Keeping a Journal

If there is one thing that just about everyone has tried, it is to keep a diary. And if you are like me, you will probably have tried several times. And failed every time.

It has always been a dream of mine to keep a journal or diary of some sort. But, after my first few failures, I was too scared to try again. I thought that I would just fail again. And if I was to fail, then why start in the first place? It would be a waste of effort.

But then I read an article written by my aunt on her new blog. In it she told about her own journal, which is not only filled with writing, but beautiful drawings. She says that the drawings help her to remember the exact time she was writing about. A sort of visual reminder.

Reading about journals reawakened my longing to keep one myself. And while I freely confess that I am not a good drawer at all, I wanted to draw pictures in it too. I already had a drawing book. All I needed to do was to give it a title page and to start. The title page was easily fix, for I had already started one during my last failed journal attempt.

So, I merely finished the title off, and I was ready to start. Nervously I opened a blank page and sat there, my pencil at the ready. And I waited. But no inspiration came. I was tempted to put the book back in my desk where it would languish, another failure. I couldn't draw. I was kidding myself if I thought I could ever draw anything.

But then another thought struck me. Well, the picture might not be good compared to other people's, especially those who have had training. But as long as it was as good as I could make it, it didn't matter what it looked like compared to others. And so I put my pencil to paper and started to draw.

Very soon I had a picture on the paper, and all I had to do was fill in the writing. And that was the easy bit. I love to write. When I couldn't fit another word on my page, I was done. How easy it had been! Why had I ever thought it might be hard?

Now I hope to keep on with my journal. I might not write and draw ever day, but I certainly hope to keep going. If you have ever dreamed of keeping a journal, as I did, then I suggest you check out my aunt's blog here. She's also going to be writing posts on how to draw and on art appreciation. It would be well worth taking a look at.