Resources related to this article:

The Journey

I’m a journaling evangelist, and I wrote the first two articles in the resource list above to share experiences from my writing journey. I’ll talk with anyone who’s interested, anytime, anywhere, about the value of writing a journal. For some, it comes naturally and they can’t wait to create their entries as their life unfolds and they record its details. For others, initially, they might not find it appealing, scoff at the idea, or resist trying it. Regardless of their path into it, once people begin the journey that journaling is, its value will gradually expose itself, and my guess is that many people begin to see themselves, their lives, and the world around them in new and valuable ways.  

If you journal, you’re in good company here.  I’ve journaled since 2012 and have logged thousands of entries in my Day One journal since I began.  When I started my writing, I was busy raising a young family, building a house, and all of the exciting times that go along with that, so my journaling was inconsistent purely because of a lack of time.  I started with the intention of doing it every day, but found that sometimes many weeks would pass by between entries during the whirl of life.  At that time, it functioned mostly as a periodic written check-in with myself, and not the daily ritual that it would eventually become and that I now don’t want to miss.

Interestingly, any time that I stopped journaling, I felt something missing during the day without realizing what it was.  There was a creative and expressive hole that I didn’t realize journaling was filling.  When I would begin journaling again, I felt a sense of relief that it was back and I was then energized to write more frequently.  

Eventually, after going through those fits and starts for a while, journaling turned into a part of my daily life that I look forward to every day, and I haven’t stopped since then.  I always have something to say when I sit down to write.  My entries can sometimes be quite short, capturing some thoughts about my day or a fleeting moment, or noting my observations about a place that I visited.  They can also easily (and often do) span several thousand words when I spend time digging deep into a particular subject that’s on my mind. I don’t ever have a specific goal of writing that voluminously; it just happens because the process is enjoyable, interesting, enlightening, and fun. My journal is also home to my thoughts about my travels, hobbies, family, successes, challenges, and also my personal photo essays. I sometimes also include audio clips in my entries of things I’ve recorded that support what I’m writing.

Learning Through Others

I’ve found it useful and interesting over the years to learn from the experiences of other journalers through articles, interviews, and podcasts with them.  I like to hear about their approaches to their writing, what they write about, and the value they get from journaling.  This knowledge has helped expand my journaling habit in new directions that I hadn’t previously thought of exploring, and make the experience much more valuable to me in the process.  It’s a constant evolution with something new around every corner.  For me, journaling has become a process not only of recording the meaningful things in my life, but a tool for self-reflection and discovery, self-help, and growth.

The Day One Podcast

With the above in mind, one of the podcasts that I look forward to hearing with each new episode is The Day One Podcast, located on the Day One website at this link.  You can listen to the podcast directly on their website, or add it to your favorite podcast app.  Note that for whatever reason, the website doesn’t list all episodes of the show, but the complete list does appear in podcast apps.

I want to mention up front that this is not a “product podcast” that spends its time diving into the details of the Day One app and how to use it. On the contrary, the show is a series of interviews with many different types of people about their actual journaling practices, how they started, what journaling means to them, and how it helps them find deeper connection with everyday life. The discussions are intriguing, motivating, and inspirational.  I often listen to the show while I’m on my daily walk, and I find myself wanting to write down the tips and ideas that arise during the discussions.

Several of my recent favorite episodes include the following:

In addition to the podcast, honorable mention has to be given to its host, Kristen Webb Wright, for the great job she does with the interviews and also the many valuable articles that she’s written about journaling that can be found at this link. She’s also the author of several books about journaling.

Resources To Expand Your Journaling

I like to learn from different angles and sources. When I dig into a subject that I enjoy (such as journaling, photography, or traveling), I’ll research it further through reading, videos on YouTube, podcasts, and occasionally I’ll take online classes. This provides me with a wide perspective of the subject so that I can pick out the things that resonate the most with me, and carry them forward.

When it comes to journaling, I’ve found many great pockets of information. It’s almost been like discovering a secret world. “Oh, you journal?” Yes. “So do I!” People have advice about journaling on paper, journaling digitally, or where to buy old-world handmade leather journals. They share information about workshops, conferences, online communities, and journaling workgroups. The energy behind this hobby was surprising to discover.

With that in mind, here are just a few of the interesting and unique resources I’ve found recently that have exposed me to new ideas and approaches for journaling. I think there’s a journaling workshop in my future!

  • International Association For Journal Writing: A huge resource for all things journaling. There’s a blog with tons of great information about how to get started and grow with journaling, a store, ebooks, thought leader profiles, an online community, and more.
  • Barcelona Journaling Festival: This gathering is in its second year in 2025, and the founders state that it will go forward as an annual event due to its popularity. The agenda lists the speakers for the event, which has been useful to read because I subsequently researched some of them and that yielded more great learning material. The festival is followed right after its end by another workshop led by Lynda Monk for journaling coaches. The Barcelona event looks like an information-packed energetic gathering.
  • Naked Words: Led by Marusha Mozolevskaya (one of the founders of the festival above), this is a 15-day online writing program with the goal that its participants “Start writing from the heart without being a professional writer”, and that it’s a “Therapeutical online writing program for journaling fans, amateur scribblers and seasoned writers who’d love their creative spark back.” This sounds intriguing as a more intensive deep dive into the world of journaling from the perspective of digging into yourself to learn and understand what’s there.

Don’t Overcomplicate It

This short article was meant to highlight the point that if you’re interested to start journaling, or growing your existing journaling practice into something more (even if you don’t know what that “more” is yet), there are many like-minded people at all stages of their writing journey with a wealth of information to share with the journaling community.

An important point I want to emphasize is to avoid overcomplicating the concept of journaling, because that might deter you from trying it, and it serves as a barrier to entry. In reality, journaling is easy to begin, it’s easy to do as often as you like, and it quickly demonstrates its benefits to you. It doesn’t matter if you journal on paper, in an app, on your computer, or even with audio or video recordings. The medium is irrelevant; starting is what counts. Happy journaling!

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