Setting Up Your Journaling Space:

Your journaling space does not have to be an area that you use exclusively for journaling, but it does help to keep everything you need to journal in one space.  Ideally, you want your journaling space to be one in which you can work undisturbed.  This should be a “safe” place for you; one in which you feel free to express yourself without judgment from others (and without judgment from yourself).  It helps to personalize your space, filling it with objects that help you tune into your sense of smell, sound, taste, and touch – which also helps you to tap into your emotions (think about the emotions that are evoked through the smell of baking cookies or the sound of rain on a roof).

Your space can be a cozy chair in the corner of a room, a closet, or an entire room that you dedicate to self-expression.  It can be filled with soft blankets, a scented candle, an MP3 player loaded with calming music (no lyrics!  They get in the way of connecting to your own expression.), your favorite tea, and special mementos from loved ones.

Or, your space could be on the beach, under a tree, or an out-of-the-way break room at work.  If you travel a great deal, you can take along a 5x7 journal to use on a plane, car, or hotel room.

The sky’s the limit!  Where will you create a space for self-expression?

·      Adapted from Visual Journaling : Going Deeper than Words, by Ganim & Fox