Discipline: Writing

I've been keeping a personal journal again in the last few months- a real paper journal. I like writing online, but nothing beats the feel of pen against paper for me. I kept a journal for years as a kid- pretty much every single day from age 9 to 19. I got married at 19 and lost track of the habit as marriage, work and children changed my life.

I started journaling occasionally again last May, but I've been looking to try something different. Instead of saving my writing time for bigger ideas, I started writing *everything* down (schooling things, work things, etc.) and have come to be exactly where I want to be with writing for myself. I've been able to work out some of the things I would like to accomplish with the boys in the next few years, what I want "school" to look like in our home, what I want daily life itself to look like around here. I've been using the journal as a place to store my ideas and inspirations for future school things, decorating ideas, Christmas lists and the book list of what I've read so far this year. It has been more of a scrapbook- not just a book of my meanderings, but in between the musings are the things that inspire me right now, and my plans for the future and for our family.

I have always loved the thought that someday my children or granchildren would be happy to have some of my writings. I hope that is true, though I have boys and boys aren't often as sentimental as girls. I hope that it means something to them, but in the mean time it has been so tremendously helpful to me to empty my mind of all my thoughts at the end of the day.