Journaling

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A Place For Your Private Thoughts
and Personal Dreams!

Do you ever have a day where you feel like everything is going your way? But, two seconds later, you might feel like you can't find your groove. Don't worry, feeling this way is totally normal, really!

Come on, let's be realistic-you probably have so many things going on in your life: issues with your parents, friends, boys, school, and don't forget about the crazy (but natural) changes your body is going through. How can you possibly keep track of all these things? Here's one thing you can try-journaling.

Writing down how you feel, what is going on, or your hopes and dreams in a special place, that's what journaling is all about. Journaling is the perfect release when you are confused, angry, sad, and especially when you are so happy you think you are going to burst.

There are no rules to journaling. You can write what you want and when you want. You can write with a pencil or pen or, if you wish, a crayon. This is the time when you are allowed to write long complex sentences or you can write in short sentence fragments if you want to! You can draw pictures that go along with what you are writing, or you can doodle something that has nothing to do with the words on the page. All of these choices are yours!! The only thing we recommend is that you write the date of every journal entry-other then that, make up you own rules (or don't make any at all)!

Having a tough time getting started? Here are some ideas that might be helpful:

• Write about you.
• I was born on ___
• What is the date of your birth?
• What day of the week were you born?
• What time were you born?
• I weighed ___ and was ____long.
• On the day of my birth the weather was ____.
• Write about your day.
• Today, these things made me happy (sad, angry, tired, hungry, etc.).
• The weather today was ____.
• When I woke up this morning, I ____.
• For lunch today, I had ____.
• Write about the dream you had last night.
• The dream I had last night scared me because____.
• The dream I had last night comforted me because_____.
• The dream I had last night made me happy because____.
• Write about your hopes and dreams.
• One day I will____.
• I hope to ____.
• Write about your favorite holiday.
• Summer is my favorite time of year because we celebrate___.
• In my house during December we celebrate ____.
• At my friend's house during December they celebrate____.
• My favorite holiday memory is _____.
• Write about one of your favorite memories.
• The funniest thing I ever saw was_____.
• The silliest thing I ever did ______.
• I was proud of myself when I ____.
• The best trip I ever took with my parents was ____.
• Write about your family and what they mean to you.
• My mom and dad are ____.
• I have (0, 1, 2, etc.) brothers and sisters and they are ____.
• My family is important to me because _____.
• My grandparents are ____.
  
• Try "stream-of-consciousness" writing, which means writing down whatever comes to mind without worrying about commas, periods, quotes, and question marks—just let the words flow onto the paper.
  
• Write a dialog (pretend you are having a conversation with a role model or someone who inspires you).

Copyright © 2001-, Terry Muse Revised: April 2, 2002 URL: http://crafts_and_kids.tripod.com/ http://geocities.com/mounthollynj http://seaside_park_nj.tripod.com http://westlake_village_md.tripod.com Contact: Terry J. Muse