Since I wrote my blog post on switching to a more personal voice, and I shared how I prepare my journal, some friends and readers have asked me about the differences, for me, between journaling and blogging.

(This is a longer post than usual, so unless you’re interested in these questions, it will probably be ‘too much information!’)

The essence of the questions seem to be:

What is your purpose of blogging vs. journaling?
Why do both?
How do you select what content you publish on your blog?

To me, for starters, journaling is essential and blogging is optional.

Why I Journal

I journal to do my own personal inner work, to imagine, and to create.

My journal is also one way that I keep myself in the flow of creative energy. Every day I prepare some pages in my journal by painting them with water-soluble oil pastels and rubbing them out with baby wipes. This creates a colored surface for writing with a permanent ink pen. This is a creative process in and of itself, and I’ve also found that I’m much more likely to write in my journal if there is already something on the page.

After I’ve prepared the pages, the primary ways I work in my journal are:

1. to do my own inner work
2. to do project planning
3. to do art journaling, and,
4. to do non-traditional business planning

Examples:

Inner Work. Sketching, for me, is very meditative, so I sketch in my journal. That’s how “Squirrel Highways” came into being. Mostly, I write. I write to hear what is ‘calling’ me, to explore questions that are alive in me, to align with my own truth, to celebrate and appreciate, and to clarify my intentions and commitments. I guess it’s all about living consciously. The “Curious Question” post was an example of exploring a question about my work. Sometimes the questions are about my life, about what is important to me. I sort priorities: what is essential, what I can let go. I once read about an artist who called her journal her ‘invisible friend.’ That’s what I like my journal to be, a dialogue with my wiser, inner self.

Project Planning. I’m reorganizing and redecorating my office right now. I draw pictures of what’s possible in the space, how I want it to look and feel, and how things can be organized. I do this until it feels right to me. This saves me a lot of time, expense, and labor. Any time I feel stuck about which direction to go, I go back to my journal and imagine what I want and the feeling of it. When I’m clear and it feels right, I move ahead.

Art Journaling. Before I begin a stained glass project, or a mixed media art project, I draw what I imagine it to look like. I get what’s in my head on the page, as much as possible. I make lists of ideas for materials. I experiment with colors. Sometimes I explore the project in my journal for months before I actually start working on it. I love this process of imagining it, as much or more than actually doing the art work.

Non-Traditional Business Planning. I’m planning to offer a new coaching ‘product’ this year, Women’s Coaching Circles. In my journal, I imagine and play with ideas for the groups. I explore ideas about how they might work. I focus my thinking about who might enjoy them and get value from them. I literally work with the groups in my imagination until the details about them become clear. This is a non-linear process; inspirations don’t come in the order I expect. For example, the name for the groups, A Year of Living Authentically, came to me as one of the last pieces. How do I know it’s time to move into action? When it feels right to me, entirely intuitive.

Here’s an end view of the journal that I started on January 1. It’s almost filled. I prepared a cover on a new journal yesterday.

Why I Blog

To be honest, I’m not completely sure why I blog.

I don’t have a strategy or a plan. I’m ‘feeling my way.’ This, of course, is absolute heresy to some people in the blogosphere. It’s heresy for me too, in a way, because I’m usually very clear in my intentions and commitments.

My blog intention is to share, as honestly as I can, what feels important to share about my personal journey.

Since I intend for my blog to be about my personal journey, you’re more likely to see blog posts that are from my inner work, vs. my project planning, art journaling, or business planning.

The content decision, for me, is completely intuitive. I ‘just know’ what I want to publish in my blog. It is often a moment when things feel like they come together, a kind of ‘ah ha’ experience, where words are linked with an image, in my mind. I don’t plan it ahead; it’s usually inspired in me when I least expect it.

I do love to write, but that’s not why I blog, because I meet all of my writing needs through my journaling.

Sometimes my blog posts are in response to a reader reflection that I receive through email. I would love for my blog to evolve into more of a dialogue.

When I look back at the last month of blog posts, since I have changed my ‘voice’ from teacher or life coach to a more personal diary-style, it seems that I post when I want to share an idea, thought, insight or connection that I’m particularly excited about.

It’s a sort of integration, a way of ‘giving the idea legs’, so I can ‘walk it into the world.’ It’s one thing knowing something mentally, and it’s a completely different experience feeling it viscerally. I get excited about that visceral moment, because then the idea feels more real and true for me.

It seems that a blog post is usually a piece that has ’snapped into place’ for me, and feels complete, at least for now.

I love blogging because it feels like a very personal way to connect and share life and our common humanity. I always encourage anyone who is thinking about starting a blog, because I believe so strongly that each of our voices is unique, and all authentic voices are essential.

What I said about my blog in my post on December 31 still feels true to me: “I’m giving myself permission to not know. That may be my greatest freedom of all, to not know. To trust that I will find my way as I go along.

I don’t know where this blog is going. I’m going to feel my way, and that feels right and good.”

Filed under: Being a Reinventer, Adventures of a Reinventer, Lynne's Reinvention Journey on February 2nd, 2009