Journal to the self : twenty-two paths to personal growth : open the door to self-understanding by writing, reading, and creating a journal of your life

256 Pages·2009·1.02 MB·English

by  Kathleen, Adams

A LIFE CHANGE IS AS CLOSE AS YOUR
FINGERTIPS
Journal therapy is a remarkable, efficient way to open up new horizons in your
life. This book shows you different kinds of journals and how they can be used
for specific results, how to reread and reinterpret your journal as your life
evolves, and how other people have achieved self-growth and solved problems
through their personal writings. Learn how to write:

Dialogues—to work through difficult emotions
Character sketches—as calling cards for your subpersonalities
Lists—for clarifying thoughts and finding solutions
Meditative writing—to open up your consciousness
Topics du Jour—to solve work and career problems
And many other journal techniques.
From a leading expert in the field, here is all the information you need to begin a
dynamic journey to greater insight—to conquer the most important issues in
your life.
“A JOY … GOOD STUFF! A lively portrait of what it’s like to grow along with
a journal.”
—Henriette Klauser, author of Writing on Both Sicks of the Brain
“JUST THE RIGHT BOOK BY A MASTER TEACHER to inspire and guide all
those interested in personal growth through creative self reflection.”
—Strephon Kaplan-Williams author of The jungian-Senoi Dreamwork Manual
“ONE OF A KIND! Using charm and wit and dozens of adventurous stories,
Kay Adams has given us the definitive book on journal writing. JOURNAL TO
THE SELF is a must-read for everyone interested in recovery and self-growth.”
—Bob Trask founder of ARAS Foundation and president of Learning Lab
The unexamined life is not worth living.
—Socrates
Copyright
Copyright © 1990 by Kathleen Adams
All rights reserved.
Warner Books, Inc.
Hachette Book Group
237 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10017
Visit our website at www.HachetteBookGroup.com.
First eBook Edition: October 2009
ISBN: 978-0-7595-2511-5
Contents
A Life Change is as Close as Your Fingertips
Copyright
Acknowledgments
Preface
SECTION I: THE 79¢ THERAPIST
Introduction
1: The 79¢ Therapist
2: The Friend At The End Of The Pen
3: Eight Suggestions For Satisfying Journal Writing
4: Choices
5: Journals To Go: 19 Ways To Write For Under 15 Minutes Each
6: For Men Only
SECTION II: THE JOURNAL TOOLBOX
Introduction
7: Springboards
8: Character Sketch
9: Clustering
10: Captured Moments
11: Dialogue
12: Lists
13: Stream of Consciousness
14: Steppingstones
15: Time Capsule
16: Topics Du Jour
17: Unsent Letters
18: Perspectives
19: Dreams And Imagery
SECTION III: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Introduction
20: The Five Stages Of Grief As Experienced In My Journal
21: Healing Childhood Wounds Through Journaling
22: Journal Writing For Adult Children Of Alcoholics
SECTION IV: THE ROAD GOES EVER ON
Introduction
Suggested Reading
About the Author
…And then she remembered. She, Princess Ariana, first daughter of King
Damien of Vadarado, was lost in the Land of Zin, in a most improbable
cave, on a far-flung and storm-drenched night.
“Zeus,”she muttered (to herself, as there was no one in the cave).
“Whenever shalllearn to mind my lessons?”
“When the teacher is ready, the student shall appear,”sang a melodious
voice, as silken as a teardrop.
Ariana whirled around in amazement. “Why, that’s the silliest thing I’ve
ever heard!”
—Kathleen Adams
Ariana and the Goddess of Zin
Lovingly dedicated to my students,
who have fulfilled the Goddess’s prophecy.
Let us travel the journey together.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
If love’s the greatest gift of all, each day of my life is Christmas, for I am
blessed with the love and support of several large families. I am profoundly
grateful to each.
My first family spills merrily across four generations and ten decades. Thomas
Wolfe said, “You can’t go home again,”but he didn’t grow up with Dale and
Theda Adams on Estes Court. Their door is always open and their hearts are,
too; they have staunchly affirmed my potential from the time I was a tot. From
the oldest (90) to the youngest (2), my entire family supports me
unconditionally. Now, that’s a blessing! Thanks, Mom, Dad, Susie, Cindy,
Granddad Bill, Goggie, Jessica, Jake, Ricki, Amy, Mike, Leo, Billie, Ray, and
the souls of Aunt Katy and Becky. I love you!
My second family is the faculty, administration, and student body at Boulder
Graduate School (Boulder, Colorado), where I teach, study, laugh, cry, work,
and play. Only in my wildest fantasy did I imagine a graduate program in
psychotherapy based on the dual trilogy of body/mind/spirit and theory/
skills/experience. It’s alive and well and living at BGS, and I’m proud to be a
graduate.
My third family is my family of wonderful, giving, caring, loving friends. My
sisterhood of writers and other professionals—including Sher Long, Normandi
Ellis, C. J. Pollara, Sarah Hoskin, Jasmin Cori, Cathleen Huffman, Lyn
Merriman, Diana Keck, Dr. Lynn White, Dr. Kathryn Fentress, and especially
Marta Hedde—provided invaluable feedback on the manuscript at critical stages.
For my Akasha group—Thia Walser, Laura Olsen, Andrea Hilgert, and Jean
Jameson—I give thanks. Special appreciation goes to my poet friend, Lois Bay,
for permission to use her copyrighted poem, “Windbreak.” Mrs. Wilma Long
graciously loaned me her beautiful home while I crashed out the first draft of the
book on a long winter’s night. My friend Joannah invited my right brain to Stone
Walls, Vermont. Linda Barclay of Dove Literary not only sold the book in
amazingly short order but also handled the business details with crisp efficiency,
and Beth Lieberman, my editor at Warner, offered reassurance, insight, and
gentle support throughout the process. LeeAnne Lewis believed in me when I
needed it most. Carl Kallansrud held my vision when I got tired and laid it down.
Students in the Journaling as a Therapeutic Tool classes at BGS and Write
On! workshops in Denver provided most of the examples you’ll find in these
pages; to respect their privacy, I have fictionalized their names and certain
circumstances unless they directed otherwise. Their contributions are what make
the pages of this book come alive.
Several of my mentors also deserve thanks. John Klug, president of
Continental Communications Group, runs a first-rate publishing company and
helped mold my writing during the six years I served as his editorial vice
president. Eiko Michi and her Transformational Journal Workshop were turning
points in my own journal journey. Bob Trask, president of the ARAS
Foundation, encouraged me to “do my life’s work” and taught me how to teach.
Dr. Lynn Ward White, former chairperson of the psychology and counseling
department at BGS, has the uncanny ability to see the vision behind my doodles.
To John, Eiko, Bob, and Lynn, my profound thanks. How different my life
would be had I not encountered you!
And lastly, love from that special place in my heart that is his alone goes to
my cherished companion, Robert F. Sedustine. In the words of Joseph Campbell,
may we follow our bliss.
PREFACE
Journal therapy—the use of the journal, or diary, to facilitate holistic mental
health and self-reliance—can trace its roots back as far as 10th-century Japan,
when ladies of the Heian court wrote reflections on life and love in “pillow
books.” Nearly a millennium later, Anne Frank, in one of history’s classic
underestimations, confided to herself: “It’s an odd idea for someone like me to
keep a diary, because it seems to me that neither I—nor, for that matter, anyone
else—will be interested in the unbosomings of a thirteen-year-old schoolgirl.”
Dr. Ira Progoff has been the leader of journal therapy devotees since 1966,
when his Intensive Journal Workshop™ debuted as an outcome of his model of
holistic depth psychology. Dr. Progoff’s beautifully crafted weekend workshop
offers participants a glimpse into their own transpersonal natures, a direct
experience with what he calls the “knowledge beyond understanding … that
comes to us at depth.”
I am sometimes asked how my system of journal therapy differs from Dr.
Progoff’s. I believe it is a matter of approach rather than philosophy, for I feel
very strongly that everyone writing and teaching about journal therapy today
holds a collective vision of the individual’s self-knowledge and spiritual
awakening.
At a strictly pragmatic level, the Intensive Journal™ method is physically
different from the “smorgasbord” approaches you’ll find in this book. The
Intensive Journal™ is characterized by its three-ring notebook segregated into
six major “dimensions,”or sections, and specific suggestions on what and how to
write in each dimension. While this approach has many strengths (see chapter 4,
“Choices,”for a discussion), some students who begin their journal journey with