a while I'd nod off while writing. You can only imagine what funny gibberish I found on my page the next morning as a result. Mari L. McCarthy, our WOW! Women on Writing blog tour guest today and author of Journaling Power, is an advocate of writing at night as a way to get a good night's sleep. By the way, she writes in the morning as well. Please welcome Mari to Choices. Sleep Tight Every Night By Mari L. McCarthy Do you have trouble getting off to sleep at night because your mind has gone into overdrive? Or do you drop off only to wake in the early hours with your head full of worries? I used to suffer with insomnia until I discovered a creative cure with absolutely no side-effects: writing therapy in the … [Read more...]
Journaling – one of the greatest investments of my life
Dawn Herring, creator of the #JournalChat Live Facebook Group, and my journaling mentor, has started off 2016 with a #JournalChat Live open house. She has asked us to share if journaling has been one of the greatest investments in our lives. Dawn says, We keep journals to express ourselves, to create positive change, and become more personally empowered, right? So, we may see journaling as one of the Greatest Investments of our lives AND/OR, we may have experienced clarity and clear direction as a RESULT of our journaling practice that has led us to something that truly changed our lives for the better. Her statement is indeed true for me. Here is why. My Journaling My Greatest Investment By Madeline Sharples During lunch with a new friend last week, she asked me about my writing projects. I shared that I am writing a lot of poetry these days and that I'm also revising my novel for about the 15th time. Then I told her I journal every day. That made her back straighten and … [Read more...]
Life lessons learned from journaling
For four months I worked incredibly long hours helping a group of engineers write a proposal to the United States Air Force. My job was to advise and to make sure they correctly followed the request for proposal (RFP) instructions in the given number of pages. Plus I edited and rewrote their work to make the proposal read like it was written in one voice. I would arrive at work around 7:30 am and leave between six and eight in the evening. That left me just enough time to have a quick dinner at our hotel where the selections were less than enticing and go up to my hotel room and get ready for bed. Regular writing even under these conditions reminded me how important journaling is to my continued well-being. It always gives me space to gripe, to rant, and even to describe some of the good things about my day. Since journaling has become a way of life for me, I couldn't let it go no matter what. Unfortunately, my other writing went by the wayside during this heavy period of work and … [Read more...]
Happy fifth anniversary, #JournalChat Live!
Congratulations to Dawn Herring on the fifth anniversary of her wonderful creation #JournalChat Live. In celebration I've written my thoughts about journaling's greatest benefit to me. I also share my favorite technique for writing my journal entries and offer a bit of journaling advice for those who want to start out. Dawn invited me to participate in a live #JournalChat on Twitter and Facebook in early April. (Click the link for a transcript of our journaling conversation.) I couldn't have been more thrilled. Dawn's love of all things journaling has been a huge inspiration to me. Here's to Dawn Herring and an early happy anniversary wish to #JournalChat Live. Greatest Benefit I took up journaling seriously for the first time during my thirties while I lived with my husband and our two sons for nineteen months on a remote island in the South Pacific. I felt so isolated on this tiny island that the best I could do was write long rants every morning before the boys woke up. … [Read more...]
My life changed in an instant
I started my long-awaited consulting job this past Wednesday and with that my life's daily routines changed in an instant. I get up more than an hour earlier so I'll have enough time to workout before I have to be at work at 7:30 am!!!! Also, the amount of time I have to train for the Boston Overnight walk in June has been cut in half. I drive to work rather than walk downstairs to my home office. I need to be dressed in business clothes with makeup on rather than in my grubbies and no makeup when I work at home. I haven't watched any television for the last several days I sure miss my daily dose of Jeopardy nor have I read one word of any of the books stacked on my beside table. But most important of all, most of my writing time has been snatched away. So far I'm clinging to daily journaling usually right before I go to sleep, but my other writing has stopped. I was going great with the April Poem A Day prompts until this week. Though the prompts stopped on … [Read more...]
Six features of life-changing memoirs by M. Shannon Hernandez
I'm so happy M. Shannon Hernandez has agreed to return to Choices to discuss memoir while on her WOW! Women on Writing virtual book tour. We met her here before with her thoughts about journaling, and since I think journal writing is a great way to jump-start a memoir, it is fitting to have Shannon tell us how to write a life-changing memoir. Shannon recently launched: Breaking the Silence: My Final Forty Days as a Public School Teacher. She shares her vast experience in providing us with the six features of life-changing memoirs. How to Write a Life-Changing Memoir By M. Shannon Hernandez Life-changing! That is a tall order, isn't it? If you are an author, you most likely want to change lives with your words. Not only am I a connoisseur of memoirs, I also have written a memoir, and I coach memoir writers to turn their memories into manuscripts. I have spent much time dissecting memoirs. Here I discuss: Six Features of Life-Changing Memoirs 1: Narrow your focus waaaayyyy … [Read more...]
Jerry Waxler compares the benefits of journal and memoir writing
I'm so pleased to host Jerry Waxler on his third WOW! Women on Writing blog tour stop. He generously allowed me to conduct a two-part interview with him in September 2013 about the role of memoir in our lives today (here and here). At that time he also discussed his wonderful and very informative book about memoir writing, Memoir Revolution (see my review below). Today Jerry writes about the many benefits of journal and memoir writing and compares the two forms. Thanks so much, Jerry, for being here and providing your expertise to the many readers here at Choices. Comparing the Benefits of Journal Writing and Memoir Writing By Jerry Waxler I discovered the benefits of journal writing in the late 1970s when a spiritual teacher suggested, I write my thoughts as if in a letter to God. Allowing my thoughts and feelings to flow onto the page helped me maintain my poise so effectively, I kept going for years. When I began to read about the healing benefits of journal writing, I … [Read more...]
One Lovely Blog Award – paying it forward
I'm paying it forward in thanks for the One Lovely Blog Award I recently received from my dear friend Cate Russell-Cole. It definitely made my day to be included in her list of awardees. And it couldn't have come at a better time. I'm going to pass the award to some of my writing friends who will hopefully take the opportunity to pay it forward as well. Here are the rules: One Lovely Blog Award Rules: 1. I need to thank the person who nominated me. check! 2. Share 7 things about myself that you still may not know. check! 3. Nominate up to 15 bloggers. check! 4. Notify the nominees that I have done so. check! 5. Put the logo of the award on my blog site. check! Now seven things about me that you may not know: I worked as a technical writer/editor and proposal manager in the aerospace industry for thirty years after getting a degree in English. Both my parents were born in eastern Europe Mom from Lithuania, Dad from Poland. They met and fell in love in Chicago, … [Read more...]
The healing powers of journaling
This is the second in my series about writing to heal. I've also found the healing powers of journaling, which I first wrote about for Rev. Linda M. Rhinehart Neas' anthology: Returning to the Circle: Inspirational Wisdom from Women for Women. The Power of Journaling A friend gave me a little leather (or faux leather) bound five-year diary complete with tiny lock and key when I was in high school. And for a while I wrote in the teeniest script about typical teen-age angst especially about my first crush who gave me my first cigarette and first French kiss and then dumped me for a girl he met at summer camp. I think my parents must have thrown that diary out when they sold our house and moved to California because I never saw it again after I went away to college. I took up journaling again during my thirties while my husband and our two sons and I lived for nineteen months on a remote island in the South Pacific. I felt so isolated on this tiny island that the best I could do … [Read more...]
Why I turned to digital journaling
Journaling remains a major force in my life. Rarely a day goes by that I don't write a journal entry. I find the time to write down at least no matter where I am. M. Shannon Hernandez recently posted my thoughts on digital journaling at her The Writing Whisperer blog. I feel so honored to be her guest poster. Here's Why I Turned to Digital Journaling Writing for Healing I turned to journaling regularly in 1993 just after my son Paul was diagnosed bipolar, and I continued on after his suicide death in 1999. Journaling became my therapy. Keeping my fingers moving across the page was both an obsession and a healing balm. It gave me a way to organize my fears, pain, and thoughts. As a result I have become a huge proponent of journaling as a way to heal. I still journal every day. At first I wrote in notebooks the finer the better. I especially love the ones I bought in France and later found at Banner Stationer's in El Segundo California Clairefontaine. The pages are very … [Read more...]
Please welcome The Writing Whisperer, M. Shannon Hernandez
I'm very pleased to introduce you to M. Shannon Hernandez. I met her a couple weeks ago at Dawn Herring's weekly Twitter Journal Chat, as we discussed the benefits of journaling. Journaling is such a wonderful way to tell our life stories and kick off future writing pieces of any genre. I also like to journal to report daily happenings and dreams, and make lists of to dos and what I've accomplished. Shannon discusses her technique for journaling in short reflective bursts. Here's Shannon. The Journaler's Nightcap: Conscious Reflection Journaling by M. Shannon Hernandez Most of us leave extremely busy lives. We are bombarded with more information than ever before. A short walk from my house to the train station in Brooklyn yields advertisements whizzing by on busses, flyers handed out on street corners, and newspapers thrust at me as I descend underground. I didn't even mention that you would most likely see me checking my voicemail, email, and text messages along the way too. One day … [Read more...]
Memoir – a way of keeping a loved one alive
Before I had any inkling that I would write my memoir, Leaving the Hall Light On: A Mother's Memoir of Living withHer Son's Bipolar and Surviving His Suicide, I wrote to keep the memory of my oldest son Paul alive. It was almost an obsession. I continually wrote down everything I could remember. I didn't want to forget one thing about him. Possibly his last photo It turns out my notes and journal entries were a huge help when I began to put my memoir together. My journals even short entries informed and rounded out my writing immensely. What else is memoir but memories? Here is a list of memories I wrote down in the early days after Paul's death. I'm especially glad to have them this month my birthday month one of the times I miss him the most. I'll always remember he slept without closing his eyes all the way I'll always remember he walked fast and way ahead of us I'll always remember he had long, thick, black eyelashes surrounding clear … [Read more...]
Why I journal
I just spent an hour with my friend and fellow journal writer, @DawnHerring chatting about journaling #JournalChat. Dawn hosts these Twitter chats every Thursday at two o'clock Pacific time. I hadn't participated for the last few weeks, so it was good to be back today. The topic was Take Action. Before I get into that here's a bit about my journaling history. When I was in grade school I had one of those little leather (or faux leather) bound diaries that had a tiny key. Mine was a 5-year diary so I wrote down in teeny script my daily events. I think my parents must have thrown it out when they sold our house and moved to California because I never saw it again after I went away to college. I journaled in fits and starts over the next forty years or so. I kept a journal when we lived in the South Pacific during the seventies, and some of those journal entries became a magazine article about our island adventures. However, I began journaling regularly when my son Paul was … [Read more...]
I love Cheryl Stahle’s journaling suggestions
I also met Cheryl Stahle while we were co-panelists on a Google+ hangout about writing life stories. I'm so glad that you'll also get to know about Cheryl and her book, Slices of Life: the Art and Craft of Memoir Writing. I hope you'll also resonate with her journaling suggestions as I do. Journaling Towards Healing by Cheryl Stahle Grief. Unmentionable. A taboo topic. If we don't acknowledge the presence of grief maybe it will disappear. But often it doesn't. Ted Schwartz, the surviving member of Ted & Lee (now Ted & Co www.tedandcompany.com) has recently published his memoir addressing grief at the loss of his business partner, creative muse, fellow actor and best friend entitled Laughter is a Sacred Space. Ted has transformed his memoir into a one-man stage show that immortalizes the legacy Lee left through his suicide while leaving Ted to reinvent himself. Ted is currently touring the United States bringing his memoir to life through a genre outside of a print book. … [Read more...]
