When I talk about "art journaling" a lot of people think I"m talking about doing beautiful artwork in a journal.  For many years my journal has been my saving grace.  It is where I dump the waste of my life.

You know that good feeling you get when you go through a room in your house and clear out everything?  You take boxes of things to donate and you have bags of trash to throw out?  You get it all cleared away and what is left is only what you need and enjoy. 

That’s what journaling can do for your insides.  You can write all the crap into your journal and get rid of it. Otherwise you are carrying it around in your head, on your shoulders and maybe even in your heart.

Using colors, images and art just makes the process of journaling more pleasant.  That’s why I call it an art journal.  I use art to express myself, or sometimes just to make the page more inviting to actually write on.  If I am full of thoughts or worries, and I open my journal it is more motivating for me to put pen to paper if the page is decorated in some way.  A blank, white page seems to be wanting something from me.  Where a colored page with designs, boxes or images  seems to be providing  me something.  A place to dump my waste.

I challenge you, my readers, to make at least one journal entry this coming week that is a "waste dump" entry.