Despite relative proximity, I have never had much chance to visit the ocean, but each time is such an experience that I always think fondly of it. I also perk up just from smelling the salty seawater in the air of an impending rain.
Likewise, as I stated on Patricia's comment, you just can't beat the rain. I love watching it. I love sitting on my covered porch and just feeling the bit of mist and listening to it. If it's a warm, summer rain, I love running through it; giggling in it; dancing in it.
As for the rest of your post: thank you for that cat loaf thread share. Absolutely adorable. Instant retweet. I will routinely return to that thread.
Finally. I 100% agree with what you said about journaling. It's always so magical to be able to transport yourself back to your past self and past experiences (or read someone else's journal and live their experiences). I just can never sort out motivating myself to do it. I've started and stopped at least 4 different physical journals throughout my youth and young adulthood. I've tried "a page a day" diaries (and have routinely gone over... surprise, surprise...) which have only lasted a few short months. I've tried "annual recap" journals where you write an entry on your birthday... that lasted until about 5yrs ago. I've tried digital journaling. Equally short-lived. The closest I have now is my writing blog, my Tumblr page, my FB posts, and the minute journaling I do on a self-care app. I really need to try to sort out journaling a bit better.
I'm really interested in what you said about motivating yourself to journal. I don't think anyone has to journal -- not even writers -- and I don't think there's one right way to journal, despite Big Notebook's marketing schemes. But, that said, I also think you might already be journaling. I personally love composition notebooks, but I grew up around heavily-used composition notebooks -- I feel at home with them and I enjoy using them. If physical notebooks don't work for you, then that's not your place and you don't need to go to places you don't like. (If you really want to use them, however, then that's different. Linking a physical journal to an established habit like drinking coffee in the morning or reading a book before bed might help?) But per Kleon's interpretation, anywhere that feels like a good space to hang out and be creative and/or reflective can be a journal. So I absolutely think your blog (and even your tumblr?) could count as a journal.
Oh, no. I didn't mean that I "have" to journal, as if it were an obligation I need to fulfil. My issue is probably that the bits that I wish to journal about are things I've already verbally discussed with someone (or multiple someones) and it just feels tedious to physically write it down (be it in a physical journal or digitally). However, it's always so rewarding to go back through the limited times I HAVE journaled and get those flashbacks to the Me that I was in that moment. I regret not keeping up with my journaling of my experiences while planning for my wedding, for instance. I think it would be fun for me to be able to go back through that and/or for my niece, nephew, and any children I may have to maybe go through it as well. A way to connect with me on a unique level. A way to know that maybe their experiences aren't so isolating or a way to prepare themselves for their own journey. Those sorts of things.
I love the rewards of journaling and regret not having done so in the past, but I have yet to use both the reward and regrets to motivate myself MORE into journaling the way I have wished I did in the past.
I have debated Vlogging instead, but finding a quiet space to sit with a camera and recap my day has been just as challenging as finding one to write in. And so the trails continue until I find something that works, I guess.
With regards to my blog and my tumblr, it has been nice to reflect back on my life via those (and various FB status updates). However, no one location fully has everything. My blog has a little of my personal life, but is mostly about writing. My tumblr rarely has anything about my personal life outside of vague posts (because strangers don't really need to know THAT much about me). And FB I obviously have to edit what I share just due to how politicized the site has gotten. It would just be nice to have one central location - such as a more traditional journal entry - where I can have all those pieces properly complete the puzzle of my life in that moment. If any of that makes sense.
The ocean is my happiest place; floating and bobbing in her arms is embryonic to me; a rebirthing experience.
Camping in the rain with drops falling on the ceiling and the fresh, electric feeling in the air.
Walking in the warm summer rain, getting drenched and feeling cleansed in a way no simple shower could ever hope to provide.
Thank you for inspiring this ponder. Thank you also for the link that I can send to my husband to explain my need to travel away from our landlocked home to the sea, sand, and sun. 🙏
Thank you for reading, and for these beautiful descriptions -- I especially love the recall of camping in the rain. Hope you can travel to the sea soon!
Oooo. I 100% agree with the summer rain. It's so freeing and simple and transports me back to my carefree childhood (and young adulthood) days. Even if I have to say inside for whatever reason, just watching the rain is soothing.
What's my water?
Despite relative proximity, I have never had much chance to visit the ocean, but each time is such an experience that I always think fondly of it. I also perk up just from smelling the salty seawater in the air of an impending rain.
Likewise, as I stated on Patricia's comment, you just can't beat the rain. I love watching it. I love sitting on my covered porch and just feeling the bit of mist and listening to it. If it's a warm, summer rain, I love running through it; giggling in it; dancing in it.
As for the rest of your post: thank you for that cat loaf thread share. Absolutely adorable. Instant retweet. I will routinely return to that thread.
Finally. I 100% agree with what you said about journaling. It's always so magical to be able to transport yourself back to your past self and past experiences (or read someone else's journal and live their experiences). I just can never sort out motivating myself to do it. I've started and stopped at least 4 different physical journals throughout my youth and young adulthood. I've tried "a page a day" diaries (and have routinely gone over... surprise, surprise...) which have only lasted a few short months. I've tried "annual recap" journals where you write an entry on your birthday... that lasted until about 5yrs ago. I've tried digital journaling. Equally short-lived. The closest I have now is my writing blog, my Tumblr page, my FB posts, and the minute journaling I do on a self-care app. I really need to try to sort out journaling a bit better.
I'm really interested in what you said about motivating yourself to journal. I don't think anyone has to journal -- not even writers -- and I don't think there's one right way to journal, despite Big Notebook's marketing schemes. But, that said, I also think you might already be journaling. I personally love composition notebooks, but I grew up around heavily-used composition notebooks -- I feel at home with them and I enjoy using them. If physical notebooks don't work for you, then that's not your place and you don't need to go to places you don't like. (If you really want to use them, however, then that's different. Linking a physical journal to an established habit like drinking coffee in the morning or reading a book before bed might help?) But per Kleon's interpretation, anywhere that feels like a good space to hang out and be creative and/or reflective can be a journal. So I absolutely think your blog (and even your tumblr?) could count as a journal.
Oh, no. I didn't mean that I "have" to journal, as if it were an obligation I need to fulfil. My issue is probably that the bits that I wish to journal about are things I've already verbally discussed with someone (or multiple someones) and it just feels tedious to physically write it down (be it in a physical journal or digitally). However, it's always so rewarding to go back through the limited times I HAVE journaled and get those flashbacks to the Me that I was in that moment. I regret not keeping up with my journaling of my experiences while planning for my wedding, for instance. I think it would be fun for me to be able to go back through that and/or for my niece, nephew, and any children I may have to maybe go through it as well. A way to connect with me on a unique level. A way to know that maybe their experiences aren't so isolating or a way to prepare themselves for their own journey. Those sorts of things.
I love the rewards of journaling and regret not having done so in the past, but I have yet to use both the reward and regrets to motivate myself MORE into journaling the way I have wished I did in the past.
I have debated Vlogging instead, but finding a quiet space to sit with a camera and recap my day has been just as challenging as finding one to write in. And so the trails continue until I find something that works, I guess.
With regards to my blog and my tumblr, it has been nice to reflect back on my life via those (and various FB status updates). However, no one location fully has everything. My blog has a little of my personal life, but is mostly about writing. My tumblr rarely has anything about my personal life outside of vague posts (because strangers don't really need to know THAT much about me). And FB I obviously have to edit what I share just due to how politicized the site has gotten. It would just be nice to have one central location - such as a more traditional journal entry - where I can have all those pieces properly complete the puzzle of my life in that moment. If any of that makes sense.
What’s your water?
The ocean is my happiest place; floating and bobbing in her arms is embryonic to me; a rebirthing experience.
Camping in the rain with drops falling on the ceiling and the fresh, electric feeling in the air.
Walking in the warm summer rain, getting drenched and feeling cleansed in a way no simple shower could ever hope to provide.
Thank you for inspiring this ponder. Thank you also for the link that I can send to my husband to explain my need to travel away from our landlocked home to the sea, sand, and sun. 🙏
Thank you for reading, and for these beautiful descriptions -- I especially love the recall of camping in the rain. Hope you can travel to the sea soon!
Oooo. I 100% agree with the summer rain. It's so freeing and simple and transports me back to my carefree childhood (and young adulthood) days. Even if I have to say inside for whatever reason, just watching the rain is soothing.