In a few moments, likely as soon as this post is completed and published, I will be on the road again. First stop will be at my son’s home where I will deliver grandchild #6 to his parents after a nine-day holiday with his grandparents, cousins, and aunt and uncle. Because I woke up early in order to see my wife off to work, I was able to get an early morning image, likely the last such for today and most of tomorrow. I took it because of the quality of light, as well as for another entry into my journal.
I have been writing in my journal since mid-July. For me, writing in my journal is a hit and miss affair. Prior to this latest foray into keeping a journal, I last wrote in November 2018. It wasn’t that I didn’t have anything to record, it was more that I felt the need to distance myself from the journal. When I was a practicing psychotherapist/counsellor, I would often assign journal writing as a means to have a client begin to internalise their feelings and emotional responses to the issues that had brought them to my office. I was given the same assignment when I found myself in counselling following the suicide of one of my brothers back in the early 90s.
I kept a hand-written journal in the 70s and sporadically until I began to record the journal onto my computer-at-the-time during the 90s. I only have written journals from the recent past which record travels such as my Camino experiences.
On and off since then, I have continued to journal. Until I adopted naturism as a preferred state of being, I never included photos in my journal. I did use drawings, sketches and such from time to time, but those instances were rare. Now, a photo for each entry has become the norm, photos such as the one for this post. Naturally, my journal is written for my eyes only and doesn’t get shared. It is the only way to ensure that I am honest with myself. Even then, I am surprised at what is not said. It’s as though I have this deep-seated fear that someone will get a hold of the journal and read it. That fear assumes a critical and negative outcome should it ever happen. Yet, I still include a photo. The photo seems to be the least sensitive part of the journal.
Now, I want to know if you keep a journal. If so, do you hand write the journal? Enter it onto a keyboard? Encrypt your journal? Include photos of yourself or others or environment? I’m interested and I look forward to your responses.