I am marveling at things I recorded in a journal a year ago. Though I have journals going back to when I was 15 years old, I rarely revisit them. Why? Many reasons, but that's beyond what I want to share today...

This year, I decided to go back and review what I wrote and plan to dive further back into the shelves housing my collection. I am deeply touched by the level of insight and prescience I experienced in the last year and look forward to revisiting other journal entries.

"For last year's words belong to last year's language.
And next year's words await another voice,"
T.S. Eliot

Maybe you already keep a journal. Maybe you think you can't do it. But here's the thing: It can be whatever you want, when you want. 

Over a period of nearly 55 years, my journals have taken shape as poetry volumes, and evolved into various formats. They have been collections of favorite quotes or lists of books read, or pictures, or an assembly of practices I found helpful, or insights given to me by soul companions.  I have recorded them in composition books, or expensive journals - and they have been typed or written by hand. But looking back, I have a sense of who I was and what was important to me at the time.

So you see, there is no right or wrong way to keep a journal.

And, it's never too late for you to start. Just settle on a format that works for you.

On December 31st, I made my last entry into one composition book, and on January 1st, I started another.

For years I typed my journal entry, or kept salient emails back forth from dear souls that enabled me to clearly see where I was at that point, but in the last 8 years or so, I have returned to putting pen to paper - truly a lost art. My penmanship is so much worse and handwriting is a challenge to read at times, but it seems to me, a much more personal endeavor.

I also have a ritual for writing, but I'll save that for another entry.

My invitation to you, is to return to this practice if you've drifted away from it, or perhaps take it up for the first time. It is a wonderful practice to review your life's journey and see how far you've truly come! And let me know how it goes!

As the writer Anne Lamott is often quoted:

"I do not understand the mystery of grace - only that it meets us where we are and does not leave us where it found us."

And journaling dear ones, is an act of grace.

​And it's gift to you, is hope.

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What will you give birth to in this new year of 2024?

Many people like to begin the new year with a word that exemplifies what they want to focus on, give birth to, and embody in the coming year. This year, the word "Hope" chose me.

Perhaps it did, because it is so needed in our world right now. I certainly need it this year. You can always pick a word for yourself - one that you want to work on or experience more of. Or a word can come to you spontaneously. Mine came in so many ways - it was insistent - demanding my attention. I couldn't avoid it. It showed up in everything I seemed to read.

It does not have to be one word. It can certainly be more than one, but I find that even with a couple of words, one of them tends to be the predominant one.

If this speaks to, it is a simple yet wonderful practice to anchor in the coming year and refer to from time to time. You might want to journal on it periodically to see where you might currently be in your life and decide whether you want to work on it a bit more..

If you meditate, sit and ask for the right word to come to you. If you don't, go for a walk, or sit quietly and ask. See what comes to you. Don't overthink the process and take whatever comes..

Or, you can simply choose something you want to focus on. I have done that many times myself. Sometimes, some words are recurring. Maybe you need to work on it some more. It doesn't really matter. There is no right or wrong way to do this.

What word speaks to you? And what will you give birth to in 2024?

Simple gifts to sustain your practice await you here:
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