Journal Reflection

As we began our external and internal journey, we were assigned a journal where we shared our own thoughts, with ourselves. It was exercises that not only let us jot down our daily ideas and plans but also helped us get looser and have more confidence in our English writing. We would write down the first things that came to our minds in ten minutes. The class was given six rules from Natalie Goldberg’s “Writing down the bones”. The rules were the following:

1.  Keep your hand moving

2.  Don’t cross out

3.  Don’t worry about spelling, punctuation, grammar.

4.  Lose control

5.  Don’t think. Don’t get logical.

6.  Go for the jugular.

By following these six simple rules we were able to start our internal journey in our literature course. Nevertheless, it was kind of awkward and slight difficult at the beginning because we were not used to writing everyday for ten minutes.

I believe the most difficult task while writing the journals was not to get logical. Sometimes we students want to think about what we are going to write before actually writing the ideas down. On the other hand, the last rule, go for the jugular also was difficult. Maintaining one idea throughout the ten minutes without getting logical and thinking too much about the topic would make me break rule number one, which told us to keep our hand moving and never stop writing. I would throughout ten minutes try to expose what all my thoughts and the activities I had throughout the day or week.

Our daily compasses, which were three times a week, uncovered our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual thoughts without going in to much detail. As well as the journals, these compasses were a good way of having a true insight to how we were feeling day by day. It felt like therapy between the pen and I.

Throughout time, the journals and compasses were evolving more and more. I would include more details and would write big, sloppy and in different directions as well as writing more thoughts and ideas.

One important insight and example of my internal journey would certainly be the entry where I talk about my experience with my first interview to grad school. I was nervous the day before and right after finishing my interview, I wrote an entry explaining the relief of going through it. I do believe that the journal was a great tool to expose how I felt in such an important part of my life.

Overall, I do believe that the journals and compasses helped me get over things, come up with new ideas, jot down my happiness and sorrows, and let me develop my internal journey preparing it to what there is to come in the future. Right now I am at a great place in my academic career. I am looking forward to my graduation and beginning graduate school in one of the schools that I applied to. It will be a long journey to travel but the greatest way to go through it is by expressing of my internal journey though my pen.