Tag Archives: journaling podcast

Q&A: “Is Journaling in Schools a Good Thing?

It seems like every subject in school is requiring students to keep a “journal” for enhanced learning. My first reaction to this awareness was happy. But I wonder whether students can be truly honest, while they are also hoping their teachers will award them a good grade? Doesn’t this violate some of the defining characteristics of good journaling?

Kim Ades, from Frame of Mind Coaching in Toronto, Canada, joins me to answer this and other interesting related questions. You can learn more about Frame of Mind Coaching by taking this assessment. Receive a free consultation from a Frame of Mind coach. Please let them know that you heard about them on JournalTalk!

Your turn to answer: Do you keep a journal as a school assignment? Do you feel it helps you personally, or is it just another assignment? Teachers, how do you see journaling helping your students? Post your responses at the bottom of this webpage, in the comments section.

You may email your own journaling question to be featured on a future episode of JournalTalk. Or, pick up the telephone and leave a voicemail with your question at 1-805-751-6280 (only normal toll charges may apply). When your question is featured, we will send you a thank-you gift for sharing your voice! (JournalTalk Q&A, Episode #28, June 9, 2015)

Credits:
Audio Editing: Netrix Marketing
Music: Pond5.com
Voiceover: Thomas Gerrard

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Write From The Body Workshops

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What’s the connection between the mind and the body when it comes to writing? How might moving our bodies affect the way we feel, think, and express ourselves through language?

JournalTalk listeners are in for a treat this week. Elizabeth Schwyzer, freelance writer, newspaper arts editor, and dance critic, shares a special exercise in this episode to help us combine writing and body movement, for a fuller, richer experience of knowing and trusting ourselves.

Participants in her “Write from the Body” workshops have found great enjoyment and therapeutic release as well as a sense of having freed up their creativity. After listening to her describe the connection between movement and writing, you’ll understand her passion for using both forms of expression to help writers access their truest voices.

To find out when Elizabeth is putting on her next series of Write from the Body workshops, you may keep in touch with her. Or, you may request she bring her workshop to you (or your studio). She’s currently based in the Bay Area, but happy to travel to share this powerful method of connecting with yourself and your story. (JournalTalk, Episode #54, April 14, 2015)

Credits:
Audio Editing: Netrix Marketing
Music and Voiceovers: Music Radio Creative

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To Listen: Click on the “play” button > at the top of this page.

Q&A: “What To Do With Journaling Guilt?”

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Carol from New Zealand asks “What do I do with the guilty feelings I get when I stop journaling?”

It might be easy to quip, “Just process those feelings in your next journal entry,” but often, the shame is accompanied by unrealistic hopes of “catching up,” and then we avoid journaling altogether.

Jayde Gilmore and I both relate to that nagging cycle of feelings. Over time, we’ve learned to recognize them as gentle reminders to come kindly back to our Self. We offer several suggestions to Carol and others who put tons of pressure on themselves to write more. This seems to be one of the paradoxes of journal-writing, and perhaps any worthwhile habit — pushing yourself to do a little more than what’s convenient, while knowing how to be kind to yourself when you slow down.

Fuel the Discussion: Do you feel guilty when you’ve stopped writing for awhile? How long is too long to go without writing? What do you tell yourself when you’ve stopped the habit? Post your responses at the bottom of this webpage, in the comments section.

Credits:
Audio Editing: Netrix Marketing
Music: Pond5.com
Voiceover: Thomas Gerrard

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To Listen: Click on the “play” button > at the top of this article.

Don’t Leave Home Without Your Journal

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Does keeping a journal encumber your vacation, or enhance it? Lavinia Spalding agrees wholeheartedly that journaling on vacation deepens one’s travel experience. But because we understand the inherent challenges, we offer simple, practical tips for travel journaling without feeling like you’re missing the boat.

Lavinia Spalding is the author of Writing Away, A Creative Guide to Awakening the Journal-Writing Traveler (named one of the best travel books of 2009 by the LA Times) and also, With a Measure of Grace: the Story and Recipes of a Small Town Restaurant. She is also the series editor of an annual anthology called “The Best Women’s Travel Writing”.

In this interview, Lavinia shares wisdom from her travel-writing experience. Don’t miss her TEDx Talk about Travel Writing and World Peace, which is equal parts entertaining and profound. She’s makes an excellent case for keeping a journal when taking that next trip, whether it’s a business trip, a family vacation, or a simple visit outside of our area code. (JournalTalk, Episode #53, March 31, 2015)

Exclusive Offer for JournalTalk Listeners: In this episode, Lavinia offers you her “Friends and Family” discount for either an editing project, or a writing coaching session. Send her a request to schedule, and let her know that you heard her on JournalTalk.

Credits:
Audio Editing: Netrix Marketing
Music and Voiceovers: Music Radio Creative

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To Listen: Click on the “play” button > at the top of this page.

The One Thing About Journaling: Getting Real

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As soon as I bought her book, “Getting Real“, I knew I wanted to invite Dr. Susan Campbell to be a guest on JournalTalk.

I’ve often shared that the one thing you need for a healthy journal-writing habit — far more important than whether you type or handwrite, or whether you write daily or just sporadically — is the ability to get completely honest with yourself.

In addition to being author of incredible books, Dr. Campbell has helped people embrace their authenticity in all areas of life, through workshops and coaching programs. She’s been featured on several national television spots and magazines for her insight and step-by-step instructions on using our truth to understand, connect, and heal ourselves and our relationships.

I’m hopeful that our conversation, both contemplative and giggly, will delight and inspire you. We discuss several of her books about authenticity and relationship repair (click here for a library of them on Amazon.com). We ponder what to do with our stacks of disregarded journals of the past. And, Dr. Susan shares a number of journal-writing exercises to try. One of them she calls the “Do-Over”, a powerful series of questions that help you revise a statement or promise you’ve made to someone when you weren’t being 100% authentic. Dr. Susan invites me to share my own example of this, and, thinking for a moment that I was in the privacy of her office, I allowed myself to share something very personal about a relationship with someone from high school. (JournalTalk, Episode #52, March 17, 2015)

Exclusive Offer for JournalTalk Listeners: In this episode, Dr. Susan offers to send listeners a downloadable “cheat-sheet” of the Revising/Do-Over exercise, when they contact her and mention “JournalTalk”. This is a wonderful activity that helps you practice authenticity in your communications with others, even if you haven’t been as authentic with them as you could have in the past.

Credits:
Audio Editing: Netrix Marketing
Music and Voiceovers: Music Radio Creative

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To Listen: Click on the “play” button > at the top of this page.

Q&A: “Do You Ever Feel a Burning Hole in Your Soul?”

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By far, Tom has sent in the toughest journaling question I’ve been called upon to answer. You can even hear my subtle attempts to avoid it.

With co-host Jayde Gilmore, I wandered into the wilderness of related side-conversations: Grief, gratitude, trance writing, loving-what-is, depression, and comparing the various levels of journal certification to reiki! We may have even stumbled over the inspiration for the 1990 hit song by They Might Be Giants, “Birdhouse in Your Soul”.

I apologize for having no better way to summarize the dialogue from this episode. I’m hoping Tom will accept our invitation to write again with a few clarifying details. I’d also appreciate hearing which parts of our answer were most helpful.

Your turn to answer: How do you use journal-writing to address those yearnings of the heart which cannot be described? Do you have tips for diving that deep in your writing? How does writing help you move through your darkest hours? Or, how would YOU answer this week’s question? Post your responses at the bottom of this webpage, in the comments section.

Credits:
Audio Editing: Netrix Marketing
Music: Pond5.com
Voiceover: Thomas Gerrard

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To Listen: Click on the “play” button > at the top of this article.

Spring Cleaning: Journaling to De-Clutter!

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Proving once again that journal-writing is NOT just an introverted, navel-gazing activity, Carolyn Koehnline shows us how to use our journals to remove clutter from our homes, heads, hearts and schedules.

Author of “Confronting Your Clutter”, a practicing mental health counselor, and Certified Journal Therapist, Carolyn guides us toward our compassionate inner voice to support us through transitions. In fact, Carolyn’s are some of the most potent writing prompts in the Looking Back, Looking Forward journaling challenge, a month-long journal-writing course designed to help you review the recent stepping-stones of life, and design a compelling future.

In this episode, I share a personal story about the three years I avoided a storage room full of my “stuff”, and how, thanks to Carolyn’s journaling suggestions, I found courage to tackle the overwhelm, and save $300 per month in storage fees! (JournalTalk, Episode #51, March 3, 2015)

Exclusive Offer for JournalTalk Listeners: In this episode, Carolyn invites listeners to contact her for a free gift, simply for mentioning that you heard her on JournalTalk.

Credits:
Audio Editing: Netrix Marketing
Music and Voiceovers: Music Radio Creative

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To Listen: Click on the “play” button > at the top of this page.

Journal-Keeping Tips for Fiction Writers

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Ever since my experience with NaNoWriMo, I’m convinced more than ever that journal-writing helps to sharpen the skills needed to write any story or novel.

My guest this week is Danielle Hanna, a crime fiction author who believes that her journal is (more often than she’s consciously aware!) the source of her material for publication.

Danielle shares some great tips from her new book, specifically for fiction writers to use their journals in developing a keen sense of awareness, feeling, and composition. She also shares how her dealings with a family tragedy led her to agreement with Oscar Wilde’s conclusion that “Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life.” My favorite part of this discussion with Danielle was our chuckling that the phrase “based on a true story” is probably applicable on some level to every novel and movie ever made.

For more journal-writing tips inspired by the world of fiction, please be sure to check out my interview with Anne Marvin in episode #78.

This interview with Danielle Hanna also reminded me of a JournalTalk Q&A episode, where a listener named Raul wrote in to ask me, “Can Journaling Help Me Become a Better Writer?” Raul, this episode is for you, and not-surprisingly, Danielle’s answer is: DEFINITELY!

Exclusive Offer for JournalTalk listeners: Danielle’s book, Journaling to Become a Better Writer, is available for a limited time on Smashwords.com, in any format for any reading device, for just $1.99. You must use the code QG87T on check-out to receive this discount. (JournalTalk, Episode #46, December 23, 2014)

Credits:
Audio Editing: Netrix Marketing
Music and Voiceovers: Music Radio Creative

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To Listen: Click on the “play” button > at the top of this webpage.

Q&A: “How Can I Stay Consistent in My Journal-Writing?”

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Making a return on JournalTalk, Heather Severson is back to help me answer a few of your journal-writing questions.

Those who have experienced the relief, the insight, the rekindling of passion, or any other benefit from their writing, have noticed how momentary it can be. And when our attention goes sailing another direction, it is normal to forget to come back and keep the writing habit going. That’s why so many people ask for tips on how to keep their journal-writing consistent.

Heather and I share some basic and advanced strategies for staying with your writing. Because this is one of the most common questions I get, I’ve also written a short eBook about it which you can get right here.

Fuel the dialogue: Have you noticed that you get far more from your writing when you do it consistently? Or, do you prefer to turn to your journal only on special occasions?

You may send your own journaling question to be featured on a future episode of JournalTalk. Or, pick up the telephone and leave a voicemail with your question at 1-805-751-6280 (only normal toll charges may apply). If your question is featured, we will send you a thank-you gift for sharing your voice! (JournalTalk Q&A, Episode #17, December 2, 2014)

Credits:
Audio Editing: Netrix Marketing
Music: Pond5.com
Voiceover: Thomas Gerrard

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To Listen: Click on the “play” button > below.

Journaling for Everyday Celebration!

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Our journaling prompt this week: “What was the best part of my day today?”

With her motto, “Cake Every Day”, my guest this episode helps us to identify and appreciate the celebration in every single day. Whether you’re dealing with anxiety, panic, depression, or any other energy imbalance, Raychelle LeBlanc coaches methods for healing and gratitude.

One main ingredient in her personal prescription for healthy life-balance is journaling. Raychelle shares a no-nonsense, tangible approach for working with the written word, including a few focus points that have been helpful in her experience: gratitude, honesty with self, laws of the universe, and connecting to source. Icing on the cake: Listen to Raychelle’s elegant way of turning everyday complaints and judgements into valuable choices.

Click on this link, or the book image, to learn more about Raychelle’s book, Your Daily Slice Journal. (JournalTalk, Episode #43, November 25, 2014)

SPECIAL OFFER: In this episode, Raychelle invites you to contact her and mention JournalTalk, for a FREE one-on-one meditation and journaling session featuring her “balance wheel”.

Credits:
Audio Editing: Netrix Marketing
Music and Voiceovers: Music Radio Creative

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Frame of Mind Journaling

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Kim Ades takes journal-writing to a whole new level. Her company, Frame of Mind Coaching, combines the power of journaling with trained, professional coaching to help clients achieve breakthrough results in a very short period of time.

Through her licenseable, online journaling software, JournalEngine, Kim’s clients tap into their own thought patterns to identify hidden beliefs that are holding them back from the success they seek.

I enjoyed discussing the concepts of coaching people through an active journal-writing routine, and I’m considering joining Kim’s team. Please let me know what you think? (JournalTalk, Episode #42, October 28, 2014)

SPECIAL OFFER: In this episode, Kim offers a free trial of the “Frame of Mind Coaching” program. After completing this short assessment (be sure to tell her that you heard about it on JournalTalk!) you will be matched up with a journal coach, who will work with you using a daily journaling practice, to get new results in your life, and make dormant dreams a reality.

Credits:
Audio Editing: Netrix Marketing
Music and Voiceovers: Music Radio Creative

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To Listen: Click on the “play” button > below.

Journaling With Our Inner Committee

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First, let’s do a journal-writing activity that I teach in my Passion, Clarity, Purpose journal workshop: calming our conflicted emotions by honoring them one at a time.

When faced with a situation that activates several different, seemingly competing reactions, I’ve found it useful to take the time to slow down and give each voice in my “inner committee” a chance to fully express itself.

Then, my guest this week is Steven Summerstone, who discusses “sub selves”, his music, and an interesting cornucopia of other topics. Steven has a video podcast on YouTube that features a wide variety of philosophies and musings. His website, Nurturing Truth, is where he invites you to connect with him. (JournalTalk, Episode #41, October 14, 2014)

Credits:
Audio Editing: Netrix Marketing
Music and Voiceovers: Music Radio Creative

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Q&A: “Why Can’t I Ever Finish One Notebook?”

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Do you ever get bored with a journal notebook you’ve started, and just want to move on to the next one already? What’s that about?

With our typical playfulness, wit and creativity, Mari L. McCarthy and I offer some helpful suggestions to Susan who asks, “Why can’t I ever finish a journal notebook?” We cover the full range of ideas, including an encouragement for Susan to celebrate her not-finishing a notebook!

Please join the dialogue. Do you drool over the many options in the stationery aisle, while picking out your next journal notebook? Do you get so anxious to start a new one that you leave the old one with unused pages? We welcome additional comments and suggestions about finishing up one notebook before going to the next. Electronic journal-writers: Chime in!

You may reply to this email with your own question to be featured on a future episode of JournalTalk. Or, please call and leave a voicemail with your question at 1-805-751-6280 (only normal toll charges may apply). If your question is featured, we will send you a thank-you gift for sharing your voice! (JournalTalk Q&A, Episode #11, September 9, 2014)

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To Listen to this week’s JournalTalk: Click on the “play” button > at the top of this page.

Turning Journals into Memoirs

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Thanks to Joan Leof, my guest expert in this week’s episode, I’ll need to update my website. In preparation for our interview, Joan did some research about me; she figured out that I had given up on writing a book based on content from my years of journal-writing. And in our subsequent conversation, she asked me some questions that stirred my thinking about this. Being the amazing journal-to-memoir coach that she is, by the time we were finished talking, I was reminded of my belief that my story is a valuable one, and re-inspired to pick up my old writings to breathe new life into them! Since then, I’ve been writing 100-Word Flash Memoirs as often as I can, collecting the pieces to assemble for a unique story about my spiritual odyssey and coming-of-age.

Joan Leof has been coaching journalers, creative writers, and spiritual autobiographers for over 30 years. Her website displays her own accomplishment of her personal story made into a book, Fatal If Swallowed, as well as other journaling resources and workshops that she teaches in the Delaware area.

Our conversation was stimulating and fascinating. Joan gives a clear goal for memoirists to stay focused on, to make sure the journey from journaling to published author stays satisfying. In addition, Joan shares some excellent tips for people who want to join (or begin their own) journaling groups to deepen their practice! I look forward to hearing your feedback. Please post a comment below, telling what you enjoyed most! (JournalTalk, Episode #12, August 5, 2013)

Credits:
Music: Paul Mottram, ”Shellfish Behaviour” (AudioNetwork.com)
Voiceover: Tami Egbert and Kym Maher
Logo Art: Wendy Kipfmiller, Snixysnix.com

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To Listen:
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Write4Life

Journaling for Passion, Clarity & Purpose!

Tag Archives: journaling podcast

Q&A: “Is Journaling in Schools a Good Thing?

Write From The Body Workshops

Q&A: “What To Do With Journaling Guilt?”

Don’t Leave Home Without Your Journal

The One Thing About Journaling: Getting Real

Q&A: “Do You Ever Feel a Burning Hole in Your Soul?”

Spring Cleaning: Journaling to De-Clutter!

Journal-Keeping Tips for Fiction Writers

Q&A: “How Can I Stay Consistent in My Journal-Writing?”

Journaling for Everyday Celebration!

Frame of Mind Journaling

Journaling With Our Inner Committee

Q&A: “Why Can’t I Ever Finish One Notebook?”

Turning Journals into Memoirs