A New Direction for The Journal Keeper

I am sure you have noticed that my attempts at this blogging thing have been a bit random and haphazard.  I had great intentions when I created The Journal Keeper.  I wanted it to be a place to share what I knew about the craft of journaling, and how I used journal writing in my daily life.

I immediately had two problems:  1) It turned out that I didn't know as much about journaling as I thought.  I had been writing in my diary/journal on and off for as long as I could remember, and had learned many things along the way, but found that I didn't really have enough knowledge to keep the blog going for an indefinite period of time.  2) As much as I love the act of journaling and what I know it can do to improve my well-being, I had not been doing it as faithfully as I should.  In fact, my journal writing had long since taken a nose dive over the past several years, so much so that I had trouble calling myself a journal writer at all without feeling like a fraud.

I've had a dream for a long time of facilitating others in journaling for empowerment, whether it be through workshops or a newsletter or a blog.  I really loved the idea of blogging -- I would love to say that was because it would be a great way to practice my writing.  In reality, though, I think I loved the idea because I wanted the attention.  I wanted to gain a loyal following of readers who hung on my every word and left adoring comments on every entry.  I wanted to make friends that would last a lifetime.  After all, I read several blogs written my people who have done just that.

But it's just not working for me.  I've put way too much pressure on myself (in way too many areas of my life -- not just the journal blog area) and lately I have felt way too overwhelmed.  So I'm cutting things back.  And that includes the Blog About Journaling.

Instead, though, I will keep this blog as my personal journal.  I'm making every effort to "go electronic" in that area.  It's not going well (that's for another entry), but I think I have to give it a fair try.

So here's to a new direction for The Journal Keeper.