The joy of Journal Writing

The art of journal writing is something to treasured and encouraged, especially with little ones. This was brought home to me yesterday at the Burnie Farmer's Market, where I had a record number of purchases of children's notebooks. Whilst a number of mums and nans bought them as presents, quite a few children also buried into their purses to pay for them themselves. One little girl bought a vintage travel book, even after her parents tried to sway her to buy a more traditional child's journal. It was obvious she had made up her mind about the one she wanted and was clearly not going to change it. She looked to be bursting at the seams to get home and write in it.What is wonderful is the fact that children want to write, create, sketch and keep their ideas in a precious place.

It has made me stop and think about the place that notebooks have always had in my life. From the age of 9, when I received my first diary for Christmas, I have always recorded my thoughts. I now have a small cupboard filled with an assortment of well worn notebooks containing what is essentially my history. From my childhood dreams, to my teenage angsts, to my loves, hopes, travels, joys - they are a record of both good times and bad. I have used them to record the little joys, the huge milestones and the every day gripes that I know no one else wants to hear and know about. Everyone once in while a look back and have laugh or cry and more than often think - did I really do that?... I can't remember that.... and as time slips past I imagine they will be the only record of what my memory fails to keep.