Anne Marie Bennett

Come Home to Yourself with Your Inner Journaler

Using SoulCollage® to Connect to Your Writing

Posted 2/14/06 | Updated 9/12/20

SoulCollage

Lead me to the notebook aisle in any office supply store and everything else fades away.

Give me an empty notebook with a few colored pens, some soft music and candlelight, and I'm in sweet heaven.

I'm quite familiar with this inner part of me who loves to journal. She made herself known to me when I was ten years old, and she's been tucked tightly within my heart ever since.

I named my Inner Journaler Alexandra. Above is the SoulCollage® card I've made to pay tribute to her, this part of me who loves to journal, who sees journaling as a process as necessary as breathing. This is what Alexandra has to say to me when I ask her who she is:

I am the one who loves words, who expresses myself best with words.
I am the one who loves empty notebooks and blank sheets of paper.
I am the one who comes home to myself in my journal.

I give you a way to know yourself more intimately, and a sense of deep belonging to yourself.
I also give you centering, peace, a safe and loving path for transformation.

I want you to keep writing, to stay close to the pen and the notebook and the laptop.

Ever since I was ten, I've been paying attention to Alexandra's need to write. I've understood her need for processing everything (absolutely everything) in those empty notebooks. I've also gladly satisfied her need for stockpiling a stack of empty notebooks in the upstairs closet (just in case we need a new one in a hurry!).

She has led me to many varieties of journaling workshops, and I can't even begin to count the number of books on journaling that I've read. I even have a bulging folder that is bursting with writing ideas and exercises to get my creative juices flowing.

But what it all comes down to is this: the notebook, the pen, and me.

The truth is that I don't need file folders and books full of journaling ideas, because I have Alexandra, my Inner Writer. The more I listen to her and get to know her, the more I trust her. When doubt sets in, when I'm quite sure I don't know how to start, all I have to do is sit still and listen within.

"Begin," Alexandra says gently. "Just pick up the pen and the words will flow by themselves."

And do you know what? She is always right.

Create Art with Soul: Free SoulCollage® Instructions

Inner Reflection:

Have you ever been brought home to yourself when journal writing? Do you have an Inner Journaler? What does he/she look like?

How long have you known about this part of your inner world — is he/she an old friend, or a relatively new companion? Is your Inner Journaler satisfied with the amount of journaling you've been doing lately? Why or why not? Ask him/her to tell you what he/she needs from you this week.

Create Art with Soul: Free SoulCollage® Instructions

Anne Marie Bennett is a published author, self-taught artist, and SoulCollage® Facilitator. more

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