Keeping a Love Journal

Do you love someone very deeply? A spouse, son, daughter, or maybe a group of people. February 14 is Valentineâ??s Day. This unofficial holiday is a day card companies started to increase their business and has evolved into more over the years. It is a day of reflection, a day to show someone else you care, a day to see the love we have for ourselves as well.

A separate journal devoted strictly to people, places and things, that you love, may seem like a waste of space at first. Why not just toss it in our regular journal. You might be thinking, "How can I fill up a whole book?" I shared this sentiment for years. After making the choice, one pre-Valentine day ten years ago in a bookstore, it became easy. A richer life began emerging because of it over time.

As all things, it begins by purchasing a journal for that specific purpose. This is the perfect time of the year to buy that such journal. Book and gift stores provide a stack of choices this time of year. When I sat down and opened my new love journal, the cover, with its typical red cover and hearts, changed my voice but the pages were still stark white. For days, I sat staring at those blank pages every evening and occasionally a few mornings. This was a strange sensation since itâ??s harder for me to end than to begin.

My original thought, why I purchased this teenage-like journal, was to honor my motherâ??s memories. She passed, at the time ten years earlier, and our memories were waning. Many times it took pictures to see her face again. Here are some ways that I learned over the years to fill my love journals. What once started with a cautionary purchase turned into a regular yearly purchase. Of course, this time of year because of the wide selection in the stores.

Let Me Count the Ways

Lists are a great way to begin when the sentences or thought seems vague. Lists suggest expansiveness and release the pressure of saying it just right. Focus on one person and make a list of a particular moment. It doesn't matter whether it is recent or somewhere in the past. Memory triggering is a trained skill and takes practice.

Love Letters

"Love letters fulfill a need to confide, to testify and to articulate what is ordinarily left unspoken," says Cathy Davidson in, "The Book of Love: Writers and Their Love Letters." Expressing your love, whether shared or not, fulfills an internal need, a desire of a deep connection. Whether the love is only one way, a fantasy, or just a dream. Memorable writing, whether it is a list, letter, poem, story or essay, comes deeply from the soul of the writer. It is their way of having their say.

Writing a love letter doesn't always need to be to or about someone else. When we are working on our self-esteem and self-worth, it is important to write love letters to us. This may seem selfish or uncomfortable at the start but the experience blossoms into a deeper learning about who we are, what we want, what we need, and what we can give. For those of us who have difficulty knowing our own needs or putting our health first, writing love letters can be a valuable bridge that expands into a deeper understanding and knowledge about us or about our path.

Possible Memorable Items to Include

Here are a few items that can help expand your love writing.. Of course, these items will transition with your intention, style, and voice.

1. Start by acknowledging the event. The place, day and time.

2. What was your emotional state at the time? Did you feel sad, say so. Angry, shocked, or confused, say so. Even love letters and journals have more than one emotion. Were you grieving at the time?

3. Describe any qualities -- physical, emotional, professional or social. Tell what you admired about them (or yourself). Is there something you miss? Are they or were they a great teacher, storyteller, devoted father, mother, aunt, uncle?

4. Remember the little things. The small stuff does count. Was there a particular smell you remember? What were they wearing, or not.

5. Have you had this experience before. If so, when? How are they different? How are they the same?

6. Did a book, quote, musical piece, photograph, or song lyrics provide comfort or expand the experience?

7. Who else was involved? Did they build with the experience or take from it?

8. What makes this love different? Or the same? And if the same, the same to what?

9. Was this an everyday event that turned extraordinary? Why?

Whether a love letter is your intention or to begin with a list, don't forget to love yourself and to add yourself to the menu of a love-writing experience. Most of the time we look for love in other places when it truly needs to be recognized from within first. Take the time, find the magic you hold inside you, find the love that you hold for relationships, for what you have accomplished, or desire to accomplish, or what type of love affair you want to have with the world while you are still in it.

Love is a gift, whether presented only in a journal or expanded into something wrapped and bowed. The expense is only that of pen and paper but its cost is time and thought. Place love on your calendar this week. It is as much a gift to you as it is for everyone else in your life, past or present.

© Copyright, Catherine Franz. All rights reserved.

Catherine Franz, 20 year international journaling instructor, including several US Presidents and First Ladies, and author of two booklets on hundreds of tips and techniques. Visit the store at: http://www.AbundanceCenter.com

---

Basic Writing Tips ? Some Controversial, All Correct

As a previous article ("Making Better Word Choices ? 4... Read More

10 Tips on How to Cultivate Relationships with Editors

If you are an aspiring writer, or you simply want... Read More

Imagine The Imagination

Imagine a three hundred page book was in the author's... Read More

Pairs/Groups Of Words Often Confused - Part 3 of 6

ELICIT, ILLICITElicit means to extract or draw out; illicit means... Read More

Increase Your Web Traffic By Using Keyword Articles

If you have an online home based business you know... Read More

The Importance of Writing Clearly for Business

Creating written documents reveals so much about you and your... Read More

Become the Writer You Always Dreamed of Being

So you want to be a writer, except you don't... Read More

How I Became a Syndicated Columnist -- And You Can Too!

Real Estate has "Location, location, location," and writing has "Clips,... Read More

Writing Made Them Rich #3: Richard Bach

One day in the mid-1970's a young man stumbled into... Read More

Tips For Better Writing

It is certainly true that we don't get a second... Read More

Linguaphone Language Learning Solutions

Language Training - A key to Global CommunicationLanguage Training is... Read More

7 Writing Muse Kickers to Fill Up That Blank Page

Nothing is more daunting for any writer than having to... Read More

Gaining Writing Experience

GAINING WRITING EXPERIENCE Some Catch-22, huh? In... Read More

The Value of Adding Images to Technical Documentation

It's cliché, but true-a picture does paint a thousand words.... Read More

Is Horror Dead?

I've noticed a big shift away from traditional horror recently,... Read More

How to Get Free Publicity in In-flight Magazines

If you're targeting an educated, more affluent audience with your... Read More

Get Noticed! Eight Tips to Catching an Editors Eye

The first five pages of a novel are critical.Editors make... Read More

How To Be A Published (Non-Fiction) Author

1. Turning your idea into a bookWith non-fiction books the... Read More

What Is The Single Worst Writing Mistake?

The following answer sounds simplistic?but think about it. The single... Read More

Screenwriting ? Five Golden Insights

Originality emerges from structure. Once you have a story idea,... Read More

Why I Write

I started writing as a way of keeping safe memories... Read More

Blank Mind, Blank Screen: Need Ideas!

Q. I'm staring at a blank screen with an equally... Read More

Business Writing: 10 Great Authors

Great business writers combine narrative skills with sound judgment to... Read More

How Can You Find Freelance Work As A Writer?

For those looking at the jobs listings for writers, they... Read More

Become an Instant Author by Playing Well with Others

You wrote a tips booklet. Maybe more than one. Oh... Read More

Turning Your Journal Into An Idea Bank

A few magazines refer to their written idea sources in... Read More

Ghostwriting - Making Money by Being Invisible

My bookcase take up one whole wall in the family... Read More

Learning to Question Your Elephant Child: Who, What, Where, When and Why

Having problems writing? I don't know why. San Francisco Chronicle... Read More

How to Catch the Writing Bug

----------------------------------------------------------Permission is granted for the below article to forward,reprint, distribute,... Read More

How to Write a Holiday Tale that Isn?t a Turkey

When we write stories, with the purpose of sharing them... Read More

Get Published: The Nuts and Bolts of English, and How to Impress a Publisher (2)

The tiniest things can be so useful when you come... Read More

Im Just The Writer

Writers are often are greatly surprised or disappointed by how... Read More

How to Write Words Worth a Thousand Pictures

Our Image-Driven SocietyWe live in a new image-driven society. It... Read More