A fresh new journal!
Wednesday, March 22, 2006 by malita
Ahhhh a new journal - a new start - I love starting a new journal. Almost as much as I treasure and relish in finishing a journal. It's a bitter sweet ending, and for those that are not "journalers" bear with me.
When you start a new journal it's excitement and freshness. You can't wait to get home from the bookstore to open up to this new friend. Introduce yourself and let the ideas and emotions flow. It's the one new friend in life you aren't afraid to let them know everything about yourself in the first 5 pages! You open it up and date that first page - you even put the year down. You might even feel so zealous and ambitious to title your first entry and put your name down on the inside cover.
The days go by and every time you pick up your new friend you feel comforted, you feel safe, you feel honest! You look at the cover and reaffirm yourself that you picked the right one, how pretty it is, the fact that this time you got a leather bound one or a spiral one, you know you made the right decision in picking this friend. You hit that point in the journal where you are realizing life is going by fast and things are changing so much that you get curious at who you were when you first started your life with this new journal. So you take a peek back at previous entries. Sometimes laughing at how dramatic you were about somethings, sometimes tearing up remembering the pain that went into that entry, the joy that went on to that page, or the uncertainty that still exists over those issues.
Then the day comes, you are nearing the end. You can literally flip only a few pages ahead and you see the inside flap of that last page..... you start to get a little excited, yeah I get to get a new journal. Then you get a little sad, wow where did the time go, my old friend it's almost time to say goodbye. You take a moment and re read through your old friend, finish out those last pages and you shut the journal. You put it on the shelf, you know you will visit again but it's time to move on. You realize it's like finishing a really good book or a really good movie, you can re read it... re watch it, but it's not the same. You have changed so much - between the front and back flaps of that journal - so much has changed, you have learned so much about life and yourself...and others.
And then you get home with the new journal, and you excitedly start all over again.
When you start a new journal it's excitement and freshness. You can't wait to get home from the bookstore to open up to this new friend. Introduce yourself and let the ideas and emotions flow. It's the one new friend in life you aren't afraid to let them know everything about yourself in the first 5 pages! You open it up and date that first page - you even put the year down. You might even feel so zealous and ambitious to title your first entry and put your name down on the inside cover.
The days go by and every time you pick up your new friend you feel comforted, you feel safe, you feel honest! You look at the cover and reaffirm yourself that you picked the right one, how pretty it is, the fact that this time you got a leather bound one or a spiral one, you know you made the right decision in picking this friend. You hit that point in the journal where you are realizing life is going by fast and things are changing so much that you get curious at who you were when you first started your life with this new journal. So you take a peek back at previous entries. Sometimes laughing at how dramatic you were about somethings, sometimes tearing up remembering the pain that went into that entry, the joy that went on to that page, or the uncertainty that still exists over those issues.
Then the day comes, you are nearing the end. You can literally flip only a few pages ahead and you see the inside flap of that last page..... you start to get a little excited, yeah I get to get a new journal. Then you get a little sad, wow where did the time go, my old friend it's almost time to say goodbye. You take a moment and re read through your old friend, finish out those last pages and you shut the journal. You put it on the shelf, you know you will visit again but it's time to move on. You realize it's like finishing a really good book or a really good movie, you can re read it... re watch it, but it's not the same. You have changed so much - between the front and back flaps of that journal - so much has changed, you have learned so much about life and yourself...and others.
And then you get home with the new journal, and you excitedly start all over again.
Well who knew that girls were so into this journaling thing. I've begun journaling to a somewhat serious extent since I've over here but I'm so not where you are with it. However, I am nearing the end of the journal that has been with me since I stepped off the plane into this foreign land and there is much growth and emotion in those pages. I haven't been brave enough to glance back yet but I know that I should before I begin anew. Thanks for the encouragment to relish my little friend.