David Lisa, a retired Library Administrator and an avid journal keeper from Williamstown, New Jersey, has been keeping a journal since 1973, making it an impressive 50-year journey.
Dave shares his insights, experiences, and tips on the art of journaling, offering inspiration and guidance to those seeking to build a journaling habit.
Discovering the Journey of Journaling
Reflecting on the significance of journaling in his life, Dave explains, “It’s been important to me, over the years, to take some time to reflect on both important milestones in my life and everyday stuff that happens. This enables me to sort things out and come to terms with things as they are happening and to reflect on them when I read the journal entries at some point in the future.”
“It’s been important to me, over the years, to take some time to reflect on both important milestones in my life and everyday stuff that happens.”
Exploring the Contents of David’s Journal
Dave’s journal entries cover a broad range of subjects. He explains, “I journal about whatever occurs to me.
“If something that really concerns me is happening in my life, I chronicle that in my entries with priority.
“Sometimes, I find pictures on social media that fascinate me. I am a big comic book fan, so one thing I collect are pictures of comic book covers. So, many times I will just assemble several covers in one post, and make some comments. When I bring up the post later, it fills me with nostalgia as I remember reading the comic book and/or buying it off the newsstand in the past.
“I use the IFTTT ability to bring in links to YouTube videos as Day One entries. This shows what I’m currently interested in on a daily basis.
“I also like to assemble pictures and video that I taken with my iPhone into entries illustrating what I’ve accomplished on a particular day. For example, I recently bought a house and I chronicled the entire process from looking at houses, to buying, to packing, to moving, to unpacking in Day One journal entries. This has helped to keep me motivated to complete this project quickly, efficiently and with enjoyment.
“I have been working on a retrospective journal entry project based upon photos from past years and journal entries from as long as 50 years ago. I will take a photo of my original handwritten entries, scan the text of these original journal entries and take a snapshot with my iPhone of any actual photos I may have included to accompany them. I include all of this in the entry. Once this project is complete, I will have brought over all of my original handwritten journal entries to Day One.”
Embracing a Flexible Journaling Routine
Unlike some who adhere to strict journaling schedules, Dave doesn’t confine himself to a specific time to journal. He explains, “I journal anytime of the day or night as the motivation occurs to me. I don’t normally need any drive to make entries. It’s become part of my daily routine. I am very goal oriented so continuing my journal streak is important to me and serves as motivation. I’m currently at 651 days🔥”
Nuggets of Wisdom for Aspiring Journalers
When asked for advice on building a journaling habit, Dave offers a valuable tip: “Don’t force yourself into a particular style of journaling. Just write! Write about what you like and what you know. Even if it might seem silly or unimportant, write about it anyway, because this is your life!”
He emphasizes the significance of capturing even seemingly trivial or unimportant moments because they are part of one’s unique life story. Dave encourages others to embrace their emotions, allowing joy, anger, sorrow, and confusion to drive their writing, creating a truly authentic and memorable narrative.
“Don’t force yourself into a particular style of journaling. Just write! Write about what you like and what you know. Even if it might seem silly or unimportant, write about it anyway, because this is your life!”
Lessons Gained Through Journaling
Over the course of five decades, Dave has learned valuable lessons through his journaling practice.
“Here’s the most important thing that I have learned from keeping journals over the years. Not everything that you think is right is right. Coming back to decisions that you write about days, weeks, months or decades later helps you immensely to realize this. You see your thought processes leading up to decisions, how it turned out and whether those decisions held up years later. This type of retrospective realization is invaluable and as a we all know, the human memory is not necessarily going to keep all the details later in life.
I’ve also learned that you love what you love. Nothing is wrong with that. And nobody is going to change that. So why not celebrate it?”
The Power of the Day One App
For Dave, the Day One app has become an invaluable tool for journaling.
“Most importantly, Day One is the epitome of convenience. Gone are the days when you have to sit down and put pen to paper to make a journal entry. Unless you want to do that, of course. I thrive on the convenience of making journal entries on my iPhone, which I always have with me. Using my iPhone as a camera, video recording device and Internet connection brings all of the important things together for me to use as the basis of journal entries. Also being able to use the Day One app with cloud storage on my iPhone, iPad and Mac helps keeps the process seamless no matter what technology I use to make entries.
“Scanning text into entries has been invaluable for my retrospective entries project.
“Being able to incorporate images and video helps me further embellish my entries.
“IFTTT capability lets me bring in links to YouTube and (sometimes) music streaming services.”
The Amazing Story a Journal Tells
In the world of journaling, every journey is unique, and David Lisa’s journaling practice exemplifies the depth and richness this art form can bring to one’s life. Through his words and experiences, Dave reminds us to embrace our passions, celebrate our unique selves, and record the moments that shape us.
As he aptly puts it, “Write about what you love and what you know about. Always be truthful and don’t sugarcoat things. Don’t be afraid to let it all hang out. Let your writing reflect your joy, your anger, your sorrow and your confusion. Let your emotion drive your writing. These are the things that are important to you and are the things make you completely unique. Years from now, what an amazing story this will be to look back on and re-read!”
Start Journaling Today with Day One
The Day One journaling app makes it easy to build and maintain a daily journaling habit. Daily journaling reminders, daily writing prompts, and journal streaks are designed to help keep you motivated and consistently journaling.
