As a kid, we all probably had diaries.  We kept track of who we liked or doodled our names with the person we had a crush on's last name.  Mine always said "Jamie Posada".  Johnny Posada was a cute little boy in 3rd grade who every single girl had a huge crush on.  My diaries were filled with how much I wanted him to be my boyfriend and how cute he looked that day (too bad he didn't know I existed LOL)  I'd also keep track of when my friends and I were fighting or if Jenny's outfit looked cute or not on any given day.  Or information on the girl we all called "Miss Piggy".  Not because she was overweight, but because she was dating "Kermit", another boy in class (who I have no idea why we even called him Kermit).

Then we grew older and our entries change into our deepest, darket secrets.  Again, most likely, our crushes.  We thought those entries were 100% protected by that little strap that held that teeny weeny little lock with the teeny weeny keys.  And we guarded those keys with our lives.  Then maybe our little brothers or sisters found them and we had to find more secure places to hide them (like under our mattresses....yes, that's a great place to hide our secrets!).

But eventually, we outgrew our diaries, and found the spiritual nature of the journal.  

 A diary is where we keep our private thoughts about daily life.  A journal is a place to explore the deeper parts.

And when we find the deeper things to write about, we end up learning more about ourselves.  The act of writing itself can be extremely spiritual in the fact that by learning more about who we really are, we are learning about humanity as a whole.  And when we learn about humanity, we learn about the nature of life.  Which is probably the most spiritual thing you can do as a human.

Through introspective journaling, we can work out our thoughts and feelings, and even heal old wounds.  We can explore truths and non-truths, past loves and future romances, things we've kept inside of us and the things we keep outside that we never let in.


And there are so many ways we can accomplish these tasks:

• The meditative state of freewriting, as in Julia Cameron's Morning Pages, can serve as brain dumps that clear out the muck from within so we experience more bliss in our daily lives without anything weighing us down. Check out 750 Words for an online program based upon this idea. 
• Guided prompts can lead us to places we've never thought possible.  Places we'd never have thought of on our own.  Check out this list of 15 self-discovery prompts. 
• You can write a letter to the person you're angry at.  You can be horrible, and mean, and say things you'd never say in real life.  Then either throw it away or delete it.  And and then rewrite it with a clear head, if sending it is something you need to do.  Or you can keep an Unsent Letter journal, which is a place you can store all of your unsent letters.  This is a type of journaling because it gets out your anger, and reduces great amounts of stress in your daily life 
• As a RUUist, you can write about common beliefs in the world, and how you apply RUU principles to them.  Like "Is there a god?"  You can journal about experiences you've had up until now with "god" and how it differs coming from a place where "god" can mean anything, rather than some dude sitting up on a cloud watching over us.  You can write about how science can be spiritual or any one of these spiritual prompts from a previous post.  
• You can write about an illness and how it's changed your life for the worse and for the better.  

Journaling isn't just for young teenage girls, it's for everyone, including men.  We can write out our lives in a way that we can't speak about it.  We can figure things out and become better people after doing so.  

Many years ago, I once wrote a horribly sad journal entry about how much I hated the world, and all the people in it.  I was so sick and tired of being treated like there was something "wrong" with way I live my life (or actually more so, my personality), that it all just built up and came out in a journal entry.  When I wrote, I took every single person who ever hurt me in my life (and that I was still letting hurt me because of my anger) and basically told them to "fuck off".  Then as I wrote, and wrote and wrote, I started understanding how terribly messed up those people were, because of the terribly messed up things that they experienced in life.  And then something I never expected to happen, happened: I started to forgive them.  I started to see life through their eyes and understood why they were so mean or so angry or selfish.  And I started to see that I wasn't a sweet little princess either.   I did, with some of them, have a part to play in my own hurt.  Some, like my parents, no, that wasn't my fault, but old boyfriends and old friends...I wasn't as innocent as I was portraying to myself.  I wasn't the only victim.  And upon realizing this, I could let my anger go.  My huge list, came down to two people: one was an ex boyfriend who used to hit me and one was my mother.  Those were the two I had to work on forgiving and letting go of the pain they caused me.  All the other ones were just in the past.  And I could finally accept that.  

Journaling is one of the most healing things you can do for yourself.  And being in touch with my own inner spirit like that, healed me more than any therapist ever did.  Not that therapy isn't great, because it is, but journaling should be something we're taught from day one, that all humans on earth should do.  We'd all be a lot more mentally healthy and we'd deal with life's ups and downs in a more productive way if we had.  

Sitting down each day, pen in hand, in a quiet place (or somewhere with headphones and good music), is a spiritual retreat in itself.  Taking time for you to record your feelings or even just what you ate that day or what the weather is like, is "you" time.  And that, my friend, can make all the difference in your life.  

Do you journal?  If so, do you keep a written one or an online one?  If not, what's holding you back?  One woman I once knew said she was scared of her kids finding her journal if she died.  I say, so what?  Let them know you.  Leaving journals behind for others to read can help them mourn you after you're gone as well as know who you really were.  But if that idea scares you, get a lock box to store them in and hide the key.  Because in reality, journaling is just for you, and you alone.  Nobody has a right to read your private life without your consent.  But at the same time, feel free to give consent to those you truly trust.  

But I honestly hope you consider getting a journal if you don't have one already.  You can get a spiral notebook, or a fancy expensive one.  It doesn't matter what it is, it just has to feel right to you.  Just grab your book, get a cup of whatever you like to drink, go to a private place in your home, outside, or in your own mind, and write.


I promise, you won't be sorry.  



Tell us about your journaling journey below!  And you might be a future of  All Sorts of Journals in the near future :)

(This week's edition was supposed to be about developing a nightly routine, BUT my computer decided to die with all my information on it, so I am posting this one instead.  I apologize if you were looking for the nightly routine blog, but rest assured, it will be up soon!)

Silence is revered as mastery in many religious traditions.  Monks who take a vow of silence are seen as masters of themselves.  They not only are silent, but live in silence as well.  It takes a lot of discipline to be able to be comfortable with this.  Many of us fill our days with useless noise and useless words.  We need words to fill the void, unable to deal with what the silence brings.

“Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.” --Ambrose Bierce

But what does it bring?  For some of us, it's anxiousness.  I, myself, have tinnitus and total silence brings a "wooshing" sound in my ears, like static.  This can drive me absolutely crazy sometimes.  But when I let in natural sounds, like rain or birds chirping from an open window (or going outside) the sound stops and the anxiety goes away.  But barring physical issues like mine, the silence can bring us into our own thoughts.  It can bring us clarity.  Reverence.  Reconnection.  Stillness.  Joy.

“Never complain, never explain. Resist the temptation to defend yourself or make excuses.” --Brian Tracy (one of my favorite non-fiction authors)

Though sometimes we are not always ready to hear them or deal with what silence can bring us.  Sometimes that clarity is sorrow.  Grief.  Loneliness.  Remorse.  But every single thing we experience from silence is something to learn from.  Good or bad, it can bring us to a better place at the end of the time spent with it.  But for some, it's it's just plain fear.  I think that's why so many people fill their days with noise: the TV is constantly on or the radio or some other distraction.  People also fill up their days with non-stop talking or talking about things that don't matter.  Trivial things or gossip.  They are afraid of what silence might bring.  They fear they won't matter anymore, that people will enjoy their silence more than when they speak.  Or that they will be the ones who won't like themselves.  Or that things unsaid might be important and bad things will happen if they don't say them.  But the truth is, there will always be time to say what truly needs to be said.  You just have to pick a better time to say them.

“Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving us wordy evidence of the fact.”--George Eliot

I once read an article many years ago about this woman who went to go visit her old friend who lived deep in the woods, on land inaccessible by car.  I do not remember how they planned it all, but I know her old friend went to meet her by the roadside to show her the way onto her property.  It was quite a long walk, too.  The old friend lived off the land with her significant other.  They hunted, and gathered plants and berries and other wild growing things in the woods.  They also grew their own veggies on their land.  Without electricity or gas, they had to can a large amount of their crops for the winter.  They grew their own grain and made dense, heavy, non-yeasted breads (this always sounded delicious to me).


When the woman who was writing the article got to the destination with her friend, she talked non-stop.  She wanted to know everything about how they lived.  I have to admit, I'd be the same way, as it's a pretty interesting thing.  But her friend just stared at her.

 “Silence is only frightening to people who are compulsively verbalizing.” --William S. Burroughs

She said something like "Words are spoken too much in this world.  We need to think carefully and then ponder the weight of our words and only speak when we have something to say that is better than silence".  (I stole that last bit from a meme I saw last December.  It struck a cord with me because of this article I read so many years ago because it was so similar.)

So the woman was taken aback, but then thought about it, and realized her old friend was right.  Why did she feel the necessity to fill the silence with constant words?  She accepted her friend's ways, and did as she was asked and spoke only when she had something important to say.  She took this teaching and applied to her life back home, as well.  And her life changed tremendously (more spiritually than anything).

So many of the wisest people speak the least.   

And why do we think that is?  It's because they ponder and think before speaking (not something I am so good at myself LOL).  They realize most words are unnecessary.  Unlike most people who think of something and then immediately say what's on their mind, wise people observe, listen, and ponder, and then and only then, eventually speak.  And not only that, they speak as few words as possible.  I, myself, haven't met too many of these wise people in my lifetime, but I have met a few.  And those people have left a profound effect on me, that will last for the rest of my life.  

So, let's check out this week's challenge, shall we?

Challenge #1:  

Let's get silent.  


In Denise Linn's book "Quest", she talks about dedicating a day to silence.  Now, I know not everyone can dedicate an entire day, some of us have jobs where have to talk.  But, you can try a few hours, or both before and after work.  But, if you can put aside an entire day, you will get the most out of it.  You can even ask your whole family to participate!  (Isn't that a dream?  Quiet kids for a whole day?)  And if they can't participate, you can do it on your own, you just have to be clear to your family (and anyone who engages you) that you can't talk for an entire 24 hours.  And no writing things down to communicate (that means NO social media or emails, also).  Denise suggests making a note card that says "I have taken a vow of silence, so I cannot speak" to show to people when they are asking to you talk to them.

 “Speak only if it improves upon the silence.”--Mahatma Gandhi

Now, this doesn't mean you can veg out with Netflix all day, either.  No TV, no internet, no news (and this includes the radio), no reading books.  If you feel yourself going a little mad, then go for a walk.  Notice things.  Ponder.   Reflect.  Do some yoga.  Meditate.  Hula hoop (or if you're like me, attempt it, fail, and the laugh at yourself).  Relax in the sun.  Commune with your higher-self.  Create art.  See what you can hear in the silence.  Pick any random daily tool (only the silent ones) to do during your quiet.  But don't fill your day up so much you have no time to just sit with yourself.  Silence should calm your mind.  Only use the active tools when you need to (I have a form of severe anxiety, and being active keeps it at bay).

Learn to love silence. 

After your day is up, think about how it went for you.  Were you able to keep to it?  Did you like it?  If so, how can you incorporate more silence into your everyday life?  How many times did you want to say something?  You can keep track of that on a whiteboard or a notebook during your day of silence, so that you can see just how much you actually speak.  When you see it on paper, you might be astonished by how quickly it fills up.  So many trivial words are spoken daily by most humans.  What did you notice that you wanted to say, and didn't, that wasn't worth saying at all?   I bet more than you think right now while you're reading this.  It's really hard to understand something that we're born to do.  We're taught to talk as toddlers, but we're never taught how much to talk, or are we taught what we should be talking about.  We're a world of speakers, not listeners, or observers.

“Always have something to say. The man who has something to say and who is known never to speak unless he has, is sure to be listened to.”  --Dale Carnegie

Write it all down in a notebook or computer.  Do this challenge as much as you can in the coming months, and see how each time is different.  Do it in different seasons and compare, also.



If you take the challenge, please come back here and let us know how you did and how it made you feel.  We'd love to hear about your experiences.

Come back next Monday for more spiritual nourishment!  

Welcome to the Spiritual Nourishment series!

Come and nourish your spiritual side with us!  Each week we'll be exploring various ideas, such as as using journaling as a spiritual practice and exploring various spiritual dances, and so much more.  So check back each Monday for a new idea to empower your life with.  You can read about each one, take what you want from it and leave the rest behind, as in true RUU fashion.

Each post will come with a challenge, a task for you to accomplish to implement this new into your spiritual practice, if you so wish.

You may want to get a notebook dedicated to your spiritual journey to keep track your challenges for both this series and the Adventures in Religious Thought series.  That should be this week's challenge: get a notebook.  You can find then anywhere for practically $1.  Or use one you already have.

Come back and visit us next week where we'll be exploring Developing a Nightly Routine as way to nourish our bodies, minds, and souls <3  See you then!!